S. Roger Horchow was born in 1928 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His mother, a concert pianist, fostered an appreciation of the arts, contributing to Roger’s lifelong admiration of George Gershwin. Roger would ultimately produce Broadway hits such as the Tony-winning musical, Crazy for You. Carolyn Pfeifer was born in 1934 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Carolyn, known for impeccable taste and enviable style, was also celebrated for immensely charitable pursuits in their shared home of Dallas, Texas. Roger and Carolyn would be married for 49 years at the time of her passing in 2009 and their union would produce their eponymous business, The Horchow Collection -- the successful and pioneering, catalogue-only retail business. Similar to their own collection, Roger and Carolyn greatly enjoyed selecting the luxury retail offerings themselves, creating a successful brand with their vision.
For anyone fortunate enough to visit the Horchow residence in Dallas, one could not help but be inspired by the magnificent display of Matisse’s Jazz series upon walking into the home; only to soon realize that this was simply an opening act for the superb and broad collection that lay within. To have acquired many of these works in the early 1980s and 90s, when few private collectors were even aware of American Art, let alone American Modernism, speaks to the prescient eye of Carolyn and Roger Horchow. Theirs was a rare collection of fine art so profoundly moving and thoughtful in its range of subject and treatment; beginning with the sophistication of the Edward Hopper watercolor and whimsy of the Prendergast Venetian scene, from the delicate Joseph Stella florals to the bold color of Milton Avery, and from the exquisite precisionism of William Bailey and Janet Fish to the pure abstraction of Frank Stella and Bolotowsky. While it is one of the smaller-scaled pieces in the collection, Charles Sheeler’s Williamsburg Kitchen stands as a cornerstone to the collection, a grounding for the artist’s own modernist and precisionist interest, as well as a crucial work that amplifies the broader themes and modernist narratives that speak to the breadth of the Horchow Collection as a whole. Masterful works of Stuart Davis, Marsden Hartley, and Oscar Bluemner commanded their place of prominence as well and further reflect the Horchow’s sophisticated appreciation of the Modernist visual vocabulary.
Highlights from the Horchow Collection
Additional Sales
Contemporary Art Online
December 3–11 | New York
The Hundred Antiques: Fine and Decorative Asian Art
Spring 2021 | New York