The Guggenheim Museum
Bilbao
October 25 , 2019 – February 16 , 2020
October 25 , 2019 – February 16 , 2020
Masterpieces of the Kunsthalle Bremen: From Delacroix to Beckmann, is an extraordinary selection from the holdings of the Kunsthalle Bremen which reveals the close ties between German art and Fre nch art in the 19th and 20th centuries. In addition to the lively dialogue be tween two parallel artistic streams which changed the way modern art was viewed, the exhibition also reflects the unique history and artistic discourse of this museum in a survey that starts with Romanticis m and then dips into Impressionism, Post - Impressionism, the artists’ colony of Worpswede, and German Expressionism. private donations of its members under the aegis of non - expert leaders. Pauli based his acquisition policy on a dynamic dialogue between French and German art. The story of the Kunsthalle Bremen is also the story of the progress of a city with global connections in business, trade, naval construction, and maritime sailing forged over the course of centuries, which echoes the journey of Bilbao as well.
TOUR THROUGH THE EXHIBITION
Gallery 305: From Classicism to Romanticism This gallery
illustrates the evolution of German and French art from late Neoclassicism
until Romanticism and the postulates cultivated by German and French artists. Literary themes and the exploration of extreme moods burst forth from French
Romanticism, in contrast to the quiet observation of nature, the reflection on
mortality, and the admiration of the classical Mediterranean ideal, the
hallmarks of the German artists. Classicism The city of Rome ha s always
exerted enormous appeal on artists and intellectuals. Painters, sculptors,
and architects have traveled to the Eternal City from many northern European
countries since the 17th century. In 1809, a number of German artists banded
together to form the Brotherhood of Saint Luke (Lukasbund ), and one year
later they moved to Rome to live and work there communally. They aspired to
follow not the ideal of classical Rome but the biblical episodes in the style
of Raphael. Their goal was to restore the classical style and use their works
to appeal to the masses. Living in Sant’Isidoro monastery, they began to wear
loose clothing and long hair, just like Jesus of Nazareth, the source of their
nicknames the “ Nazarenes .”
The beauty of Italian women fascinated those northern artists. The Nazarenes primarily appreciated the figures that represent ed Raphael’s ideal, and the most celebrated example is
Portrait of Vittoria Caldoni (1821) by Theodor Rehbenitz .
Likewise, the defined shapes, delicate lines, and painstaking study of the surfaces define Young Woman (Melanchola ), which Théodore Chassériau painted around 1833 – 35 following the principles of Classicism. In this work, more than depicting a specific person, the artist is representing a young woman who embodies a common theme in that era, the “ sweet melancholy ” of the French tradition. Romanticism In the 1830s and 1840s, many French artists were seeking inspiration in nature, and after 1820 they began to visit the village of Barbizon. Located near Fontainebleau forest, it is associated with the plein air painting movement, which came to be known as the “ Barbizon School .”
In the 1860s, a new generation of painters came to the village, like young Impressionists Pierre - Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, and Camille Pissarro, who created their own art based on light and drew inspiration from the plein air painting of the first generation. In reaction to the rationalism of the Enlightenment, Romanticism spread throughout all of Europe as an artistic movement which focused on the most obscure side of the soul. Its innovative use of color and the distinction between valeur (light and shadow) and teinte (color) distinguish it from previous styles, yet it took on distinct forms in Germany and France.
Eugène Delacroix, a key figure in the French Romantic School, is well represented in the collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen. In around 1800, his German counterparts, including Carl Gustav Carus, Johan Christian Claus en Dahl, Caspar David Friedrich, and Friedrich Nerly, developed a fascinating inter action between landscape painting and science. Science, art, and aesthetics are all intimately intertwined a s shown in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s texts on geology and the letters and annotations on landscape painting of Carus, a scholar from Dresden. Unlike Friedrich, who never visited Italy, Carus travelled to that country three times, where he soaked up its beautiful coastal landscapes, such as the one he captured in his Evening at the Sea (ca. 1820 – 25), perhaps inspired by the rugged coast of the Gulf of Naples or the Isle of Capri. This artist, who cultivated a particular interest i n geology, was fascinated by these immense rocky formations, which he found to be a subject of study a s well as a mirror into prehistory. Following the Romantic symbolic code, Evening at the Sea reveals Carus’s predilection to represent both the earthly an d the afterlife, turning painting into a way of showing the artist’s emotions or feelings more than a mere copy of nature. Subjective emotion is a basic premise in German Romanticism, the sine qua non for creating a truly meaningful work of art. Viewers cannot comprehend the work until they immerse themselves in it and feel it in the depths of their being.
Exceptionally, Friedrich’s The
Cemetery Gate (ca. 1825 – 30) was not conceived in the artist’s studio but
reflects the true state of the gateway to this cemetery, but its uniqueness
lies in his approach. The artist divides the picture into two contrasting area
s: in the foreground is the dark moor before the entrance, while in the
background is the sunny meadow with the graves, an allusion to somber earthly
life, which the artist contrasts to the tempting promise of the afterlife.
Gallery 306 : Impressionism, artists’ colonies, and collectives : The Pont - Aven School Impressionism
The history of modern art is closely tied to the radical vision of Impressionism and its followers, who transformed the intense experience of the modern city and the yearning for an idyllic rural landscape as a place of leisure through the use of pure color and the dissolution of shape. The dialogue between French and German painting in this exhibition continues in this gallery with works by
Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas,
Eva Gonzalès, Awakening Girl (1877-78)
Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen. Purchased 1960, Inv. 827-1960/28
Eva Gonzalès, Claude Monet, Pierre - Auguste Renoir, and Auguste Rodin, which are juxtaposed with works by the representatives of German Impressionism, such as Lovis Corinth.
Expressionism
Among the most important pieces in the collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen is the group of works by Max Beckmann, a unique individual within the history of modern art.
Whereas the Expressionists of Die Brücke were reacting against the “ conventional, pre established currents ” in 1906, Beckmann was deliberately s eeking to connect with the traditions of art history.
In Self - Portrait with Saxophone (1930), one of the more than 40 self - portraits Beckmann painted over the course of his career as an exploration of his own self, we discover the painter as a theater performer . In the 1930s, the world of cabaret, vaudeville, and circus were fashion able an d attracted the attention of countless artists, including Beckmann, who depicted them several times. In this painting, the artist portrays himself ambiguously: he is wearing a smock over a pink acrobat’s leotard and is holding a saxophone, a jazz instrument which evokes contemporary life and independent art. Near the instrument is the horn of a gramophone, so Beckmann was apparently depicting himself as a listener, yet also a passive musician. The instrument, which is not being played, as well as his shaved head, suggest his premonition of the political situation in Germany. Furthermore, this symbolism is joined by the dissonant colors and undefined spaces of the scene, which reinforce the prevailing mood. The arrival of Nazism in Germany disrupted the painter’s career, and Beckmann left the country in 1937, after the opening of the exhibition of “ degenerate art. ”
Otto Dix’s paintings span a wide variety of styles, although he is primarily known for his images of war. Dix was profoundly affected by World Wars I and II, and his art, which was highly critical of his time, expresses the horror of these conflict s . One could say that he is the painter of the ugly and never hesitate d to show it in his portraits. One ex ample is his portrait of painter Franz Schulze, created in 1921 in Dresden, where Dix founded the Dresdener Secession Gruppe in 1919, a radical group of Expressionist and Dada painters and writers who were critical of society. Dix cultivated portraiture as his second most important theme after war scenes. In his portraits, he distorts reality to stress the anti - aesthetic; his raw, provocative art is tinged with satire.
Surrealism
The works of Richard Oelze stand out within German Surrealism . After having been a student of Paul Klee at the Bauhaus and Otto Dix at the Dresden Fine Arts Academy, Oelze discovered Parisian Surrealism in the mid - 1930s and began to develop his own extraordinarily personal Surreal works characterized by profound psy chological introspection. Oelze was interested in depicting existential relationships and transformation s in painting. In his works, which were usually painted with extreme precision, beings that seem like hybrids between animals and humans blend with objects and spaces; his dreamlike visions always find new ways to depict fears and desires. His works Outside (1965) and Inside (1955/56) are among the most important paintings of his series entitled Interior Landscapes These paintings contrast to the work After the Execution (ca. 1937), at the beginning of André Masson’s second Surrealist period, which was characterized by monstrous figures influenced by Picasso and Dalí.
Pablo Picasso
Bremen, the Kunsthalle, and modern French art have close ties, and their strongest common thread is the Bremen - based art dealer, Michael Hertz ( b. 1912 ; d. 1988). A good friend and ideological companion of his fellow dealer, Daniel - Henry Kahnweiler, Hertz was the exclusive dealer of Pablo Picasso’s graphic works in Germany. The majority of German museums and collections bought their Picassos from Hertz, resulting in the Kunsthalle Bremen’s extensive collection, which has several hundred pieces.
However, its most prominent acquisition is Sylvette, an outstanding example of the artist’s late virtuoso style, which was purchased in 1955, one year after it was painted. In 1954 in the French town of Vallauris, the Spanish painter met Sylvette David, the 19 - year - old daughter of a renowned Parisian gallery owner. Picasso was taken by her beauty, and in just two months he created around 40 drawings and paintings of her. Sylvette is fashionably dressed and wears her blond hair in a ponytail, similar to the young women who appear in the magazines from that period. The Kunsthalle Bremen’s purchase of this painting was hailed as a real coup . The Bremen newspaper Weser - Kurier describes the painting as a “ symphony in gray. ” In May 1956, the Kunsthalle Bremen exhibited the recently - purchased piece along with all its other works by Picasso — more than 150 prints — thus becoming “ the German gallery with the most extensive selection of important engravings by Picasso.”
Catalogue
The show will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue which surveys the creation and development of the Kunsthalle Bremen’s art collections via an extensive introduction by its director, Christoph Grunenberg, and essays on the four sections in this exhibition by experts Dorothee Hansen, Henrike Hans, Anne Buschhoff, and Eva Fischer - Hausdorf, which contribute valuable insights about the extraordinary selection of work.
The beauty of Italian women fascinated those northern artists. The Nazarenes primarily appreciated the figures that represent ed Raphael’s ideal, and the most celebrated example is
Portrait of Vittoria Caldoni (1821) by Theodor Rehbenitz .
Likewise, the defined shapes, delicate lines, and painstaking study of the surfaces define Young Woman (Melanchola ), which Théodore Chassériau painted around 1833 – 35 following the principles of Classicism. In this work, more than depicting a specific person, the artist is representing a young woman who embodies a common theme in that era, the “ sweet melancholy ” of the French tradition. Romanticism In the 1830s and 1840s, many French artists were seeking inspiration in nature, and after 1820 they began to visit the village of Barbizon. Located near Fontainebleau forest, it is associated with the plein air painting movement, which came to be known as the “ Barbizon School .”
In the 1860s, a new generation of painters came to the village, like young Impressionists Pierre - Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, and Camille Pissarro, who created their own art based on light and drew inspiration from the plein air painting of the first generation. In reaction to the rationalism of the Enlightenment, Romanticism spread throughout all of Europe as an artistic movement which focused on the most obscure side of the soul. Its innovative use of color and the distinction between valeur (light and shadow) and teinte (color) distinguish it from previous styles, yet it took on distinct forms in Germany and France.
Eugène Delacroix, a key figure in the French Romantic School, is well represented in the collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen. In around 1800, his German counterparts, including Carl Gustav Carus, Johan Christian Claus en Dahl, Caspar David Friedrich, and Friedrich Nerly, developed a fascinating inter action between landscape painting and science. Science, art, and aesthetics are all intimately intertwined a s shown in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s texts on geology and the letters and annotations on landscape painting of Carus, a scholar from Dresden. Unlike Friedrich, who never visited Italy, Carus travelled to that country three times, where he soaked up its beautiful coastal landscapes, such as the one he captured in his Evening at the Sea (ca. 1820 – 25), perhaps inspired by the rugged coast of the Gulf of Naples or the Isle of Capri. This artist, who cultivated a particular interest i n geology, was fascinated by these immense rocky formations, which he found to be a subject of study a s well as a mirror into prehistory. Following the Romantic symbolic code, Evening at the Sea reveals Carus’s predilection to represent both the earthly an d the afterlife, turning painting into a way of showing the artist’s emotions or feelings more than a mere copy of nature. Subjective emotion is a basic premise in German Romanticism, the sine qua non for creating a truly meaningful work of art. Viewers cannot comprehend the work until they immerse themselves in it and feel it in the depths of their being.
Caspar David Friedrich
The Cemetery Gate, [Das Friedhofstor]
, ca. 1825–30
Oil on canvas
31 x 25 cm
Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen
Gift of the Galerieverein, 1933
Gallery 306 : Impressionism, artists’ colonies, and collectives : The Pont - Aven School Impressionism
The history of modern art is closely tied to the radical vision of Impressionism and its followers, who transformed the intense experience of the modern city and the yearning for an idyllic rural landscape as a place of leisure through the use of pure color and the dissolution of shape. The dialogue between French and German painting in this exhibition continues in this gallery with works by
Paul Cézanne
Village behind Trees (Marines) [Dorf hinter Bäumen (Marines)], ca.1898
Oil on canvas
66 x 82 cm
Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen
Purchased 1918
Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas,
Eva Gonzalès, Awakening Girl (1877-78)Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen. Purchased 1960, Inv. 827-1960/28
Eva Gonzalès, Claude Monet, Pierre - Auguste Renoir, and Auguste Rodin, which are juxtaposed with works by the representatives of German Impressionism, such as Lovis Corinth.
Vincent van Gogh
Field with Poppies [Mohnfeld], 1889
Oil on canvas
72 x 91 cm
Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen
Purchased 1911 with the support of the Galerieverein
Expressionism
Among the most important pieces in the collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen is the group of works by Max Beckmann, a unique individual within the history of modern art.
Whereas the Expressionists of Die Brücke were reacting against the “ conventional, pre established currents ” in 1906, Beckmann was deliberately s eeking to connect with the traditions of art history.
Max BeckmannSelf-Portrait with Saxophone [Selbstbildnis mit Saxophon], 1930Oil on canvas140 x 69.5 cmKunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in BremenPurchased 1954 with Founda9on Support]© ax Beckmann, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2019
In Self - Portrait with Saxophone (1930), one of the more than 40 self - portraits Beckmann painted over the course of his career as an exploration of his own self, we discover the painter as a theater performer . In the 1930s, the world of cabaret, vaudeville, and circus were fashion able an d attracted the attention of countless artists, including Beckmann, who depicted them several times. In this painting, the artist portrays himself ambiguously: he is wearing a smock over a pink acrobat’s leotard and is holding a saxophone, a jazz instrument which evokes contemporary life and independent art. Near the instrument is the horn of a gramophone, so Beckmann was apparently depicting himself as a listener, yet also a passive musician. The instrument, which is not being played, as well as his shaved head, suggest his premonition of the political situation in Germany. Furthermore, this symbolism is joined by the dissonant colors and undefined spaces of the scene, which reinforce the prevailing mood. The arrival of Nazism in Germany disrupted the painter’s career, and Beckmann left the country in 1937, after the opening of the exhibition of “ degenerate art. ”
Otto Dix’s paintings span a wide variety of styles, although he is primarily known for his images of war. Dix was profoundly affected by World Wars I and II, and his art, which was highly critical of his time, expresses the horror of these conflict s . One could say that he is the painter of the ugly and never hesitate d to show it in his portraits. One ex ample is his portrait of painter Franz Schulze, created in 1921 in Dresden, where Dix founded the Dresdener Secession Gruppe in 1919, a radical group of Expressionist and Dada painters and writers who were critical of society. Dix cultivated portraiture as his second most important theme after war scenes. In his portraits, he distorts reality to stress the anti - aesthetic; his raw, provocative art is tinged with satire.
Surrealism
The works of Richard Oelze stand out within German Surrealism . After having been a student of Paul Klee at the Bauhaus and Otto Dix at the Dresden Fine Arts Academy, Oelze discovered Parisian Surrealism in the mid - 1930s and began to develop his own extraordinarily personal Surreal works characterized by profound psy chological introspection. Oelze was interested in depicting existential relationships and transformation s in painting. In his works, which were usually painted with extreme precision, beings that seem like hybrids between animals and humans blend with objects and spaces; his dreamlike visions always find new ways to depict fears and desires. His works Outside (1965) and Inside (1955/56) are among the most important paintings of his series entitled Interior Landscapes These paintings contrast to the work After the Execution (ca. 1937), at the beginning of André Masson’s second Surrealist period, which was characterized by monstrous figures influenced by Picasso and Dalí.
Pablo Picasso
Bremen, the Kunsthalle, and modern French art have close ties, and their strongest common thread is the Bremen - based art dealer, Michael Hertz ( b. 1912 ; d. 1988). A good friend and ideological companion of his fellow dealer, Daniel - Henry Kahnweiler, Hertz was the exclusive dealer of Pablo Picasso’s graphic works in Germany. The majority of German museums and collections bought their Picassos from Hertz, resulting in the Kunsthalle Bremen’s extensive collection, which has several hundred pieces.
However, its most prominent acquisition is Sylvette, an outstanding example of the artist’s late virtuoso style, which was purchased in 1955, one year after it was painted. In 1954 in the French town of Vallauris, the Spanish painter met Sylvette David, the 19 - year - old daughter of a renowned Parisian gallery owner. Picasso was taken by her beauty, and in just two months he created around 40 drawings and paintings of her. Sylvette is fashionably dressed and wears her blond hair in a ponytail, similar to the young women who appear in the magazines from that period. The Kunsthalle Bremen’s purchase of this painting was hailed as a real coup . The Bremen newspaper Weser - Kurier describes the painting as a “ symphony in gray. ” In May 1956, the Kunsthalle Bremen exhibited the recently - purchased piece along with all its other works by Picasso — more than 150 prints — thus becoming “ the German gallery with the most extensive selection of important engravings by Picasso.”
Catalogue
The show will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue which surveys the creation and development of the Kunsthalle Bremen’s art collections via an extensive introduction by its director, Christoph Grunenberg, and essays on the four sections in this exhibition by experts Dorothee Hansen, Henrike Hans, Anne Buschhoff, and Eva Fischer - Hausdorf, which contribute valuable insights about the extraordinary selection of work.
Merry-Joseph Blondel
Family Portrait [Familienbildnis]
, 1813
Oil on canvas
39 x 60 cm
Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen
Purchased 1981 with Funds made available by the Free
Hansea9c City
of Bremen (Municipality)
Theodor Rehbenitz
Portrait of Vi5oria Caldoni [Bildnis der Vi5oria Caldoni]
, 1821
Oil on canvas
47 x 37.5 cm
Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen Bequest of
Johann
Friedrich Lahmann, 1937
Johann Christoph Erhard
Ar9sts Res9ng in the Mountains [Rastende Künstler im
Gebirge]
, 1819
Watercolor and pen with black ink over pencil
12.7 x 18.3 cm
Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen
Purchased 1952 with Funds of the Free Hansea9c City of
Bremen (Municipality)
. 1952/226
1
. 416-1933/10
Eugène Delacroix
Ecce homo
, ca. 1850
Oil on carboard
32 x 34 cm
Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen
Gi_ of Claus H. Wencke, Bremen, 2011
. 1505-2011/49
Eugène Delacroix
Lion A5acking a Boar [Löwe, einen Eber anfallend]
, 1851
Red chalk
19.9 x 30.8 cm
Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen
Purchased 1974 with Funds of the Free Hansea9c City of
Bremen
(Municipality)
. 1974/627
Camille Corot
Clearing in the Forest of Fontainebleau with a Low Wall
[Lichtung im
Wald von Fontainebleau mit einer kleinen Mauer]
, ca. 1830/35
Oil on paper on canvas
32.3 x 44 cm
Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen
Purchased 1977 with Funds made available by the Free
Hansea9c City
of Bremen (Municipality)
. 1209-1977/14
Pierre Auguste Renoir
S9ll Life with Fruit (Figs and Currants) [Früchtes9llleben
(Feigen und
Johannisbeeren)]
, ca. 1870/72
Oil on canvas
24.8 x 33 x 2.3 cm
Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen
Bequest of Alfred Walter Heymel, 1925
.Eva Gonzalès
Awakening Girl [Erwachendes Mädchen]
, 1877-78
Oil on canvas
81.1 x 100.1 cm
Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen
Purchased 1960
. 827-1960/28
