20 | 21 Art  25 March 2020

Unsung Heroines 1967 – 1996

Women Artists from the Allan Stone Collection

The present lot is among the powerful selection of works by women artists from the Allan Stone Collection. Not only was Allan Stone a pioneering supporter of Abstract Expressionism and emerging artists, he also celebrated works by women who were forging new ground in the world of art, often without the support or recognition of the larger art community. Driven by personal experience and the need for expression, these women created inventive works exploring politics, gender roles, storytelling, abstraction and art history.  

He could make a visual decision very quickly. It was like love at first sight. He trusted his instincts.

Lorraine Shemesh

The Visionary Eye of Allan Stone
Allan Stone; Allan Stone Gallery, New York, c. 1975. Images courtesy of the Allan Stone Collection


Founded in 1960 by art dealer Allan Stone (1932–2006), the New York gallery known today as Allan Stone Projects has been admired for over half a century. Celebrated for its eclectic approach and early advocacy of pivotal artists of the 20th century, Allan Stone Gallery was a leading authority on Abstract Expressionism, the New York dealer for Wayne Thiebaud for over forty years, and showed the works of Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, Joseph Cornell, John Graham and John Chamberlain. Stone also promoted the work of a younger generation of artists that were in conversation with other artists in his collection, working in the mediums of assemblage, collage and new modes of abstraction. In addition to modern masterworks and contemporary art, Allan Stone also collected and exhibited international folk art, Americana and important decorative arts and industrial design.

Lisa Kokin b. 1954

Lisa Kokin is a multifaceted artist, best known for her collage and assemblage works. Using found or recycled objects such as books, photographs, buttons, clothing, and other ephemera, Kokin subverts everyday objects into fantastical and mysterious creations. This act of recontextualizing objects from their original purpose dismantles the viewer's preconceptions about the status quo.

Kokin was born in Mineola, New York in 1954. She received her BFA and MFA from California College of the Arts and Crafts in Oakland in 1989 and 1994, respectively. Over the course of her career, Kokin been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions at galleries throughout the United States and abroad. Her work has also been exhibited at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; the Oakland Museum of California; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Gallery; the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; and the New York Center for Book Arts, among many others. She has held teaching positions at California College of the Arts, the San Francisco Art Institute and the University of California at Davis. She also teaches workshops in her studio in El Sobrante, California. Her work is in the collections of the Yale University Art Museum, the Oakland Museum of California, and the Boise Art Museum, among others.

Auction Results Lisa Kokin

LISA KOKIN, Circumstances Beyond Our Control | ragoarts.com

Lisa Kokin

Circumstances Beyond Our Control
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result: $1,280