Grace Borgenicht Brandt
Grace Borgenicht Brandt (January 25, 1915 – July 19, 2001) was an American art dealer.[1]
Grace Borgenicht Brandt | |
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Born | Grace Lubell January 25, 1915 New York City, US |
Died | July 19, 2001 (age 86) New York City, US |
Education | B.A. and M.A. Columbia University |
Occupation | Art dealer Painter |
Spouse(s) | Jack Borgenicht (divorced) Norman Sachs Jr. (divorced) Will Brandt |
Children | 3 with Borgenicht |
Family | Benedict I. Lubell (brother) Eli M. Black (brother-in-law) Leon Black (nephew) |
Biography
She was born Grace Lubell on January 25, 1915 to a Jewish family in New York City.[1] Her father Samuel L. Lubell founded the Bell Oil and Gas Company, an independent oil refiner in Tulsa, Oklahoma[2] and Lubell Brothers, a shirt manufacturer in New York City.[3] She has two siblings: oil executive Benedict I. Lubell and Shirley Black Kash (formerly married to Eli M. Black).[2][4] She attended Calhoun School and the New College at Columbia University. In 1934, while still a student, she studied in the studio of the painter André L'Hote in Paris.[1] After returning to New York, she studied printmaking at Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17 and earned a M.A. in art education from Columbia.[1] After school, she painted professionally, having her first solo show at Chris Ritter's Laurel Gallery in 1947 and later became one of Ritter's primary financial backers.[1] After Ritter closed the Laurel Gallery in 1950, Brandt opened her own gallery, The Grace Borgenicht Gallery, in May 1951.[1] Her gallery focused on living American artists including Milton Avery, Ilya Bolotowsky, Jimmy Ernst, Wolf Kahn, Gabor Peterdi, Leonard Baskin, Edward Corbett, and Ralston Crawford.[1] She represented Avery until his death in 1965 and also represented Gertrude Greene, José de Rivera, Adja Yunkers, James Brooks and Roy Gussow. In 1995, she closed her gallery.[1]
Although known as an art dealer, she continued to paint and showed her work in the 1954 Whitney Annual and had a solo show at the Martha Jackson Gallery in 1955.[1]
Personal life
Brandt married three times. In 1938, she married dress manufacturer Jack Borgenicht; they had three daughters before divorcing,[1][5][6] Jan Borgenicht Schwartz, Berta Borgenicht Kerr, and Lois Borgenicht.[7] (Jack would go on to have seven more children including artist Ruth Borgenicht).[8] Her second husband was Norman Sachs Jr.; they also divorced.[1] In 1960, she married her third husband, artist Will Brandt.[1] She had a stepdaughter, Isabella Brandt Johansen[7] She lived in Manhattan and Watermill, New York.[1] Brandt died in Manhattan on July 19, 2001 at the age of 86[1] after an accidental fall.[5] Services were held at the Riverside Memorial Chapel.[7]
References
- Smith, Roberta (July 21, 2001). "Grace Borgenicht Brandt, 86, New York Art Dealer, Dies". The New York Times.
- "Benedict I. Lubell, Tulsa Oil Executive And Arts Patron, 87". The New York Times. December 14, 1996.
- "Samuel L. Lubell, Founded Shirt and Oil Companies". The New York Times. July 10, 1966.
- "Funeral Services Set for Tulsa Arts Patron Benedict I. Lubell". Tulsa World. December 14, 1996.
- "Grace Borgenicht Brandt, a New York art dealer and collector who specialized in contemporary American art, died Thursday of complications after a fall, her family said". Asbury Park Press. July 21, 2001.
She then married Jack Borgenicht, a dress manufacturer, with whom she had three daughters. Their marriage ended in divorce, as did a subsequent marriage to Norman Sachs Jr.
- Freehling, Allison (January 1, 1996). "High Profile: Jack Borgenicht". Daily Press.
- "Paid Notice: Deaths Brandt, Grace Borgenicht". The New York Times. July 21, 2001.
- "Jacob 'Jack' Borgenicht, 93, businessman, preservationist". New Jersey Hills Media Group. September 1, 2015.