Ice Plant

Notes

LITERATURE R.B. Freeman, Ralston Crawford, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 1953, p. 45, no. 37.7. J.L. Winokur, "Carnegie Show Charmingly Eclectic," Sunday Tribune-Review, August 4, 1985. H. Schwalb, "A Family Affair: 'Fisher Highlights' uncovers some important Americans cropping up on dining-room walls," October 1985, p. 35. EXHIBITED Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. James A. Fisher, July 20-September 8, 1985. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art; Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection; Portland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum; Akron, Ohio, Akron Art Museum, Ralston Crawford, October 3, 1985-November 2, 1986, pp. 37-38, 158, fig. 30, illustrated. Conditions of sale Brought to you by Quincie Dixon Associate Specialist, Head of Sale Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this QDIXON@CHRISTIES.COM +1 212 636 2141 VIEW CONDITION REPORT LOT ESSAY Present lot illustrated (detail). Crawford ultimately found beauty in the industrial landscape… I.H. Shoemaker Born in Ontario, Canada, Ralston Crawford studied art at several institutions, including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, where he encountered the Precisionist art of Charles Sheeler and Charles Demuth. Their depictions of modern America utterly fascinated Crawford, inspiring him to begin working in a similar mode. Striking in both scale and color, Crawford’s Ice Plant explores classic Precisionist subject matter and style with the increasingly abstract approach that would shape the artist’s subsequent oeuvre. While he began painting more traditional landscapes, “Crawford ultimately found beauty in the industrial landscape, especially shipyards, grain elevators, bridges, highways, tanks, and the like. In about 1934-35 he begun to treat those subjects as large, simplified shapes, which he painted as sharp-edged planes of broad, smooth areas of color.” (I.H. Shoemaker, Adventures in Modern Art: The Charles K. Williams II Collection, exhibition catalogue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2009, p. 102) Indeed, works such as Ice Plant characterize this “unflinching simplicity from which [Crawford] had eliminated all extraneous detail in favor of large simple shapes silhouetted against a clear blue sky.” (B. Haskell, Ralston Crawford, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1985, p. 37) Ralston Crawford, Ice Plant, 1937-38. Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri. © 2026 Estate of Ralston Crawford / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York READ MORE OF THE LOT ESSAY The collection In 1981 my husband, Jim, and I began to focus on collecting American Modernist works, having an affinity for this early 20th century movement, much of which paralleled our youth. The range of subjects and styles, and the spirit of American art, 1900-1950, resonated with us and living with these works has been deeply rewarding. Toto Fisher Jim and Toto Fisher, 1980s. Photograph courtesy the Fisher family. Edith ‘Toto’ Fisher and her husband Jim were pillars of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania arts community. In addition to thoughtfully assembling an impressive Modern American Art collection of their own, the Fishers dedicated themselves to their local arts institutions, not only as donors, but most importantly as civic leaders inspiring generations to come. Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1929, Toto graduated from Garland Junior College before beginning her career as a primary school teacher in Massachusetts and later New York City. In 1955, she married Jim Fisher, a native of Pittsburgh and executive at Fisher Scientific Co. (now Thermo Fisher Scientific), which was founded by his father. Described by Jim as “an active outgoing young woman who was caring, gregarious, loving, enormously devoted to others,” Toto quickly embraced her new hometown and became active in local organizations, such as the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. An avid fan of the symphony, in 1973 Toto helped to launch a local classical music radio station, WQED-FM. The Andy Warhol Museum simply would not exist were it not for the passion and foresight of Toto and Jim. Patrick Moore, former director of The Andy Warhol Museum Shortly after Andy Warhol died in 1987, the Fishers advocated for Pittsburgh as the best home for the Warhol Museum. As Patrick Moore, the former director of The Andy Warhol Museum and vice president of Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, recounted, “The Andy Warhol Museum simply would not exist were it not for the passion and foresight of Toto and Jim. Their relationship with Fred Hughes, Warhol’s former business manager, was central to bringing the project to fruition. And their continued support and advocacy after the museum opened were critical to it being the success it is today.” Left: Georgia O’Keeffe, Red Cannas, circa 1918-20, Carnegie Museum of Art, Bequest of Edith H. and James A. Fisher. © 2025 Georgia O'Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Right: Joseph Stella, Song of Barbados, 1938, Carnegie Museum of Art, Bequest of Edith H. and James A. Fisher. The Fishers were particularly dedicated to the Carnegie Museum of Art. Jim was a trustee emeritus and longtime Institute vice president, playing a key role in two capital campaigns. He also helped lead the effort to establish the Carnegie Science Center, now the most visited museum in Western Pennsylvania. Also a Carnegie Institute and Museum trustee, Toto co-founded the museum’s docent program, was president of the Women’s Committee and spearheaded the fundraising publication of the Carnegie Treasures Cookbook of recipes associated with the museum community. In 1975, they funded the commission of a major Louise Nevelson sculpture on the occasion of the opening of the Sarah Scaife wing. In addition, the Edith H. Fisher Fund helped acquire a number of important paintings for the institution, including works by Milton Avery, Burgoyne Diller, Agnes Martin and Robert Ryman. Reginald Marsh, Pennsylvania Mining Town, 1932, Carnegie Museum of Art, Bequest of Edith H. and James A. Fisher As neither Jim nor Toto were raised in homes with fine art, they developed their collecting interests together. Beginning with local artists at Pittsburgh fairs, they explored the Cobra artists from Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam before transitioning to early 20th Century American art. Toto explained, “We realized the [Carnegie] Museum of Art was moving more toward American and contemporary art. We talked to [director] Jack Lane about collecting with the intention to fill voids in the museum’s collection.” Indeed, personal bequests to the Carnegie from the Fishers’ own collection included Georgia O’Keeffe’s important early flower watercolor Red Cannas, Reginald Marsh’s magnificent tempera Pennsylvania Mining Town and Joseph Stella’s wonderful Song of Barbados. The Fisher Look is often lyrical, frequently somewhat surreal, always serious. There is a palpable sense of art history. Harry Schwalb, Pittsburgh, October 1985 The most important uniting factor is the high quality of each work. As Toto explained, “I don’t say I want an O’Keeffe. I want a significant painting by O’Keeffe. The painting, not the name…Exposure to the best lets you recognize the best.” The Fisher collection includes the best of Precisionism, including a stellar industrial painting by Ralston Crawford and a wonderfully intricate drawing by Charles Sheeler of the artist’s photography studio. Important early works by Arthur Dove and Patrick Henry Bruce converse alongside a meditative late-career Marsden Hartley. Throughout, there is an interplay of media: a sculpture by Gaston Lachaise beside paintings in oil and works on paper in charcoal and conté crayon. Toto summarized, “The collection is very eclectic but there is a relationship. There are milestones in it…The art has a sense of timelessness and beauty.” Toto Fisher with Hans Hofmann’s Atelier (Still Life: Table with White Vase). Photograph courtesy the Fisher family. Toto Fisher’s advice to new collectors: You buy the painting, then decide where it’s going in your home. It will find a place. Paintings of comparable quality will get along together even though each is very different. The idea is not to buy a painting by a particular artist but a significant work of art. Christie’s is honored to present The Collection of Toto & Jim Fisher to the next generation of passionate art collectors. READ MORE OF THE COLLECTION