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Masterworks of Craft from
Jane & Leonard Korman
9 November 2023 / 11 am et

Information View Lots View Catalog

Masterworks of Craft from Jane & Leonard Korman on November 9th presents a remarkable offering of works by some of the foremost American makers of the 20th century, from studio furniture by Judy Kensley McKie and Wendell Castle to monumental ceramics by Toshiko Takaezu and Jun Kaneko to exquisite glass sculpture from Harvey Littleton, Richard Marquis, and Toots Zynsky. A fixture of the Philadelphia arts community, Jane Korman embodied the belief that art and life should be intertwined in harmonious coexistence—a thread that weaves elegantly through this inspired collection.

Betty Woodman  His/Hers Vases, 4th of July  $40,320  

In over fifty years of helping to both build and sell collections, I’ve experienced only a small percentage of interiors that were assembled with an artist’s eye, where every element was carefully considered and chosen as part of a unified whole. Even rarer is a collector or designer who possesses the depth of knowledge and a nuanced understanding across various disciplines with the industry insider access to match. In walking through the home of Jane Korman, I soon realized she was one of those people. From fine art and prints (there is a Warhol portrait of her, now in the family collection; the Pop icon was part of her circle), to sophisticated glass, ceramics, and furniture, Jane Korman was consistent in taste and selection. Her impeccable design sensibility extended to the grounds outside her home, which hosted a large Richard Serra sculpture, a monumental Kaneko Dango, and an oversized garden bell by Toshiko Takaezu, who was a personal friend.

This curated sale is but a brief glimpse of Ms. Korman’s eye. As a gallerist specializing in fine and decorative art she was at least as influential in building collections as she was in supporting important artists for decades. I hope you enjoy exploring the exceptional offerings presented here as much as we did in working with the Korman family to assemble them.

—David Rago

Toshiko Takaezu  Makaha Blue  $126,000  

Dan Dailey  Bird Sconces, pair  $12,600  

Special New York Preview

Join Rago in New York for an exclusive preview of selected highlights from Masterworks of Craft from Jane & Leonard Korman: 

17 – 30 October 2023
11 am – 4 pm, Monday – Friday
or by appointment
507 W. 27th Street

Judy Kensley McKie  Table with Dogs  $69,300  

This auction will be accompanied by a full-color catalog.

Wendell Castle  Triad Chair  $37,800  

Art for Life's Sake

by Sarah Archer

Jane and Leonard Korman


Take a walk through center city Philadelphia, you’ll find evidence of Jane Korman’s vision all around you: on Arch Street, the innovative textile studios and galleries at the Fabric Workshop and Museum will be abuzz with creativity, with thought-provoking exhibitions on view. On Walnut Street, you’ll pass the Jane & Leonard Korman Respiratory Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital—an initiative inspired by her own experience as a lung cancer patient who never took the ability to breathe for granted. Each November at the nearby Pennsylvania Convention Center, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Contemporary Craft Show welcomes thousands of eager shoppers whose purchases support both the livelihoods of the artists displaying their work, and the Museum’s ability to acquire important works of contemporary craft. Korman was a longtime supporter and member of the Board of Directors of this annual event through the Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where she also served on the Modern and Contemporary Art Committee. And if you venture a bit further afield to the northwest corner of the city, you’ll reach the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, where Korman was a Trustee and chair of the Fine Arts Committee. There, she spearheaded the creation of a permanent installation for children called Out on a Limb: A Tree Adventure Exhibit, complete with a nest of giant robin’s eggs and a Squirrel Scramble. It was designed as a fully accessible place for children and adults to explore and revel in nature, and to help them see that “we need trees, and trees need us.” 


These efforts have something important in common...for Jane Korman, art, life and nature were not separate entities, but deeply intertwined facets of a life well lived.

These efforts have something important in common: breathing deeply and enjoying nature in every season, celebrating art and creativity in all its forms, and sharing the wonder of exquisite craftsmanship with the historic city she loved, all demonstrating that for Jane Korman, art, life and nature were not separate entities, but deeply intertwined facets of a life well lived. The diversity and exceptional quality of the works of art in this important sale speak to this sense of interconnectedness, and reflect her eye for idiosyncratic beauty and adventurous form. From the playful wit of Judy Kensley McKie’s furniture to the trompe-l'œil everyday objects created in clay by Marilyn Levine, Korman’s collection demonstrates reverence for material mastery, an appreciation for originality and non-traditional forms, and enjoyment of the unpretentious humor that animates craft’s whimsical side. It also offers proof of her artistic foresight: McKie’s Table With Dogs was featured in the American Craft Council’s exhibition New Handmade Furniture: American Furniture Makers Working in Hardwood back in 1979.

Cover of Jane Korman's 2010 book


She believed that like food and nature, works of art, craft and design are part of our shared feast, and should be enjoyed, not tucked away for “someday.”

Korman was well known as a connoisseur and philanthropist, but she was also a gallery owner and published author. Her 2010 book Splendid Settings: The Art + Craft of Entertaining captured the spirit of her much-beloved collection. On the cover, a bouquet of peonies keeps company with a pair of elegant champagne flutes and three brilliantly glazed works by Toshiko Takaezu; this could only be Jane Korman’s table. Born in Philadelphia, she earned a BA in fine arts from Arcadia University, married Leonard Korman in 1957, and they raised three daughters together. In 1977, she established a gallery dedicated to contemporary American craft called Sign of the Swan in Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill neighborhood. She later opened Swan Gallery near Rittenhouse Square, overseeing both spaces until 1989. Her passion for craft and expertise only grew as she became a trustee of the American Craft Council, and the Museum of Arts and Design, both located in New York, among other organizations. Splendid Settings explains how her varied passions overlapped: nearly 70 recipes, both her own and those shared from friends and artists, are presented against the vibrant backdrop of tables featuring Korman’s collections. She believed that like food and nature, works of art, craft and design are part of our shared feast, and should be enjoyed, not tucked away for “someday.” 

To build a collection that encompasses works from such a wide array of genres, time periods, and materials suggests that Korman was inspired by something akin to artistic hospitality. Her collection includes quite a few greats: delicate vessels by George Ohr, vibrant and modern forms by Lucie Rie and Ruth Duckworth, and luminous Toots Zynsky bowls that seem to radiate color and light from their fused glass threads. Rudy Autio’s Blue Horse and Rider shows a woman clinging to the side of a vessel as though it were a wild steed, linking the two distinct forms of pottery and sculpture as though they couldn’t live without one another. Also striking is the number of works obtained directly from the artist, or even commissioned specifically for the Kormans, like Wendell Castle’s sculptural sets of dining tables and chairs. 

Jane Korman admired beauty, but didn’t insist on a narrow definition of it.

Jane Korman admired beauty, but didn’t insist on a narrow definition of it. She felt a kinship with artists, being one herself, and understood them through a shared language. Many of the works in her collection are straightforwardly lovely, like Wayne Higby’s serene Landscape Bowl from 1980 or Harvey Littleton’s nearly-edible Ruby Sliced Descending Form from 1985. Others possess a kind of rugged beauty that can only be truly appreciated with an understanding of artistic intent and preternatural skill. Observers might have glanced at Marilyn Levine’s 1984 KCP Bag and seen an ordinary useful object—sturdy, but worn a bit past its prime. Jane Korman saw Levine’s artistic devotion to capturing the contours and details of a personal item freighted with meaning, something that deserved to be realized through careful attention and virtuosic skill. Like nature, artistic inspiration takes infinite forms, and what strikes most people as traditionally beautiful represents just a narrow band of human creative endeavor. As long as a work of art was a triumph of technique, keenly observed, and authentically inspired, it was welcome at Jane Korman’s table. 

Ingrid Donat  Femme Girafe floor lamps, pair  $163,800  

Masterworks of Craft from
Jane & Leonard Korman

Auction / Lambertville
9 November 2023
11 am eastern

Preview / Lambertville
2 – 9 November 2023
11 am – 4 pm daily

For more information:
609 397 9374
info@ragoarts.com

Lucie Rie  Vase with flaring lip  $30,240  

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