A Letter from the Tremaine Family

Hello!

Welcome to the Tremaine Collection digital hub!

Burton G. Tremaine II and Emily Hall Tremaine’s impact at the intersection of modern art, architecture, and industrial design was revolutionary. Architect Philip Johnson said that Emily had “an original eye,” and art historian Robert Rosenblum said that the Tremaine Collection was “so museum-worthy that it alone could recount to future generations the better part of the story of twentieth-century art.”¹ They were true visionaries, supporting visual artists, sculptors, and creative people whose careers were defining the field of contemporary art. Their unique viewpoints built bridges between disciplines in ways that connected the best and brightest and opened viewers to new perspectives.

Throughout their long marriage, beginning in 1945, Burton and Emily’s collection evolved with frequent acquisitions, trades, donations, and (in rare instances) sales. Notably, they collected as a team, requiring that each partner “like” the work and that each contribute fifty percent of the purchase price—which was often only several hundred dollars due to their preference for acquiring work of up-and-coming artists instead of established artists. Their passion and foresight, as it turned out, resulted in the collection becoming a remarkable investment. The majority of works still in Burton and Emily’s collection at the time of their deaths had greatly appreciated in value and were sold at Christie’s auctions in 1989 and 1991, with Emily’s estate endowing the family foundation that bears her name.

This website arose from a sense among our family that Burton and Emily’s incredible story was becoming lost to time. Records have been scattered, tucked away on closet shelves, and buried in libraries. Tales from our oldest generation were sometimes told, but not always captured with purpose. While many pieces of the former collection are hanging on museum walls, there was no complete catalog or unifying story. We wanted to compile and organize the information to make it accessible to a wide range of audiences.

Understanding this legacy and honoring it has been a lifelong journey for me and for so many in the family. I visited Burton, my great-grandfather, just once, at the Madison, Connecticut house, which was like an art gallery intertwined with an actual residence. I was five years old and knew nothing about the colonial history of the barn or the Philip Johnson additions, but vividly remember being in awe at Burton’s towering frame and of the vast property, complete with a pool! Sculptures were scattered across the lawn and tucked into hedges like Easter eggs. A massive, rusty steel cube stood at the forest edge—both the trees and the sculpture beckoned me to climb. Years later, I’d come to know “the cube” as Antoni Milkowski’s Salem #7 (1966).

The sculpture was later relocated to a berm overlooking my Grandma Dee’s (Dorothy Tremaine Hildt; daughter of Burton Tremaine II) driveway, beautifully lit at night. As pioneers in the design, manufacturing, and commercialization of lighting since the industry’s earliest days, our family knew the power of proper illumination. Before her passing, Grandma Dee donated the cube to University Hospitals in Cleveland, where it now greets visitors in their driveway. For me, the cube is one of many reminders of the collection’s endurance and of our family’s intergenerational belief in the value of art and the importance of philanthropy. We each have our own experiences with the Tremaine Collection, and you can hear stories from second-generation family members below.

As you explore this digital hub, you will encounter three distinct living legacies: 1) the impact and provenance of the Tremaine Collection; 2) stories of Burton and Emily as collectors, including their relationship with artists and creatives; and 3) the impact of their groundbreaking perspective on art and architecture that was prophetically expressed in the traveling exhibition and book entitled, Painting Toward Architecture. We welcome you to explore and submit your own connections to the living art legacies of Burton and Emily. You can also learn more about the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation and the Foundation’s recent acquisition of Burton and Emily’s former property in Madison, CT.

The family’s discovery process has been incredibly rewarding and continues to yield interesting and often obscure facts. The hub will be a place of ongoing story collection and we hope it will be a resource and inspiration to diverse audiences for generations to come.

On behalf of our family and the Tremaine Foundation Board, thank you for engaging with this history!

Cleighton Tremaine DePetro

Great-grandson of Burton G. Tremaine II