Alex Cooper to Auction Mini-Retrospective of Acclaimed Artist, Ronald Markman

TOWSON, MD — September 24, 2020 – Baltimore-based Auctioneer Alex Cooper will host a one day auction on Saturday, October 3rd, featuring an expansive collection of modern and contemporary art, fine rugs, period, mid-century modern, quality reproduction and period furniture, and decorative arts.

Lot 1010, Ronald Markman, Curious, mixed media, c. 1970; Estimate $2,000-$4,000

The auction is headlined by a nineteen piece “mini-retropspective” of the work of artist Ronald Markman, many of which are mixed media sculpture—wood, tin, acrylic, plastic, jewels, as well as several whimsical drawings and etchings. Markman, who passed away in 2017, had been an artist since his childhood in the Bronx. He trained as a cartoonist in his teens, and later earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts through the GI Bill at Yale University, where he studied under Josef Albers. A member of the Chicago Imagists, his work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Art Institute in Chicago and the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC.

In 1965, Markman joined the Terry Dintenfass Galley in New York City. Dintenfass, a prominent New York City gallery owner, had built a reputation as a dealer of iconic artists outside of the mainstream including Jacob Lawrence, Horace Pippin and Ben Shahn.  In reviewing Markman’s first Dintenfass show in November 1965, John Canady of the New York Times wrote “Paul Klee seems to have been crossed with Mad magazine in these extremely detailed and often hilarious fantasies. The paintings are big and bright; a series of etchings are worth very close attention… everywhere the hilarity has an undertone of ‘Better laugh while the laughing’s good’.” 

“We are thrilled to present the capsule collection of such a notable artist,” said Paul Cooper, Vice President of Alex Cooper. “We know they will bring joy to anyone who sees them.”

The Auction will begin at 10:00am EST on Saturday, October 3rd.  The auction will take place at Alex Cooper Auctioneers, located at 908 York Road in Towson, Maryland.