Presented in a portfolio titled "Abstract Ink Drawings;" the first ink with collage, pencil signed and dated "Seuphor / 29 (illegible) 1954" on the verso (21 x 14.75 in.); the second of ink on Arches paper, signed and dated "Seuphor / 21 janu. 55" and titled "espace fleuri" on the verso in pencil (21.25 x 14.75 in.); the third ink and collage on paper, signed on the verso "Seuphor / 2 sept. 54" (14.75 x 21.25 in.); and the fourth ink on paper, pencil signed and dated "Seuphor / Neil 52" and titled "Prelude (I)" on the verso (20.5 x 14.75 in.) (with pin hole, tape residue at top, wear to edges of paper).

Estate of the Late Evageline Brewster Johnson Merrill and by descent to the consignor Each inscribed on the verso "Ce dessin appointnent a / Evangeline Zalstem-Zalesky / Cloud Walk Farm / New Milford . Conn. U.S.A." The Evangeline the artist refers to is Princess Evangeline Zalstem-Zalessky, nee Evangeline Johnson of Johnson & Johnson family fortune. Born in New Brunswick, NJ in 1897, she spent her final years in Hendersonville, NC, where she passed away in 1990. A long-time supporter of the arts, Evangeline was made a Fellow in Perpetuity of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was a patron of numerous other museums.

Daughter of Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical founder, Robert Wood Johnson, Evangeline Brewster Johnson Merrill was a prominent supporter of the arts at a very early point in her life. In 1943, she was made a Fellow in Perpetuity of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; throughout her life she was a patron of several museums, including the Peabody Museum of Yale University. Her philosophy and passion for art is well defined in a letter to a family member dated January 20, 1970, in which she seeks support for The Norton Gallery, "Art, together with Science, constitutes the highest form of human evolution, and I think you will agree that their preservation and development become a most important civic responsibility of us all. Museums preserve the inspired art of the past and the challenging art of the present in order to stimulate and enlarge our culture pattern." Evangeline was particularly interested in promoting contemporary artists, encountering many throughout her travels and work with the United Nations. She had a particular interest in Middle Eastern and Continental artists, as illustrated in the collection offered here. She lived with her collection, sharing it with others while entertaining at her home. Numerous works from her collection, by such important artists as Klee and Kandinsky, are in the collections of MOMA and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

$1,000 - 3,000