Addie Herder: Machines for Living Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, Miami, Florida
On view: September 23, 2023 – January 14, 2023
The exhibition is dedicated to Alfred Allan Lewis (1929 – 2023), a donee, collector, and friend of Addie Herder (1920 – 2009). Tara Ana Finley, ISA AM, President of Anubis Appraisal and Estate Services did the fine art and personal tangible estate planning appraisal for Alfred Allen Lewis. Many of the Addie Herder collages in the current Frost Art exhibition were appraised by Anubis Appraisal and later donated to FIU.
Addie Herder was an American female collage artist born in 1920. The artist’s oeuvre includes fanciful compositions in two and three dimensional spaces. She used found paper and reclaimed objects in her work and was inspired by Louise Nevelson and Joseph Cornell. The exhibit is a great homage to the friendship of Alfred Allan Lewis and the artist. The catalog entries include Mr. Lewis’ personal notes about specific pieces. To read more on the exhibition at the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, visit Addie Herder: Machines for Living. The exhibition’s companion catalogue by Amy Galpin, Chief Curator, is also available for sale at the museum’s front desk.
1) Untitled, 1965
Collage construction, mixed media including boxes, paper, velvet, and jewelry
H. 7” x W. 5”
Signed and dated in blue lower right “A. Herder, 65”
Bequest of Alfred Allan Lewis FIU 2023.3.3
Appraised by Anubis Appraisal and Estate Services
This collage is an example of Herder’s interest in mixing different objects in order to create a cohesive composition. It includes boxes in red and black within a larger leather tray with wood discs, rectangles, and velvet covered pendant.
From the exhibition object label, it is noted that in her early career, Herder would set up along the boardwalk in Atlantic City to earn money as a portrait artist. Alfred Allan Lewis wrote that during her time along the boardwalk, “she began to collect the small shells and bits of debris that washed up on the shore, the type of bits and pieces she would later elevate into an art form. Her explanation was that each work began by putting together three or four of these objects, each an individual answer, and moving them around until they formed a question of relationships to which the finished work would be the answer.”
Images courtesy of Anubis Appraisal and Estate Services Inc.
2) Readings, 1987
Collage construction, mixed media on paper
H. 10” x W. 8”
Signed and dated in pencil lower right “A. Herder, ‘87”
#H-89 Bequest of Alfred Allan Lewis FIU 2023.3.6
Provenance: Davis + Langdale Company Inc, 231 E. 60th St, New York, NY 10022,
Appraised by Anubis Appraisal and Estate Services
Following Herder’s interest in found object and collage, this collage of mixed items is put together to create a window-like image. Previously exhibited at Davis and Langdale Company Inc, Addie Herder: Collage Constructions, on view May 6 – June 4, 1983, catalogue no. 17.
Image courtesy of Mateo Serna Zapata, from https://frost.fiu.edu/exhibitions-events/events/2023/09/machines-for-living.html
3) Untitled, 1987
Collage construction, mixed media including wood panels, paper, and metal
H. 18” x W. 13”
Signed and dated in pencil lower right “A. Herder, ‘87”
#H-89 Bequest of Alfred Allan Lewis
Provenance: Davis + Langdale Company Inc, 231 E. 60th St, New York, NY 10022
Appraised by Anubis Appraisal and Estate Services
With an interesting approach to found objects, Herder mounted four wood panels on artists’ board to create a cohesive image through collage.
Images courtesy of Anubis Appraisal and Estate Services Inc.
