As consummate patrons of the arts, Acey and Bill Wolgin did not just live with the art that they collected—they lived alongside the artists who made it. Through their generous support of both individual artists as well as institutions they cherished, the Wolgins became widely celebrated collectors known for their friendships with artists—including Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, Arman, and Robert Rauschenberg—that were sustained, not least, by legendary parties thrown at their Philadelphia apartment.
Bill Wolgin, who practiced as a urologist, met Acey through her brother with whom he attended medical school. The pair married and made strong roots in Philadelphia—indeed, the Wolgins may be credited for having a significant role in elevating the City of Brotherly Love to the cultural destination that it is today. In the 1960s, Acey was a founding member of the Arts Council at the Young Women’s Hebrew Association, which helped spark the city’s contemporary art scene. In 1974, Acey became one of the first women elected to the board of the Philadelphia Art Museum, where she served as a trustee and trustee emeritus for the rest of her life. When Robert Indiana’s LOVE stamp was released at that museum, Acey’s birthday party doubled as the event after-party. Among the attendees was the artist Arman, who absconded with a piece of the LOVE stamp-themed cake in order to seal it in resin.
The Wolgins would later relocate to Boca Raton, where they became actively involved in the Boca Raton Museum of Art and eventually funded the Wolgin Education Center. After returning to Philadelphia, Bill Wolgin would become involved in the Woodmere Art Museum as a trustee, helping to guide the institution’s expansion. Works from the Wolgin Collection are now held in all three of the institutions where they became involved, including Yves Klein’s Portrait Relief I: Arman at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Fletcher Benton’s Donut with Balls and Half Moon at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, and a group of large-scale sculptures by Sam Maitin at the Woodmere Art Museum.
Surrounded by his parents’ collection from a young age, Richard Wolgin recalls meeting many of the artists whose works he knew intimately—especially memorable was the flaming red hair of Jeanne-Claude when she and Christo dropped in one weekend. (When they weren’t celebrating together, the Wolgins kept correspondences with many of their artist-friends, who sent postcards and, sometimes, drawings.) As kids, Richard and his sister would, naturally, delight in playing with one of Harry Bertoia’s sound sculptures. When Richard was twelve years old, Acey gave him his first work: Roy Lichtenstein’s CRAK!, which he affixed to his bedroom wall with thumb tacks—inadvertently bringing the work back into the realm of mass media and pop cultural detritus that so inspired Lichtenstein.
The works featured in The Acey and Bill Wolgin Collection represent a life lived through, and for, art—“It’s not just buying something to hang on the wall,” says Richard, “it’s a piece of their lives, that are now part of our lives.”
Jon Kuhn b. 1949
Born and raised in Chicago, Jon Kuhn earned a BFA from Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas and a MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia. Prior to his graduate studies he had primarily focused on ceramics, but quickly took to glass at VCU and decided to make it his life’s work. After receiving his MFA in 1978 he embarked on a career as an independent studio artist, initially focusing on hot glass which he would often encase in rock-like exteriors. He then cleaved off parts of these sculptures to reveal the smooth, glistening surface within.
When Kuhn moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1985, he set upon the path that eventually brought him great acclaim. Settled in his new studio, he began focusing on what would become his signature processes: cutting, grinding, polishing, and laminating. A lifelong student of metaphysical studies—he read his first book on Zen Buddhism at just 12 years old—Kuhn’s work had long been inspired by spirituality, the pursuit of perfection, and our inner lives, and it was through these techniques that he was finally able to express the light and architecture of the spiritual realm.
From a one-man shop in 1985, Kuhn’s business has grown to a 28-person staff who help him execute his designs, creating approximately 100 works per year. His artisans melt colored glass into thin sheets which are laminated together in various patterns. The colored stack is then cut into narrow strips that are ground and polished, and this process is repeated numerous times. The sparkling, colorful core of one sculpture contains several thousand pieces of glass and takes up to two months to complete. After the core has been laminated and polished, it is encased in borosilicate glass and layers of leaded glass. Metalsmiths then create stainless steel bases or strands on which to attach or hang the finished sculpture. A single piece can take up to 18 months to finish.
Kuhn’s work is astoundingly complex, meticulously crafted, and dazzling to both the eyes and the mind. He has become one the leading glass artists worldwide with works in over 45 international museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Carnegie Museum, the White House Permanent Collection, National Museum of American Art and hundreds of private residences and public spaces. Reflecting on his oeuvre he has stated: “The goal of spirituality is perfection. Striving for perfection has never been more evident in what I do. Perhaps my sculpture has become an architectural model of a vision for a better world.”
Auction Results Jon Kuhn
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Photographs from the Polaroid Collection
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