Page 53 - Studio International - February 1965

The Grossman Collection

simple act of walking. Never has he expressed regret
at the loss of those capacities once so important to him .
It is, I think. inevitable that such a man understands the
difference between cost and value.
b o since
19 G curiously
simpl th to
possess that drives most collectors. For long periods of
t a a They
reason the and
desir object collection-as-status­
symbol notion, to which Americans are unusually prone
ludicrousl in t not
objects
acquired con-
whom.
p a,
Gr w i is ha b
or cause.
the
Grossmans as a single entity and this is quite unfair:
they are individuals in the most refreshing sense. Yet
in matters of art they are so utterly inseparable that they
do seem an entity. I think this in part accounts for the
level of their collection. Mrs. Grossman. a handsome
woman with a warm and melodious voice, insists that.
choosing independently, they almost invariably select
the same painting. During a Motherwell exhibition. for
example. which they viewed separately, Mr. Grossmarr
remarked that there was a painting that appealed to him
above all others. Out of a score or more works Mrs.
Grossman chose it unerringly. Thus the collection is,
almost uniquely, a partnership.
It began nearly by accident. In 1937. Mr. Grossman's
sister. the late Harriet Janis, a distinguished writer on
art and music, and the wife of one of New York's major
dealers, telephoned with a curious request: to visit the
studio of a brilliant young painter. desperately hard up,
3 and boost his morale. 'But,' admonished Mrs. Janis.
'be careful. He may be poor. but he is enormously
proud.' Piqued. the Grossmans complied. and returned
home with three paintings. Like all proper stories this
one has a moral: the proud but impoverished young
painter was indeed as brilliant as described-his name·
was Arshile Gorky. 'And then,' remarks Mr. Grossman.
'the abuse began.' It is an odd fact that in America, at
least. one's best mannered friends-those who would
find it unthinkable to criticize one's neck-tie-feel no
compunction whatever about flaying one's taste in art.
Like all individualists the Grossmans were undisturbed.
The two Gorkys in their collection (the third was a
gift to their daughter) are among his finest early works.
During the tragic days of World War II, Isabelle
Grossman, a well-known actress before her marriage.
produced films for the United States Government. and
Mr. Grossman poured his time and energy into the war
effort. but with the peace they resumed their interest
in art. Indeed, they were among the fir1,t to see and to
feel the electric atmosphere about them. Painters then
unknown to the international art world had begun
their assaults on history and the Grossmans were ready
for them. They were as unlikely a lot as was to be found
in the western world. A Dutch house-painter, a
Wyoming ranch-boy, a banker's son, a New York
college professor, a Canadian illustrator, an amateur
boxer from Indiana, a former actor from Oregon-all
unique, yet sharing a common quality: grandeur of
aspiration. Never before had the New York galleries
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