Works from the Collection of Founders of Abbeville Press Art Book Publishers to Auction
From L to R in the Abrams family home - Bob Thompson, Nativity Scene; John Wesley, Secrets; Heinz Mack, Light-Line; Arnaldo Pomodoro, Untitled
Over seven decades, the Abrams family changed the face of the fine art and illustrated book publishing industry, bringing art into the homes of millions through the publication of beautiful and meticulously written books. Items from the personal art collection of Harry N. Abrams and his son Robert 'Bob' Abrams will go under the hammer next month at Sotheby’s.
Assembled mainly from the 1930s through the 1980s and beyond, their collecting philosophy across decades was summed up by Bob as "Art without boundaries without anything to consider other than the art itself”. Artists featured include Isamu Noguchi, Bob Thompson, Marisol, and Georges Mathieu, combining dominant artistic tides alongside the experimental and works or schools that were, at the time, less widely recognized. Many of the works appear at auction for the first time, after being acquired directly from the artists.
The collection begins with Harry N. Abrams who founded his eponymous publishing agency in 1949. The first company in the United States to specialize in the creation of art books, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. distributed monographs and surveys of global art to the masses, leaving an indelible mark on American visual literacy. In the 1930s, he made his first acquisitions of American Realist paintings before turning his attention to European Modernism.
By 1977, Harry and his son Bob founded a second publishing house, Abbeville Press. When Harry died two years later Bob took the helm of Abbeville Press. Determined to continue their mission, Abbeville Press became synonymous with scholastic rigor, artistic integrity, and a passion for sharing a history of creation with the widest possible readership. The Abrams cemented their legacy in publishing by taking on ambitious projects, including a limited edition oversized volume of The Vatican Frescoes of Michelangelo (1980), which Bob presented to Pope John Paul II in a private audience, and reissuing Audubon’s Birds of America in 1985, in a massive double-elephant folio.
Selected works from The Abrams Family Collection will be offered in a dedicated live auction on September 27 in New York and a dedicated online auction September 20-30. Additional works from the collection will be featured in various auctions throughout the Fall.
