On Monday, November 18th, 7pm – Sotheby’s Modern Evening Sale will include the below painting by Henri-Edmond Cross, originally owned by my grandmother, Dr. Ruth Lewis Farkas.
When I visited the Sotheby’s preview last week, I was excited to find this beautiful and very personal work of art that I used to sit beside as I was growing up. I associate this painting with my personal history, but even more so with my Grandmother.
Henri-Edmond Cross, Eucalyptus et oliviers
signed henri Edmond Cross (lower left)
Oil on canvas
29 ⅛ x 36 ⅛ inches
Executed in Saint-Clair in July-October 1907
Earlier this year, Sotheby’s overhauled their buyers’ premium, lowering their fee structure to 20% and simplifying it, in order to bring in more clients.Read more on the Sotheby’s website.
It would have made my grandmother very happy to know that this important painting is being sold at Sotheby’s, which is totally aligned with the values and morals she held as an innovative retailer who cared about providing transparency and exceptional value to her clientele.
“These changes are something we’ve been contemplating for a long, long time,” Charles Stewart, Sotheby’s chief executive officer, told ARTnews. “I think this it’s good to have a fair, and clear, set of terms in the art market. This is kind of a growing-up moment. It’s a step toward maturity for the art world.”
As stated in the ARTNews article, “Sotheby’s is also getting rid of Overhead Premium, a 1 percent administrative charge on all sales, and adding a “success fee” of 2 percent on lots where the work hammers above its high estimate.”
More about Dr. Ruth Lewis Farkas:
Dr. Ruth Lewis Farkas was a remarkable woman with a multi-faceted career spanning education, sociology, business, philanthropy, and invention. She was born in New York City in 1906 and earned a Bachelor’s Degree from NYU in 1928, followed by a Master’s degree in Sociology from Columbia University in 1932, and a PhD from NYC in 1958. She held numerous leadership roles in education and sociology, and in 1964 she was appointed to a high-ranking position at UNESCO by then Secretary of State Dean Rusk. In the following years, she was the first alumna and only the 3rd woman to ever join NYU’s board of trustees, since its founding in 1831.
In 1973, she became the American Ambassador to Luxembourg, Ambassador Ruth Lewis Farkas.
Most importantly, my Grandma was a trailblazer, innovator, rule breaker and, of course I admired, learned from and had loads of fun with her. Miss her and the art she surrounded herself with, as this became her legacy and mine.
My grandmother patented the “roller muff,” which fit around the handlebars of strollers and kept mothers’ hands and nursing bottles warm. The muff could also be taken from the handlebars and worn around the hands during cold weather. She enjoyed nothing more than a good schmooze over a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich at the Palace diner on East 57th Street (and it still exists). As a sociologist, Farkas conducted research in the area of gender studies and perceptions at the Role Foundation, which she organized in 1967.
Farkas continued her contributions to the less fortunate. An active member of the Jewish community, Farkas was awarded the Louise Waterman Wise Distinguished Service Award in 1966 for leadership in welfare and educational causes. Upon her death, she was hailed as a determined force in social welfare causes and as a friend, mentor, and counselor to many. Her life demonstrated the possibilities that exist for a woman of determination, intelligence, and education.
