Untitled, made in 1982, is a beautiful acrylic on stainless steel which back gives a mirror effect. It is composed of 18 elements numbered 1 to 18, and once installed they are attached to a metallic support. It was commissioned by Walter Annenberg for his Palm Spring residence in the 1980’s and then sold to Ken Good in Denver, Colorado who kept it until he died, hence sold by his son and then acquired in auction.

The shapes painted on the work form triangles on one side and on the other side a series of small squares; they are composed of a myriad of exceptional colours in a way only Master Yaacov Agam may achieve. The triangles formed in the assembled work were a requirement by the first collector when he commissioned the work to the artist in an allusion to his business related to the TV, Triangle Publications Inc. a major media group founded in the 1940’s.

Yaacov Agam first visited the Palm Springs area in 1963 when he came to visit his uncle, Dr. Samuel Reinhard, who had retired to the desert community. In 1976, after Leonore Annenberg stewarded, the inaugural exhibition of Agam’s artwork at the Palm Springs Desert (now Art) Museum a relationship between the artist and the Annenbergs ignited. Agam continued to come to Southern California for the next 40 years.

Between 1976 and 1981, Leonore and Walter purchased and received as gifts 16 works by Agam of which nine remain in the Sunnylands collection. Some were displayed in the terraces at Sunnylands and others were displayed at Walter’s business offices in Pennsylvania. The Annenbergs enjoyed their Agam collection and showcased the art, which stresses illusory imagery, movement of form and time, and vibrant, dynamic color. Although there are no definitive answers as to why the couple collected so many examples of the contemporary art of Yaacov Agam, perhaps a number of elements—artistic, political, and religious—combined to capture their interest.