2: EDMUND LEWANDOWSKI (1914-1998) EXHIBITED OIL MOMA 1951

Edmund D. Lewandowski (1914-1998)
Christmas Tree (1950)
The abstracted, cubist influence study of an industrial refinery 'Christmas Tree,' or wellhead assembly, portrays the gauges, hand-wheel valves, cross-tees and stacked, flanged cylinders of an oilfield valve and gauge configuration. The work is signed and dated in black pigment lower left front, and is a perfect example of what the artist saw as, ''the beauty of machinery and industrial processes.'' A wellhead Christmas Tree controls the flow of oil or gas from a well or other source. Its nickname comes from its appearance: a tall, branching structure with multiple apparatus sticking out at different angles, somewhat resembling a decorated Christmas tree. Other industries employ the slang ''Christmas Tree'' metaphorically for any equipment set-up that bristles with lots of attachments, levers, or controls.

This widely exhibited work, never-before-seen at auction, was shown at t 16th Annual Wisconsin Salon of Art in 1960, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1951, and the Chicago Art Institute's 60th Annual Exhibition of American Art in 1951. It was pictured in the October 1950 issue of Art Digest, and later exhibited at the Downtown Gallery in New York City. It's also pictured in Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America by Andrew Carduff Ritchie, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1951, entry number 57 illustrated on page 89.
Canvas measures 40 x 22 with a framed size of 46.75 x 28.5 inches.
Very good original untouched condition. There are no issues of scratches, losses, repairs, in-painting or touch-up. Not relined. Certain paint colors brushed across the high points, but original to the painting, stand out under UV light.
$10,000 - $15,000