H erbert Ferber’s legacy serves as a mirror to the place and time in which he lived— a rare example of a man whose distinct understanding of the cultural zeitgeist was matched only by his own artistic contributions to it. Born in New York in 1906, Ferber witnessed and manifested the shifting landscape of art amidst the dramatic changes in America taking place from the beginning of the century through the second World War. While studying at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, Ferber enrolled in night classes in sculpture at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, graduating from both simultaneously in 1930. After joining New York’s Midtown Galleries in 1935, he took part in the first American Artists’ Congress before receiving his first solo exhibition at the gallery in 1937, and in 1940, joined the likes of Adolph Gottlieb, Meyer Schapiro, David Smith and his close friend Mark Rothko to found the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors.

As immersed in the arts as he was in the sciences, Ferber’s breadth of interests mirrored the remarkable reach and impact of his cultural patronage. His journey as a collector, an involved member of the New York School, and a champion of his peers all developed in tandem, resulting in deeply personal friendships with the most notable artists and cultural figures of his time. Sotheby’s is honored to have the opportunity to tell Ferber’s story through the presentation of his collection to market, a collection that emphasizes the inextricable link between Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism, and showcases the formative impact that African sculpture had on the development of art in the twentieth century.

Ferber’s life and career provides an intimate window into a crucial moment in the development of modern abstraction—a history which is preserved in and unfolds through the unique group of objects held within his personal collection. Ferber’s acuity to the cross-ventilation of influences at this moment in time is perhaps best visualized in the exceptional African sculptures that he collected at the guidance of William Rubin, particularly the rare Janus Kota Figure displayed prominently in his home, in key works from fellow members of the New York School, and in the formative works gifted to him by Rothko. An iconic example of Rothko's Multiforms, No. 6 was gifted to Ferber in the year it was made, the year the two artists met, and as such stands as a symbol of their respect for each other as innovators and intellectual equals. As reflected in their shared ruminations on Surrealism, epitomized by Ferbers fabulous early Rothko, The Entombment from 1944, the dialogue between Rothko and Ferber was personal and philosophic—they exchanged ideas, works, and ultimately came to value each other's friendship to such an extent that Ferber served as a close ally for Rothko's family during the affairs of his estate after his death in 1970. In the context of the mid-1940s, both Ferber and Rothko’s gravitation towards inspiration from the distant and recent past—through both ancient art forms and that of their predecessors at the turn of the century—propelled them to uncharted territories in abstraction.

In his conception of his own practice, as in his understanding of the abstract movement more broadly, Ferber’s contention that every work of art had a distinct “place” serves to illuminate an understanding of art in which a sensitivity to art history is made inextricable. In conversation with the prolific body of works Ferber himself created, The Ferber Collection reveals a collector distinctly attuned to the nuanced sensibility of his time, and to an artist who grew from, and undeniably contributed to, the fertile artistic circle of influence which surrounded him.

The 1930s marked a pivotal and prolific period in the development of Ferber’s personal artistic practice and broader cultural involvement. After joining New York’s Midtown Galleries in 1935, he took part in the first American Artists’ Congress before receiving his first solo exhibition at the gallery in 1937. In its earliest iteration, Ferber’s sculpture was centered around carving in wood and stone, with a distinctly figurative and poetic inclination. In 1940, Ferber joined the likes of Adolph Gottlieb, Meyer Schapiro, David Smith and his close friend Mark Rothko to found the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors. 1940 likewise marked a turning point towards abstraction within his sculpted work, cementing his association with the broader group of Abstract Expressionists. With works held in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art, Ferber’s body of sculpture is regarded by these institutions as pivotal to their comprehensive retelling of the formidable New York School.