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The Introduction of Bruce Nauman in Europe (1966-1969)

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The Introduction of Bruce Nauman in Europe (1966-1969) The Introduction of Bruce Nauman in Europe (1966-1969): network, changing conditions, museum exposure Student: Binkie Bloemheuvel Student number: 10178678 Supervisor: Dr. M.I.D. van Rijsingen Second reader: Dr. G.M. Langfeld Date: 17-08-2017 MA thesis: Research Master Art Studies (Arts and Culture) University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery.” C.P. Cavafy I would first like to thank my supervisor Dr. Miriam van Rijsingen for her remarkable support and advice throughout the writing process of this thesis. The New York excursion was a significant eye-opener for the rest of my studies. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction and encouraging me to pursue new research opportunities throughout my studies. Furthermore, I would also like to thank Dr. Gregor Langfeld for showing me the potential of a socio-historical approach and helping me to apply this method throughout my studies. This thesis was only possible with the support of my family: Hiske and Ruud, Kaayk and Jan, Karel, Elly, Bianka and Tom. Three historians and one mathematician in particular deserve special thank yous. Elsbeth Dekker, thank you for all of your great advice and help thoughtout this thesis journey and your belief that Ithaca was always near, or at least somewhere in sight. I hope to return this wonderful favor during your future research projects. Julia Mullié, thank you so much for your generous advice and to many years of sharing the same research interests and discussing them in great depth. Marte Rijsdijk, thank you for being there throughout my masters program to many years of mutual support and assistance. Ideles Kaandorp, thank you for always checking on me; I’m very grateful that this research journey started in Londen last year. 2 Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………4-9 Chapter 1: Nauman’s first two European exhibitions: networks, informative actions, and organizational structures ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….10-37 Chapter 2: changing conditions and practice within one particular momentum………………………………… 38- 62. Chapter 3: Group show mania, Nauman’s exposure in an European museum context in 1969………………….. 63-76 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 77-79. Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………………………………………80-85 Archives………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ..86-87 3 Introduction: My bachelor thesis concerned the introduction of minimal art in Europe between 1964 and 1968. During research on this topic my attention was drawn to several prominent art historians who had already acknowledged the radical shifts illustrated by the introduction of American artists associated with minimalism and conceptual art in Western Europe at the end of the 1960s. In particular the art historians Sophie Richard and Phyllis Tuchman. They focused on new interactions and transatlantic exchanges between European networks of gallery-owners, curators, and museum professionals and the emergence of a new generation of American artists involved in conceptual artistic practices. In the historical context of the 1960s and 1970s, their research brought to light the network of actors and the changing conditions which had rendered possible the first transatlantic introductions. A study by art scholar Sophie Richard, entitled Unconcealed. The International Network of Conceptual Artists 1967-1977 Dealers, Exhibitions and Public Collections (2009), discusses the network behind conceptual art during the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s in Europe. Richard focused mainly on the support and dealing network of conceptual art and its international exchange.1 Richard’s study was influential to my research in the sense that it brought my awareness to the potential significance of researching the network behind these introductions. Furthermore, her study illustrated how through small networks new transatlantic exchanges were made possible at the end of the 1960’s in Europe. She highlighted how the introduction of artists working on the other side of the Atlantic were established and how these connections led to their first solo exhibitions in Europe. Richard carried out research in several archives of the support system of minimal and conceptual art and raised my interest in the potential of a socio-historical approach towards the introduction of American artists in Europe in the 1960’s. Several other art historians have discussed the shifting conditions and practices that made these introductions possible at the end of the 1960s.2 In 1970, for example, art critic Phyllis Tuchman published her article ‘American art in Germany the History of a Phenomenon’ in the prominent journal Artforum, in which she discussed the enormous acceptance and appreciation of contemporary American art in West Germany. Her article is often understood as a lament towards the missed opportunities of American cultural politics on 1 Richard’s definition of the label ‘Conceptual art’ is closely connected to the network that brought these artists together, Richard has defined the movement as follows: ‘It covers artists who (...) exhibited in the same dealer galleries and museums, but who were producing different kind of works: for example Joseph Kosuth (Conceptual art), Sol LeWitt (Minimal art), Richard Long (Land Art) and Mario Merz (Arte Povera).’ Please see: Richard 2009: 38. 2 Next to Tuchman, 1970 and Kölle, 2005 see also: Feldman, 2003. 4 American contemporary art to an American audience.3 Interestingly enough, however, Tuchman already historized a new gallery practice, which was established by a younger generation of West German private gallery owners in 1967. She argued that art dealer Konrad Fischer (among others) in Düsseldorf changed the conditions of the gallery world. Artists categorized as ‘environmentalists and conceptualists’ were traveling from the United States to Germany in order to work on site in Fischer’s gallery. Their practice allowed the design and installation of exhibitions in his gallery space while the artists remained in the gallery for discussion. 4 Tuchman made a first attempt to contextualize that West Germany - and to a larger extend Europe – during this time became a place where art was produced and interpreted instead of only collected and exhibited. In this way, she described a radical shift in which artists, not their artworks, traveled to Europe.5 The examination of these shifting parameters and new gallery practices in the 1960s only recently became the subject of several prominent art-historical studies.6 Recent studies include Brigitte Kölle’s dissertation, entitled ‘Die Kunst des Ausstellens. Untersuchungen zum Werk des Künstlers und Kunstvermittlers Konrad Lueg/Fischer (1939-1996)’ (2005), which showed that art dealer Konrad Fischer played a key role in systematically extending invitations to American artists to travel to Germany, including figures such as Carl Andre, Sol LeWitt, Fred Sandback, Richard Artschwager, Bruce Nauman, Robert Ryman and Robert Smithson. In her dissertation she contends that this process ultimately established a new method of presentation. The studies of both Tuchman and Kölle have enlightened my own understanding of this era by arguing in favor of the significant impact made by these first transatlantic exchanges in relation to Fischer’s gallery. Within this particular historical moment, artists were literally introduced into a new artistic community with a new set of artistic possibilities on the other side of the Atlantic.7 In this thesis, I will closely examine the introduction of notable American artist Bruce Nauman (Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1941) to the European art scene at the end of the 1960s. Although Nauman was part of these radical introductory changes, the details of his individual introduction on the scene have yet to be researched in depth. Three aspects of Nauman’s introduction in Europe in particular demand further research, and I will elaborate why to my understanding each of these aspects present new research opportunities. 3 In 2016, art historian Catherine Dossin for example elaborated that Tuchman’s article also functioned as a warning for the American art scene. Dossin stated: ‘the tone of the article was ambiguous: on the one hand it revealed pleasure and pride vis-à-vis the German enthusiasm for American art; but, on the other, it hinted on some uneasiness about the disappearance of the American artistic patrimony.’ Please see: Dossin 2015: 216- 217. 4 Tuchman 1970: 58- 69. 5 Germer and Bernard. ‘Beyond Painting and Sculpture. German-American Exchange in the Visual Arts’ in Junker, ed, vol. 2 2004: 379. 6 For an overview of these studies see: Richard 2009: 34. 7 Kölle 2005: 190. 5 Three aspects: 1. Network In the summer of 1968, Nauman was invited to travel to Europe in order to participate in Documenta 4 as well as to put on an exhibition at the Konrad Fischer Gallery. To date, little research has been conducted on Nauman’s inclusion and the network behind his first exhibitions in Europe. In the case of the fourth Documenta, there is no art-historical literature illuminating Nauman’s inclusion in at the event.8 Although Richard’s study carefully analyzed transatlantic correspondence found in Fischer’s gallery archives, she elaborated on the introduction of ten artists at the gallery and therefore did not research Nauman’s introduction and inclusion at the gallery by extension.9 Another interesting element of Nauman’s introduction in Europe is the fact that he worked on the West Coast, in contrast to the majority of conceptual artists in America which were situated on the opposite coast. This contrast ultimately begs the question of how Nauman became embedded early on in the network of European gallery owners and museum directors who advocated for the conceptual art movement, and how they could have encountered Nauman’s work in the first place. These knowledge gaps leave room for new research opportunities dedicated to the network that facilitated Nauman’s introduction, as well as the way in which the artist’s inclusion in these events was made possible in Europe. 2.
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