Sea Fantasy with a Note from the Artist

Description

As with the small untitled print by Seligmann in the present exhibition, this drawing contains a note to one of Seligmann’s friends and collectors. This missive is addressed to the collector Florence Stol. A seated figure with its back to the viewer contemplates the words—perhaps an image of the collector herself reading the note. Beyond stretches a seascape with a low horizon line that includes a buoy and a ship in the distance. On the reverse appear five small studies executed in graphite depicting single figures.
A lively network of gallerists and collectors assisted the Surrealist artists as they emigrated from Europe in the early days of the Second World War. Hayter’s creation of Atelier 17 in New York provided a familiar network for artists who had been working in Paris, such as Dalí and Ernst. Curt Valentin’s and Julien Levy’s galleries became important places for the artists to show their work, and collectors like Peggy Guggenheim and Florence Stol helped the Surrealists become established with American collectors.
Label copy from exhibition "Dreamscapes: The Surrealist Impulse," August 22 - October 25, 1998