BOOKSTEIN PROJECTS AND ANN YAFFE PHILLIPS FINE ART ADVISORY ARE PLEASED TO REPRESENT THE COLLECTION OF SUZANNE AND MAURICE VANDERWOUDE. PASSIONATE COLLECTORS WHO WERE INTIMATE WITH ARTISTS AND DEALERS, THEIR INVOLVEMENT WITH ART WAS A LIFE-LONG PURSUIT. WE ARE DELIGHTED TO OFFER THIS STORY OF THEIR ART JOURNEY ALONG WITH WORKS FROM THE COLLECTION.

BEGINNINGS

Suzanne and Maurice "Mike’s" story was a love story for the ages; they were devoted to each other for every day of their 67-year marriage and shared their love with family (their three children, six grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren) and many dear friends. Suzanne and Mike developed a mutual passion and continual involvement with art; they became serious, savvy and connected art collectors who befriended and supported a number of visual artists as well as artists in other cultural arenas. 

Suzanne’s love of art was fostered in part by her uncle, I. David Orr, a well-respected Long Island businessman, art collector and important early patron of Franz Kline. Orr purchased or commissioned over 130 works from Kline, including a lovely portrait of Suzanne at 16 years old, which remains in the family. Orr primarily collected late 19th and early 20th century American art, a time period which later drew the interest of Suzanne and Mike. Suzanne recalls meeting Kline and viewing some of his earliest black-and-white abstractions.

ZABRISKIE CONNECTION

They often collected contemporary artists in depth as a way to support artistic careers and had significant bodies of work by a number of artists, including Pat Adams, Mary Frank and Gregory Amenoff, in addition to modern artists such as George Ault and Alfred Maurer. Their real passion became developing relationships with artists -- even more than the art works themselves. Many artists became dear family friends, and some were supported by Suzanne and Mike not only by art purchases, but with other direct financial support to foster their careers. The Vanderwoudes relished the opportunity to become intimate with these artists, not only with their creative sides, but in all aspects of their lives. Artists such as Wolf Kahn; Mary Frank; Lester Johnson; Timothy Woodman; Pat Adams and William King were particularly close friends and involved in their private life.

In 1968, as their acquisitions and involvement grew, Suzanne got to know the legendary gallerist Virginia Zabriskie. Virginia made Suzanne a proposal. Would she like to come work for the gallery, and get paid in art? The answer was yes! And so began Suzanne’s long association with the gallery and her continuing education as an art dealer. Smart, vivacious, and hard-working, Suzanne was a dynamo who shared her genuine enthusiasm for the art and artists with gallery clients and visitors; she became an accomplished sales director and introduced important artists to the gallery, such as Theodore Roszak, whose show of constructivist sculptures from the 1940s was a huge critical success; many of these works sold to museums and major private collections. Through the gallery, she became friendly with many artists or artist heirs who became part of their circle, such as Louise Ault (the widow of George Ault); Jan Nadelman (son of Elie Nadelman); Ralston Crawford; Mary Frank; Pat Adams; Wolf Kahn; Emily Mason; Helen Miranda Wilson; Timothy Woodman and Raoul Hague.