WALLACE STEVENS' PERSONAL ART COLLECTION by Stevens, Wallace

The collection consists of twenty-seven works of art that Wallace Stevens purchased, starting in 1931, while living in Hartford, Connecticut, mostly through the Parisian bookdealers Anatole and Paule Vidal. Included are the still life by Tal-Coat that inspired "Angels Surrounded by Paysans" and Marchand's "Les Oliviers", alluded to in "Connoiseur of Chaos". The collection also contains a Georges Braque color lithograph "Nature Morte III: Verre et Fruit", pulled by Braque himself, an oil painting by Bombois, entitled "Le Loiret a Olivet", a Kandinsky lithograph, a pair of 19th century miniature jade-like carvings of Pekingese dogs, a Chinese woodcarved "Shouxing", and a Korean scroll "Flowers and Birds" and a "Portrait of Emperor Chenghua". In addition there are two portraits of Stevens. In addition to the original art belonging to Wallace Stevens, his very own over-sized walnut bed and matching armoire, his mahogany writing desk and chair, his ornate writing secretary, an exquisitely carved bedside stand, plus additional personal furnishings are included in this offering, including lamps with Asian motifs, Chinese tea tins and many other objects, including his pocket watch and pillbox. Our hope is that a research institution/museum will acquire this monumental collection and will dedicate an entire room for a permanent exhibition of the art that inspired his poetry, which in turn, inspired many great American artists of the mid-Twentieth Century. See references to Stevens' art purchases in "Letters of Wallace Stevens" edited by Holly Stevens. See "The Modernist Response to Chinese Art: Pound, Moore, Stevens" (Virginia, 2002) by Zhaoming Qian for Stevens' interest in Asian art in the article "Stevens as Art Collector" pp. 155-166 which includes photographs of the carving, the scroll, and the Portrait of Emperor Chenghua. Included, too, is a copy of nearly every book that Stevens wrote and the very rare "Stevens Family Portraits" and "Stevens Family" which he had commissioned to be done for him. Also refer to MacLeod's "Wallace Stevens and Modern Art: From the Armory Show to Abstract Expressionism" (Yale,1993). Provenance: Wallace Stevens-Elsie Stevens-Holly Stevens>Peter Hanchak. The purchaser will receive a letter of provenance. .