Lee Mullican’s paintings have the unusual distinction of being both period pieces and, apparently, ahead of their time.
The New York Times
A tireless collector, patron, and curator committed to new and emerging art, Kenneth L. Freed assembled a broad and smart collection over the course of his lifetime. He acquired a vast majority of the works from the primary market or directly from the artist’s themselves, often selecting seminal works by artists who were at the time still relatively unknown. This special presentation is Rago's final offering of works from Freed's remarkable collection.
By dint of his untiring commitment to and passion for new and emerging art, Freed assembled his expansive, informed collection over the course of 25 years. Often befriending the artists whose works he acquired, Freed was driven by a sincere passion for discovery of new and under-recognized talent, and uncovered his own aesthetic identity along the way. The selection offered here includes seminal and key works by artists who, though relatively unknown at the time, would become much sought after, among them Kevin Appel, Tam Van Tran, and Udomsak Krisanamis.
In addition to his contributions as an art collector, curator and patron, Freed is recognized as a writer, scholar, and intrepid traveler. Prior to his passing, he was involved with a number of Boston-based organizations, including the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Boston Lyric Opera, and the Boston Latin School Association.
Kenneth L. Freed in conversation with art journalist Louise Nicholson about becoming a collector, the joy of the chase, and his advice to collectors today:
Louise Nicholson: Ken, when did you start collecting?
Kenneth L. Freed: I make a distinction between when I started to buy art and when I started to collect. The first thing I bought was in 1973 when I got my first job that actually paid me something. I bought a Robert Motherwell print, one of the Africa series. But it wasn’t until the early 90s that I decided to pursue art in a more focused way. I set out to be modest and domestic; instead of storing big pieces of work I would collect drawings, all contemporary and, at that point, American.
LN: And how did your focus change from drawings to sculpture?
KF: I met lots of young artists, doing roughly what you might call post-minimalist, post-Tuttle kind of art. And I met young dealers all hiding from their creditors because the market had collapsed in the early 90s. I started to see things I liked, and in a small way to acquire little installations, little scattered bunches of objects. Then, in the mid-90s two things happened that totally changed my life. One, I started to travel a lot, to go to LA and Europe because I had time; to Berlin, to Rio, São Paulo, and occasionally to London.
LN: And the other thing that changed your life?
KF: I started to see things that attracted me in sculpture. I went to an auction in Guadalajara where I was offered a piece by a Brazilian artist that collapses down into a nice little box but when you put it up it would fill a whole room. And I turned to a very famous Miami collector and said: "You know, Carlos, I’m never going to be able to put this in my home." And he replied, "That’s how it starts!" Anyhow, I bit the bullet, rented a storage space and from that point on there was nothing to limit me. I became a collector of painting and sculpture by lesser-known and emerging artists.
LN: Do you enjoy the chase, which seems to be an important part of being a true collector?
KF: Yes. It became a kind of hunt, a sport. I found people of talent, then tried to connect the dots, to try to find out “I like this, and this, I don’t like that.” And to build a kind of mental map of who is doing this art, what makes it interesting, and so forth. That’s what I have found compelling for roughly 15 years.
LN: You have been a patron of unknown artists who then go on to be highly respected. Does this give you great pleasure?
KF: Absolutely! If it weren’t for that aspect I don’t think I would have done this. It was not primarily about acquiring things; acquiring was a consequence of the activity, the activity being finding the people, finding the art, trying to encourage them, curating shows and showing the work in my very filled apartment – having open houses, inviting people, and all that; getting the word out. So, buying the art was a way of saying "I think this is good."
LN: How did you seek the artists out?
KF: Initially, it started through meeting young gallerists. They introduced me to young artists, who talked about other artists. The information is always there. It is a question of having the sense of which information you have to acknowledge. It becomes an experience thing, and eventually automatic.
LN: Did you go to directly to artists’ studios?
KF: Yes, especially in other cities. I would get a young artist to drive me around and we would visit a variety of collectors, artists—young and more experienced—and galleries.
LN: How do you see the difference between investment collecting and what you have done?
KF: Well, if you can’t trust your own aesthetic judgement, then what is the point of getting involved? You need to spend some time making mistakes when you start out. To some extent, it was about trying to help young artists and educate myself, and in another way, it was just the sensuous and intellectual pleasure of it.
LN: How would you describe your collection? And what brings you to sell it now?
KF: I chose it all, not dealers. And for 99% of it I was the first owner. Now I want my babies to grow up and take care of themselves! I want it all out there. I’m offering a very wide range of material, about 900 of the 13,000 pieces I have. I have absolutely no regrets; it’s been a wonderful ride, totally, but it’s one that’s coming to its natural end.
LN: Finally, what is your advice to a budding collector?
KF: Buy early and often! The best place to start to learn is the group shows. If you are interested, get into it, do it until it plays itself out and then move on, which is what I’ve done. Basically, you’ve got to stumble, to buy things you like, then let your taste develop because if it doesn’t, you’re robbing yourself of what is the special value of the whole process.
Lee Mullican 1919–1998
Lee Mullican was as a member of the Dynaton movement, a group of artists, named after the Greek word for “the possible,” that acted as a bridge between the European Surrealist and American Abstract Expressionist schools. The Dynaton collective, while short-lived, is remembered for its landmark exhibition in 1951 at the San Francisco Museum of Art.
Lee Mullican was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma. His father was a school teacher and business man and his mother was an amateur artist. In 1937, Mullican left Chickasha for Abilene, Texas where he attended Abilene Christian College. From 1939 to 1941 he attended the University of Oklahoma before completing his final year of college at the Kansas City Art Institute from which he graduated in 1942. He was then drafted into the army completing three years of service in California, the South Pacific and Japan serving as a topographer. After the war, Mullican relocated to the Bay Area and settled into the art and literary community meeting English surrealist Gordon Onslow-Ford, painter Wolfgang Paalen and architect Eric Mendelsohn. His first one-man show was at the San Francisco Art Museum in 1949. In 1951 Mullican moved to Los Angeles with Luchita Hurtado (Paalen’s former wife). In 1959-1960 he and his family spent a year in Rome on a Guggenheim award he received. He returned from the trip taking a teaching position at the Universtiy of California, Los Angeles where he worked for several years.
Today, Mullican’s works are included in the permanent collections the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of Modern Art, among others. His work was also included in the Getty Museum’s 2011 Pacific Standard Time exhibition.
