?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
Petersen, Vita (1915-2011) Untitled.
Circa 1978.
Collage with hand-torn printed paper, signed in pencil on verso, 9 1/8 x 11 3/8 in.
Provenance: Private collection, New Jersey.
Petersen (1915-2011) was born into an aristocratic German family south of Berlin. While pursuing a career in the arts was not typical of young women born of her stature, her neighbor Max Liebermann (1847-1935) was impressed by her talent, and together they convinced her parents to allow her to study art. She first studied with Willy Jaeckel (1888-1944) and then attended the Berlin Academy of Art studying with Karl Hofer (1878-1955). With the onset of World War II, she moved to New York where she studied with Hans Hofman (1880-1966) and befriended Mercedes Matter (1913-2001) who introduced her to the artistic circles of New York. As she immersed herself in the Abstract Expressionist movement, she started exhibiting her work, including at the Betty Parsons Gallery in the 1960s and 70s. A noted colorist, during her career she moved between abstract and figurative work. When her vision became impaired later in life making it difficult to differentiate color, she continued to paint, working exclusively in black and white.
