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The collection of Joan Oestreich Kend re ects a generations- renamed it The Lander Company. Known for his outsized
long a nity for carefully curating beautiful works of art. Mrs. personality, energy and entrepreneurial spirit, Charlie
Kend, the most recent steward of this remarkable collection, personally oversaw all aspects of the business, and introduced
carried on the tradition started by her parents of acquiring innovations in the marketing and design of its products. By the
highly personal pieces, resulting in a familial collaboration 1930s, Lander Company cosmetics had become a staple in
which evinces a high level of taste and connoisseurship across “Five and Dime” chain stores across America. Following WWII,
a range of collecting categories, including Impressionist and Charlie purchased the Carter family’s remaining interest in The
Modern Art, Chinese Works of Art, and Americana. Lander Company and became its sole owner.
Mrs. Kend’s parents, Charles and Sophy Oestreich, began In 1932, Charlie married Sophy Reis, also a rst-generation
collecting art in the early 1950s. Born in 1898 on the Lower American whose parents had emigrated from the Austro-
East Side of Manhattan, Charles (“Charlie”) Oestreich was a Hungarian Empire. A graduate of Hunter College, Sophy was a
fashionable and sophisticated woman who spoke uent French
rst-generation American citizen whose parents had emigrated and loved art and poetry. Known as “Spo” to her friends and
from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the United States. As a family, she introduced Charlie to the world of art collecting. After
young man, he worked as a salesman for E. C. Carter & Son, their marriage, Spo left work as a French teacher in Manhattan
a successful importer of French and Belgian lace founded and moved with Charlie to Great Neck, New York, to raise a family.
after the American Civil War. (The third generation of the Both Charlie and Spo became leading philanthropists in their
Carter family, Elliott Carter, Jr., became a legendary American community. Among other notable positions, Charlie served as a
composer who was twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize.) Forced Founding Trustee of North Shore University Hospital. The Hospital
to diversify the business when the market for handmade broke ground in 1953, thanks to the donation of 12 acres of land
lace curtains contracted, Elliot Carter, Sr., bought a perfume given by John Hay and Betsey Cushing Whitney who carved out
company and appointed Charlie as its manager. At this time the parcels from their “Greentree” estate in Manhasset.
perfume was a luxury enjoyed by only society’s wealthiest class
and produced primarily by fashion houses. Charlie and Spo became enthusiastic art collectors and
delighted in traveling the world in search of unusual pieces.
During the late 1920s, Charlie expanded the newly During a visit to Paris in the early 1960s, they saw Pablo
acquired company to manufacture lotions, shampoos, and Picasso’s Le peintre et son modele on display at the Galerie
other cosmetics for sale to cost-conscious women, and Louise Leiris. Spo fell in love with the painting and urged
Charlie to buy it. The painting was prominently displayed in the
foyer of their Fifth Avenue apartment for many years, before
selling at Sotheby’s in November, 2016 for $12,000,000.
As a young girl growing up in Great Neck, Joan Oestreich
Kend was surrounded by her parents’ collection of and
appreciation for beautiful objects. A graduate of Northampton
School for Girls, Joan attended Vassar College and graduated
from Columbia University’s School of General Studies,
eventually launching and sustaining a career in nance as
one of the few female stockbrokers on Wall Street. Her life
in New York City, where she was a member of the Harmonie
Club, was centered around her Fifth Avenue apartment, where
the majority of the Oestreich/Kend collection was beautifully
displayed against stunning panoramic views of Central Park.
On the weekends, she retreated to Millbrook, New York,
where she owned a sprawling country estate and enjoyed her
membership at the Mashomack Preserve Club.
Joan not only inherited works from her parents’ exquisite
collection, she also inherited their passion for collecting and
their appreciation of art in a variety of forms. Her collection of
Americana, carefully acquired through respected dealers and
auctions she attended personally, is a celebration of form and
function, highlighted by vivid folk portraiture and dramatic,
sculptural weathervanes.
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