East Hampton Estate Ready To Turn The Page

The $500 million that hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin recently paid media mogul and East Hampton resident David Geffen for paintings by the two most famous Abstract Expressionists may be too much for your wallet, but can you do $18 million? OK, that won’t get you a Willem de Kooning or a Jackson Pollock, but you will become the owner of an East Hampton manse originally built by a writer who was a friend to both, Bernard Harper Friedman, best known by his initials, B.H.

Mr. Friedman, who died in January 2011 at age 84, wrote well-received books about modern art and biographies, including one on Gloria Vanderbilt Whitney.

But his original career had been as a successful real estate agent in New York City. While a vice president of the Uris Buildings Corporation, Mr. Friedman began moonlighting as a writer of short stories and articles on art, music and popular culture, including his drug-fueled experiences with Timothy Leary.

The success of a novel published in 1962 allowed Mr. Friedman to become a full-time writer and move to East Hampton, where he befriended many of the artists of the New York School who had sought greener pastures and lower rents. His most famous book and the one that had the strongest impact on the Hamptons was published 10 years later by McGraw-Hill: “Jackson Pollock: Darkness Made Visible.”

Mr. Pollock had died in 1956 as his star in the art world was ascending. Still, he was not the household name he is today, whose paintings sell for tens of millions of dollars.

That progression was enhanced in 1972, when Mr. Friedman’s combination of memoir, biography and criticism appeared. It remained the standard book on the tortured artist’s work and personal life until “To a Violent Grave,” an oral history by fellow East Hampton author Jeffrey Potter, was released in 1985 and the first full-length biography, “Jackson Pollock,” by Deborah Solomon, was published two years later.

Success in real estate and writing allowed Mr. Friedman in 1982 to build a house on 2.1 acres overlooking Georgica Pond, and there he entertained those who remained in the Hamptons of the post-war generation of Abstract Expressionists.

The one-story, modern-style home underwent a complete renovation in 2006 and today features five bedrooms, six baths, glass walls that frame sunsets over the pond, heated pool, tennis and basketball courts, and a private office. The property, with a $17.98 million ask, is represented by Susan Ryan and Michael Schultz at Corcoran.

Mr. Friedman’s book on Pollock has been eclipsed over the years by subsequent releases and especially the prize-winning “Jackson Pollock: An American Saga” by Steven Naifeh and Gregory Smith, but it was a pioneer in elevating Pollock, de Kooning, and a few other Abstract Expressionists to legendary status. Hilton Kramer, the art critic for the New York Times, hailed it as “a book that everyone interested in the social history of modern art will want to read.”

And it helped build the author a house south of the highway.