Beschreibung:

John Koch (1909-1978)Two Studies for Three Musicians: A Pair of Works signed 'Koch' (lower left) and dated and inscribed with title 'London '58. / Study for 3 Musicians' (lower right); signed 'Koch' (lower left) and inscribed 'man to right holding drink in (his) right hand / woman pours with her right / Metronome' (lower center) and dated and inscribed with title 'London 58 / 3 Musicians' (lower right) and inscribed 'violin / hand reaching' (center right); inscribed 'With best wishes / from / Dora & John Koch' (on a piece of paper affixed to the reverse) graphite on paper, each 9 x 6 in. (22.9 x 15.2 cm.); 6 x 9 in. (15.2 x 22.9 cm.) Executed in 1958, each.FootnotesProvenance Kraushaar Galleries, New York. Private collection, Connecticut. Private collection, New York. The present pair of works executed by John Koch in 1958 served as studies for his finished painting of the same year titled Three Musicians. In Three Musicians, Koch depicts his wife and pianist, Dora (neé Zaslavsky) Koch (1904-1987), partially out of frame holding a tea service tray in front of respected writer and Condé Nast Publications editor, Leo Lerman (1914-1994) who is seated closest to the cello. The model for the third figure between the two is believed to be pianist and music teacher, Paul Rotella. The present two studies provide a unique lens into Koch's thought process as he constructed the composition for one of his most recognizable paintings and reveals how carefully he considered the placement of his models. Rotella is seen in one of these studies standing rather than seated holding a drink in his right hand, as he does in the finished painting, and in another study, Koch considered having one of his models, likely Lerman, hold a violin. Though London is inscribed on each work, Three Musicians most likely depicts the interior of the Kochs' New York apartment in the El Dorado building on Central Park West.