Ken Sims, director of Manhattan-based Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts, was seeking inspiration for the gallery’s TEFAF presentation via 1stDibs when he discovered the crown jewels they will be debuting this week – a pair of paintings giant, ambrosial murals of the late American immigrant. artist Winold Reiss, both from the early days of the Empire State Building. Before Sims’ discovery, these sultry oil-on-board ovals were considered lost to history.
After confirming his suspicions with Bernard Goldberg himself, “we took a risk and bought the works without seeing them in person,” Sims told Artnet News. The Buffalo-based dealership, asking an unnamed price of around five figures, shipped them around the state. The New York Times said Renate Reiss, Winfold’s widowed daughter-in-law, identified and authenticated the unsigned Temptation And Animation from archive photos, sketches and expertise.
Six similar scenes, still lost, complete the complete series, created in 1938 to adorn the underground Salle Abstracte dining room of the former Longchamps restaurant on the ground floor of the skyscraper. The eight artworks were tossed in the trash in the 1960s to make way for a Mississippi riverboat-themed restaurant, which became a Starbucks in 2008.
Winold Reiss, Animation, (1938). Photo courtesy of Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts, LLC
No one knows how Reiss’ vibrant behemoths were saved. Both first appeared at Sotheby’s some 30 years ago, simply titled “Large Oval Abstract Paintings”. They reappeared under similarly ambiguous labels at a 2020 Showplace auction and sold for less than $3,000 each.
Now, Reiss’ name recognition is on the rise. “There’s definitely been a surge of interest in Reiss after the New York Historical Society exhibit last year,” Sims said.
“These are absolutely New York treasures and we would like them to be available to the public,” he continued of the works, which are expected to sell for seven figures each. “But there is no doubt that they would be trophies for a private collection.” He hopes their TEFAF screen will help locate the rest of the series, including Contemplation, Release, Anticipation, Fascination, WorshipAnd Exultation.
Until then, paying audiences will be able to savor these full-color salvaged murals for the first time, alongside a rare set of serrated chairs by Reiss, at TEFAF from May 12-16.
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