Ethan Allen's New Collection of Rare, Modern Art

Rare lithographs at Ethan Allen

Online Sale . . . Ethan Allen's collection of rare and collectible lithographs goes on sale June 1, 2014. The collection, which includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Calder, Dali, Chagall, Leger and Miro, was produced by the leading lithographer of the time, Atelier Mourlot, which began printing in 1852 in Paris. The atelier's most important contribution was the art poster, which it produced for the Eugene Delacroix exhibition in 1930, the Daumier exhibition and the Manet exhibition at the French National Museums. Mourlot's posters were prepared and produced as works of art in their own right, and they are now highly coveted. 

Ethan Allen's 81 artworks were printed by these master craftsmen at the atelier, often working directly with the now-legendary artists, who were known to be intimately involved with the production of their works. 

The collection is curated by Miller Opie, a senior director at the Danbury, CT-based company, who is a grad of the Rhode Island School of Design. Opie was kind enough to do a quick email interview for the blog about the collection:

"I grew up in  a family of artists and makers, so when I accepted this position, I was thrilled to put a special focus on art and wall decor in general. We have been working on this collection for about six months, as [CEO Farooq Kathwari] felt that the collection was so special we needed to make it a priority.

Rare artworks at Ethan Allan

"We have the big names in the modern movement: Picasso, Matisse, Miró, Chagall, etc. These artists shaped how the world looked at art at the beginning of the 20th century. But we also have truly unique pieces like two from Akira Kurosawa, who is mostly known as a filmmaker and director. We have an original André Lanskoy who created his piece after he moved to Paris to escape the Russian revolution. We have a stunning series of ten landscapes of Provence from Roger Mühl. Each piece has an interesting story.

"But what makes this collection different is that the pieces are vintage and available in very limited in quantities. Also, the artists are truly the great masters of modern art. This takes Ethan Allen wall décor to a higher level of quality and significance that we hope to build on in the future. I grew up with museum posters—a Picasso, a Kandinsky, and a Calder. So for me, it's absolutely thrilling to have the opportunity to own lithographs by these artists that I have always loved. The two Matisse pieces in our collection are of his cutout style, and a full collection of the actual cutouts, currently on exhibition at the Tate in London now, will be at MoMA in the fall of this year—and we have the lithographs at Ethan Allen. We plan to offer new collections in the future. I can't give any hints right now, but I promise they will be different and equally exciting!"

Here are some of my favorites, but visit their website here on June 1 to see the entire collection, including the rare art posters: