In a condemned house, not far from our Cape Cod headquarters,

was a lost painting by Black artist Norman Lewis,

a first generation abstract expressionist.

 

Eldred’s is proud to be helping bring this exceptional work, painted on the chimney of a summer cottage, to market. Fine art specialist Chrissy Berlane worked with local contractors to salvage and stabilize the painting as the house came down around it.

> Click here to read more in a recent WBUR article.

Untitled Abstract by Norman Lewis, 1960

from the Gill Cottage

Never before seen publicly and rescued from a condemned summer cottage on Cape Cod, this work painted on a chimney will come up for auction during our Americana sale April 3-4, 2025. Signed and dated, the work exhibits Lewis’s expressive and energetic brushstrokes that draw the eye around the composition.

The process

Amidst the rubble

The house, originally owned by Hampton and Marguerite Gill, was abandoned for many years following their deaths. Despite the surrounding rubble, the painting is striking and still in good condition.

Up close

The painting is covered in clear plastic before any demolition begins.

Hampton and Marguerite Gill

At this point we know very little about the original owners of the home, Hampton and Marguerite Gill. They were born in Virginia but spent most of their adult lives in Harlem, where they socialized with writers, musicians and artists.  This photo, with Hampton in the center and Marguerite on the far right, was found in the debris. Other bits we have uncovered indicate the Gills were well-traveled and involved in the social rights movement. Marguerite bequeathed two Norman Lewis paintings to the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Still standing

With the painting protected, the house was demolished around the chimney. Masons stabilized the brickwork and cut down the chimney to a few feet above the painting, then welders built a collar around it.

Lift off

A forklift was used to lift the painted section of the chimney off the structure and onto a flatbed truck. We consider ourselves a full-service auction house, but we never imagined that would one day include removing and transporting a chimney.

On its way to auction

The painting is safely loaded and on its way to our warehouse, where it has been stored leading up to auction.

About Norman Lewis

New York, 1909-1979

Norman Lewis was born and raised in Harlem during the years the Harlem Renaissance was in full bloom. His interest in art as a child was eclipsed by a lack of financial resources and his musically gifted older brother, who would become a professional violinist.

He was entirely self-taught until he met sculptor Augusta Savage, whose studio was in the basement of the tailor’s shop where Lewis worked as a garment presser. She provided him studio space and encouraged his studies and membership in the 306 Group, a collection of Black artists and writers who discussed art’s role in society.

In the 1930s he co-founded the Harlem Artists Guild and participated in the WPA as an art teacher. His paintings at this time were in the social realist style, powerful depictions of police brutality, discrimination, deep poverty and the hypocrisy of segregated troops fighting in World War II.

He came to realize, however, that mirroring social conditions didn’t change them, so he abandoned social realism to explore the aesthetics of color, form and texture. By the late 1940s he had established himself as the only Black artist in the first generation of Abstract Expressionists that included Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Koonig, with whom he regularly exhibited. His abstract work is known for rhythmic, vigorous brushstrokes that create an architectural structure, intricate calligraphic lines, and his marriage of bright colors with an extensive use of black.

Lewis’s art transitioned again in the late 1950s from pure abstraction to a unique blending of abstraction and figuration, often exploring issues surrounding the Civil Rights Movement.

In 1963, Lewis and several other artists formed The Spiral Group, which discussed how to increase the influence of Black artists in America and whether the realistic depiction of racial inequality in art helped Black culture.

Lewis’s resume included several well-received solo exhibitions at the Willard Gallery, inclusion in the 1951 MoMA show Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America and being the first Black artist to win the Popular Prize at the Carnegie International Exhibition for his “Migrating Birds” in 1955, but he never achieved great fame or financial success in his career. The white post-war American art establishment mostly dismissed the work of Black artists, and Black art dealers and collectors of the time mostly overlooked abstract art in favor of pieces that depicted issues of social justice. Lewis only infrequently was able to paint full-time, often supporting himself by teaching or driving a taxi.

His work fell into obscurity, and he was rarely mentioned in historical narratives about Abstract Expressionism until about 2015, when the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts organized a landmark exhibition of his work. He is now celebrated as a pioneering artist with a unique artistic vision who remained committed to his political beliefs throughout his career.

Lewis signature on right side of structure