(Providence 1912–1998 Milan)
Untitled, c. 1948, oil on panel, 66.2 x 82 cm, framed

This Work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity released by The William G. Congdon Foundation

Provenance:
Private Collection, Venice
Private Collection, Rome

From the second half of the Forties when William Congdon had moved to New York City, cities became the leit motif of his painting. New York had gained an artistic culture that was as stimulating as that of Paris in the Twenties. While in New York, he met Betty Parsons and had his first one man show at her gallery in 1949. Only a few years later he exhibited at the Whitney Museum. Congdon had become one of the leading artists in the United States and attained an international reputation as abstract expressionist. He soon started traveling ending up in Venice where he befriended Peggy Guggenheim, another of his well known collectors. He chose Venice as his home for almost ten years. Venice was a place he had visited with his family when he was a child and where he had the chance of admiring the great Renaissance painters of that area as well as more contemporary artists like Turner and Monet who had depicted this extraordinary subject. The tragedies of the war, the rejection of the American dream and of the material played an important role in his decision to spend time in Venice. The great quality of his views of Venice was soon recognized in the United States, this painting executed at the end of the Forties is an example of this known series of works.

Quote:
“Inextricably linked in the annals of art history, neither Peggy Guggenheim nor Betty Parsons possessed a head for business, yet their respective galleries, which showcased the most radical new talent in America, may be considered the progenitors of Abstract Expressionism or, more aptly, the New York School.”
Susan Davison, Feminism for the Most Masculine: how two women launched an art market- in Abstract Expressionism, London Royal Academy of Arts 24-9-2016, 2-1-2017 p. 86