Details
Peter Blume (1906-1992)
Nun Walking, Study for 'Tasso's Oak'
signed and dated 'Peter Blume 1958' (lower right)
gouache and ink on paper
22 x 16¾ in. (55.9 x 42.6 cm.)
Executed in 1958
Provenance
Durlacher Brothers, New York.
Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III, acquired from the above, 1961.
Blanchette H. Rockefeller, 1978.
Estate of the above.
Acquired by the late owners from the above, 1994.
Literature
W. Adelson, et al., The David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection: Supplement, vol. V, New York, 2015, pp. 87-88, no. 25, illustrated.
Exhibited
New York, Durlacher Brothers, Peter Blume: Preparatory Sketches, January 1961.
Manchester, New Hampshire, Currier Gallery of Art; Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Peter Blume in Retrospect, 1925 to 1964: Paintings and Drawings, April 18-August 16, 1964, p. 25, no. 69.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Peter Blume: Nature and Metamorphosis, November 14, 2014-September 20, 2015, pp. 264, 346, pl. 133, illustrated.
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Lot Essay

We would like to thank Robert Cozzolino for his assistance with cataloguing this lot.

The present work was executed in preparation for Peter Blume's monumental painting Tasso's Oak (1957-60) in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A surrealist rooftop composition inspired by the artist's time as Artist in Residence at the American Academy in Rome, the final version includes two nuns descending a staircase in the right background.

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