Christie’s Presents A Graphic Dialogue, The Collection of Lois Torf

New York – Christie’s is pleased to present the collection of Lois B. Torf, one of the most significant collections of Prints and Multiples to come to market in the United States. This autumn, more than 350 prints she amassed during her lifetime will be offered in a series of single-owner auctions at Christie’s: A Graphic Dialogue: Prints from the Collection of Lois B. Torf on 15 September in New York and A Graphic Dialogue: Prints from the Collection of Lois B. Torf Online, an online-only sale open for bidding between 2-16 September.

The collection comprises important works in the print medium from every decade of the 20th century, including a rare impression of Cy Twombly’s Untitled I, a major selection of German Expressionist Prints, Robert Rauschenberg’s Booster, significant holdings of Cubist prints by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, and American Pop highlights such as Andy Warhol’s Marilyn and early prints by Roy Lichtenstein.

In addition to donating and loaning countless works for exhibitions, Torf served on boards and committees of many art institutions in the Boston area. For over 30 years, she was a Trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which, in 1983, named a gallery in honor of the Torfs’ contributions, as well as Trustee of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston for over 20 years. Additionally, her academic committee involvement included Harvard’s Fogg Museum, Boston University School of Fine Arts and the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University.

Adrienne Torf, daughter of Lois and Michael K. Torf, remarked: “Lois was drawn to prints because they were, in her words, the medium "of our time" starting in the 1960's, and she was passionate about living with contemporary art and architecture. She never brought a print into her collection simply based on whether it would be a good investment. Her primary consideration, always, was whether she would love to live with the image.”

Richard Lloyd, International Head of Prints and Multiples, Christie’s, commented: “Lois Torf collected prints for over thirty years and during that time gained more from, and contributed more to, the field than any other collector I have known. Self-educated in her chosen subject, she compensated for a modest budget through tenacity and dedication, pursuing the overlooked and undervalued. Lois also connected with people as instinctively as she did the works themselves. Artists, printers, dealers, curators and of course fellow collectors, all fell into her orbit, attracted by her personality, her enthusiasm and her desire to show others how rewarding the life of a collector can be. Lois was and is an example to us all.”

ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn): one print
screenprint in colors, on wove paper, 1967 Sheet: 36 x 36 in.
Estimate: $150,000-250,000

CY TWOMBLY (1928-2011)
Untitled I
aquatint, on J Green English handmade paper, 1967
Image: 23½ x 28⅛ in.
Sheet: 27½ x 40½ in.
Estimate: $150,000-200,000 

RICHARD DIEBENKORN (1922-1993)
Large Bright Blue, from Eight Color Etchings etching and aquatint in colors, on Rives BFK paper, 1980
Image: 24 x 14⅛ in.
Sheet: 39¾ x 26¼ in.
Estimate: $80,000-120,000

JASPER JOHNS (B. 1930)
False Start II
lithograph in colors, on A. Millbourn and Co. paper, 1962
Image: 17⅝ x 13¾ in.
Sheet: 30½ x 22⅝ in.
Estimate: $80,000-120,000
 

ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG (1925-2008) Booster, from Booster and Seven Studies lithograph and screenprint in colors, on Curtis Rag paper, 1967
Sheet: 72 x 35 ½ in.
Estimate: $100,000-150,000
 

ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Crying Girl
offset lithograph in colors, on wove paper, 1963
Image: 17¼ x 23⅛ in.
Sheet: 18 x 24 in.
Estimate: $50,000-70,000