Sunday, February 10, 2008

From Berlin to New York



Self Portrait of Karl Nierendorf




From Berlin to New York:




Karl Nierendorf and the Guggenheim, an exhibition of approximately 70 works, including painting, works on paper, and sculpture, as well as historical exhibition brochures and announcements from the collection of the German-born art dealer Karl Nierendorf (1889–1947), will be on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum from January 26 through May 4, 2008.




This exhibition of selections from the Guggenheim Foundation Collection features works by Josef Albers, Adolph Gottlieb, George Grosz, Vasily Kandinsky, Ludwig Kirchner, Paul Klee, and Oskar Kokoschka, among others.



Formerly a banker, Karl Nierendorf began his career in the art trade in 1920 in Cologne, specializing in works on paper by German and Austrian Expressionist artists. In 1936 Nierendorf immigrated to the U.S.A. and established the Nierendorf Gallery in New York, where he encountered Hilla Rebay (1890–1967) and the newly established Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.




Nierendorf promoted artists represented in the Guggenheim collection, including Lyonel Feininger, Perle Fine, and Franz Marc, which led the Foundation to purchase a number of important works for its collection from Nierendorf Gallery. Following his death in 1947, the Guggenheim Foundation purchased the entire estate of Karl Nierendorf, thereby gaining not only works acquired for the Guggenheim during his travels abroad from 1946 to 1947, but also his gallery inventory and likely objects from the dealer’s personal collection.




This major acquisition enriched the breadth of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Founding Collection with a concentration of Expressionist works, such as Kokoschka’s Knight Errant (1915); Surrealist paintings; and significant holdings of Klee. Comprised in this major purchase are also early paintings by Adolph Gottlieb, which are among the first compositions by a member of the nascent school of Abstract Expressionism to enter the Guggenheim’s collection.



This permanent collection installation features both acquisitions from Karl Nierendorf’s galleries in Berlin and New York and from the dealer’s estate. In addition to historical exhibition brochures and gallery announcements, the exhibition will feature an interactive touch screen where the visitor can view archival catalogues, page by page.



Exhibition ToursCuratorial tours of the exhibition, free with admission, will be given on February 1, 8 and 15, 2008, at 2:00 PM.

No comments: