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“Bernar Venet always intrigued me as an artist,” says Jerry Wind, “the size, the magnitude, the power [of his works].” According to Jerry, he and Dina first encountered Venet's work in Nice: “I think it was the first time that I saw anyone use the size of the steel that he does [to] create these amazing sculptures,” Jerry reflected. Venet first started to make his Indeterminate Lines in the 1980s, bringing the line into three dimensions by using a crane to manipulate and twist square steel rods. Describing these powerful forms, Barbara Rose writes, “Extrapolated into three dimensions the graphic line becomes free and playful, antic and unpredictable, thus gaining in force what it loses in rationality...The coiled spiraling bears the memory of the struggle between the artist and his obdurate material.”

When Jerry saw the present lot at André Emmerich's New York sculpture garden, he “fell in love with [it] instantaneously.” Having just moved to Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, he and Dina had enough space to install the work and make it their own. According to Jerry, the work is especially remarkable for appearing as one integrated piece that is actually three separate components—and for its versatility. “At different times of year, different types of day, depending on the light, you see it really differently," says Jerry. "It's a live piece...depending how you look at [it], it looks differently.” 

To encounter a private sculpture collection of this consistency, cohesion, and quality is exceptionally rare.

I have had the great pleasure of getting to know the Wind collection and the family through the lens of abstraction and sculpture. As the Executive Director of Grounds For Sculpture, I worked with the Dina Wind Art Foundation to commission an enlargement of Dina Wind's Harp of David #1 (1985/2018). Produced on our campus at the Johnson Atelier fabrication studios, the resulting 26-foot monumental, welded steel sculpture now commands attention at the heart of our 42-acre sculpture park in New Jersey. Early in the planning process, I vividly recall my first visit to see the collection Jerry and Dina had built. As one entered along the walkway, you encountered a series of thoughtfully installed sculptures nestled into the landscape surrounding their Gladwyne home. The collection was immediately familiar, with notable echoes of the permanent collection at Grounds For Sculpture, including work by Anthony Caro, Peter Voulkos, Paul Chaleff, Jon Isherwood, Barry Parker, Bernar Venet, and Robert Lobe. To encounter a private sculpture collection of this consistency, cohesion, and quality is exceptionally rare.

Dina Wind was a global citizen and artist. Born and raised in Israel, she moved to the United States in 1963 with her husband Jerry, settling in Philadelphia. There she raised her family while studying at the University of Pennsylvania, the Barnes Foundation, and with Philadelphia artists Sam Feinstein, Tom Gaughan, and Leon Sitarchuk. Simultaneously, she began her own studio art practice, first in painting and then welded metal sculpture. She became best known as a fearless lady welder at a time when this was quite unusual. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academyof Fine Arts, Woodmere Museum of Art, Grounds for Sculpture, WestCollection, Tel Aviv Museum and more.

She was a passionate advocate for the arts, sitting on many boards and believing in the “Power of Art” to help improve individuallives and society at large. With Jerry, Dina traveled the world, studying, appreciating,and collecting art and jewelry everywhere they went. Her personal style was always an extension of her creative spirit, and she wore her jewelry with confidence, mixing bold abstract pieces with family heirlooms. 

Dina passed away in 2014 from ovarian cancer, still young and vibrant at 76. In her memory, her family has created The DinaWind Art Foundation to continue her philanthropy and expand her artistic legacy.

The Dina Wind Art Foundation supports living artists and arts education, sharing the rich story of artist Dina Wind, ensuring her legacy, and promoting her art to inform and impact artists. As a female champion in a predominantly male world, she was an early advocate of creating work withan environmental message and was an outspoken supporter of social justice. The Dina Wind Art Foundation is inspiring tomorrow’s generation of art lovers and practitioners who are committed to making a difference