PROPERTY FORMERLY IN THE JIM AND REED PFEUFER COLLECTION

Accompanied by a certificate issued by Don Rafael Perez-Madero confirming the authenticity of this lot

Provenance: León Gallery, The Jim and Reed Pfeufer Collection: A Four-Decade Friendship with Fernan

Exhibited: León Gallery International, The Jim and Reed Pfeufer Collection: A Four-Decade Friendship with Fernando Zóbel, Makati City, 19 January - 6 February 2015

Literature: Ocampo, Ambeth R. & John Seed. The Jim and Reed Pfeufer Collection: A Four-Decade Friendship with Fernando Zóbel. Makati City: León Gallery, 2015. Illustration and photo caption on page 76.

ABOUT THE WORK

The lot at hand, a portrait of and by Fernando Zóbel, was included in The Jim and Reed Pfeufer Collection. A pen and ink on paper piece, it reveals the cordial facet of the fine artist’s personality, even perhaps the comical side of his character, which is not often exhibited in his abstract paintings. As recalled by Eric Pfeufer, Zóbel “seemed magical; always bringing fantastic presents, creating cartoons, and telling whimsical stories.” Zóbel was a close friend of the Pfeufer family, kept a strong bond with them and sent to them written letters, most of the time addressed to Eric’s mother, Reed, who was an artist herself. Her husband, Jim, was also inclined to the arts, although he had moved on to devote his career to poetry and graphic design. Jim and Reed took Zóbel under their wing while he was a student at Harvard. Of course, the friendship would span decades and, now, forever preserved in their shared words and art works of Zóbel. (P.I.R.)