Joe Stefanelli, Abstract Composition, 1949, Joe Stefanelli (American, 1921-2017) oil on canvas, signed "Stefanelli" and dated upper right, signed on back stretcher, gallery stamp on canvas verso, unframed, 21"h x 30"w (total)

Provenance: From the Collection of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw; The Artists' Gallery, NYC

Notes/Literature: Joe Stefanelli, a first generation Abstract Expressionist, was part of the "Downtown Group", "The Artists Club", and showed at the "Ninth Street Show" of 1951. The Artists' Gallery was founded as a non-profit art gallery by Hugh Stix in 1935 and operated until 1964. It championed promising unknown artist and gave the first New York single person shows to hundreds of artists including Willem de Kooning, Louis Eilshemus, Adolph Gottlieb, Ben-Zion, Ad Reinhardt, and Louise Nevelson -- Art dealer, connoisseur, and philanthropist Eugene Victor Thaw (1927-2018) was widely considered to be among the world's greatest collectors of European master drawings, French Post-Impressionism, Cubism, and an early advocate of the American Abstract Expressionists. One of the most respected art dealers of his day, he is credited with placing hundreds of major works into museums around the world, and was the founding member and past president of the Art Dealers Association of America.

Fair/Poor, shows well, painted on unprimed canvas resulting in significant flaking and paint losses