Lot 23
  • 23

Reuven Rubin

Estimate
100,000 - 150,000 USD
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Description

  • Reuven Rubin
  • Musical Interlude: Homage to Casals
  • signed Rubin and in Hebrew (lower right)
  • oil on canvas
  • 40 by 30 in.
  • 101.6 by 76.2 cm.
  • Painted in 1964.

Provenance

Joseph and Helen Regenstein Foundation, Chicago
Norton Museum of Art (formerly the Norton Gallery & School of Art), West Palm Beach (acquired as a gift from the above)
Private collection, Palm Beach

Exhibited

Geneva, Galerie Motte, Exposition Rubin, 1966, no. 3
West Palm Beach, Norton Gallery, 1967

Literature

Reuven Rubin, Rubin: My Life, My Art; An Autobiography and Selected Paintings, New York, 1969, illustrated p. 203
Sarah Wilkinson, Reuven Rubin, n.d., New York, illustrated p. 88

Condition

The canvas is unlined. The surface is in very good condition overall.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Catalogue Note

The present work was executed in Caesarea, where Pablo Casals played with the Israel Philharmonic. In the 1960s, Rubin was very much occupied with the planning of his house in Caesarea, to which he moved in 1966. Facing the Mediterranean and overlooking the old Roman aqueduct, Caesarea and its Roman remains became a central theme in many paintings of this period.

Sarah Wilkinson discusses this work: "...the foreground of the unconventional composition is dominated not only by the musical instruments but also by one of the artist's favorite motifs: a large vase filled with flowers. The nebulous background, with its antique columns, refers to Caesarea, the Roman capital of Palestine, in whose ancient amphitheater Casals played. Here too, an important feature is a group of olive trees, another of Rubin's loved motifs. These diverse elements have been combined to make a whole that symbolizes the mysterious power of music." (Sarah Wilkinson, Reuven Rubin, New York., n.d., p. 89).

In the early spring of 1967 Rubin held an exhibition at the Norton Gallery of Palm Beach, Florida in which this work, as well as others from the 1950s and 60s were shown and nearly all were purchased.