Alfonso Ossorio and The Golden Age of New York Bohemia

Two works on paper by artist Alfonso Ossorio will be offered in STAIR’s upcoming Modern & Contemporary Fine Art sale on May 15.

Artist Alfonso Ossorio (1916-1990) was born in the Philippines into a wealthy sugar-manufacturing family of Hispanic, Filipino and Chinese heritage. After attending school in England, Ossorio moved to the United States in 1930 where he attended private school in Rhode Island and then went on to study Fine Art at Harvard University and the Rhode Island School of Design.

During this period, Ossorio created meticulously rendered drawings that combined Surrealist imagery with the religious symbolism that was part of his life-long engagement with Catholicism. Close friendships with Abstract Expressionist painters in the late 1940s influenced his movement towards Abstraction.  In the late 1950s, Ossorio began to experiment with assembled works, incorporating found objects into his paintings to create dense, three-dimensional works. His friend Jean Dubuffet called the work he made in a similar style ‘Assemblages’, but Ossorio chose to call his work ‘Congregations’, a word with obvious ecclesiastical associations rooted in Ossorio’s interest in religion.

Examples of Ossorio’s Abstract Expressionist style can be seen in two works on paper in our upcoming 20th Century, Modern & Contemporary Fine Art sale. Both drawings were gifts from the artist to friend and fellow artist Ingeborg Ten Haeff and her husband, John Githens.

Ossorio and the Githens were part of the same social circle in the Hamptons where Ossorio, at the urging of Jackson Pollock, had purchased the 60-acre estate known as The Creeks. Ingeborg Ten Haeff and John Githens were fixtures in New York and East Hampton artistic circles, along with friends Alfonso Ossorio, Alexander Calder and Willem de Kooning. Together, this group of friends represented the golden era of New York bohemia and provides an interesting and unique perspective on some of the 20th century’s most acclaimed artists and movements.

Preview 20th Century, Modern & Contemporary Fine Art on May 15 at 2 pm and register to bid.

CATALOGUE ONLINE: Friday, May 2, 2025

GALLERY PREVIEW:

Friday, May 2: 9am – 5pm
Saturday, May 3: 11am – 5pm
Sunday, May 4: Closed
Monday, May 5: 9am – 5pm
Tuesday, May 6: 9am – 5pm
Wednesday, May 7: 9am – 5pm
Thursday, May 8: 9am – 5pm
Friday, May 9: 9am – 5pm
Saturday, May 10: 11am – 5pm
Sunday, May 11: Closed
Monday, May 12: 9am – 5pm
Tuesday, May 13: 9am – 5pm
Wednesday, May 14: 9am – 5pm