REMIX the Collection the COLLECTION

REMIX The Collection THE COLLECTION Edited by Christoph Grunenberg Dorothee Hansen Eva Fischer-Hausdorf Texts by Christoph Grunenberg Dorothee Hansen Eva Fischer-Hausdorf Hartwig Dingfelder Manuela Husemann Mara-Lisa Kinne Jennifer Smailes REMIX WIENAND KUNSTHALLE BREMEN FROM ICON TO WORK OF ART Painting on the Eve of the Renaissance ITALY completely new genre; they were devoid of Until the early 15th century, panel painting any religious function and became extremely almost exclusively served religious purposes. attractive to the nobility and wealthy mer Small domestic altars and Florentine Ma don chants. Ancient mythology also provided nas were an invitation to private prayer. Their material for new pictorial subjects. One of shapes reference late Gothic architecture Cranach’s successful subjects was the Rest- and their precious gold backgrounds imbue ing Nymph ( fig., p. 35). She is reminiscent of Christ, Mary and the Saints with a heavenly a naked Venus and accompanied by a Latin glory. inscription. Such pictures offered aesthetic In the first half of the 15th century, the pleasure and at the same time posed an in Renaissance was already under way. It was tellectual challenge to humanistic collectors. not simply a “rebirth” of antiquity; it also With works like these, painting emancipated implied a new view of nature. In 1435, Leon itself from its predominantly religious func Battista Alberti published his treatise on tions. The painters, who had previously seen cen tral perspective and, ever since, paintings themselves primarily as craftsmen, developed have been understood as windows into the into artists who proudly signed their works. world. Gold backgrounds were substituted with representations of landscapes and inte riors were given measurable dimensions. HIERONYMUS KLUGKIST: Gothic forms were now replaced by allusions THE BREMEN COLLECTOR OF DÜRER to Classical architecture, such as Corinthian On 14 November 1823, the Bremen Senator pilasters, delicate palmette friezes and cof Hieronymus Klugkist (1778–1851), together fered ceilings. with 33 art lovers, founded the Kunstverein in Bremen (Bremen art association). As a col lector, Klugkist specialised in the work of GERMANY Albrecht Dürer. In addition to a few paintings, In the late 15th century, German artists also he primarily collected drawings, watercol came into contact with the ideas of the ours and prints by the Nuremberg master. Renaissance. In 1495, and from 1505 to 1507, Klugkist bequeathed his pictures to the Kunst the Nuremberg painter Albrecht Dürer trav verein. Although some water colours and elled to Northern Italy, which was a source drawings were lost in the Second World War, of great inspiration for him. In his representa the Bremen Dürer collection is still one of tions of Saint Onuphrius and John the Baptist the most significant in the world. ( fig., p. 33 ), his emphasis was on the render ing of muscles and tendons rather than halos. Dorothee Hansen The surrounding landscape is also described with great attention to detail. Nevertheless, these were not autonomous paintings but served as the wings of a house altar. Lucas Cranach never travelled to Italy. Through writings and pictures, however, he too was familiar with the ideals of the Renaissance. In addition to numerous altarpieces, he painted many portraits. Portraits at the time were a 26 JACQUES DE GHEYN I I Mice, c. 1600 JERONIMUS SWEERTS Still Life with Flower Basket 1565 Antwerp – The Hague 1629 Oil on oak, 12 × 20 cm 1603 – Amsterdam – 1636 and Parrot, 1626 Bequest of Dr. Hermann Henrich Meier, Jr., Oil on oak, 39.3 × 50.3 cm 1928 Gift of Carl Schünemann, 2017 This is the only known painting signed by Europe. In this picture you can see a parrot Sweerts. He worked in the workshop of the from South America, a feathered cone from Is this a still life or an animal painting? The of transience. The mice gnaw at a crust of bread flower painter Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, the Pacific, a Cuban land snail and bulb plants question seems futile – especially since insects that is pointedly placed next to a candle stub in whose daughter he married in 1627. From from Turkey – all precious collectibles back and small animals can be found in many floral the middle of the picture. The extinguished childhood on, Sweerts was familiar with exotic then. DH still lifes. In any case, the painting is an allegory candle is a symbol of the passing of time. DH 54 55 plants and birds, which his father traded across VINCENT VAN GOGH Poppy Field, 1889 HENRY VAN DE VELDE Seashore (Beach at Blankenberghe), 1889 1853 Zundert – Auvers-sur-Oise 1890 Oil on canvas, 72 × 91 cm 1863 Antwerp – Zurich 1957 Oil on canvas, 60.7 × 85.7 cm Acquired with the Support of the Galerieverein, Acquired through a Donation from the Bremer the Kulenkamp-Stiftung and with Funds from Hochbau AG, 1965 the State, 1911 Around 1888, van de Velde became acquainted “dot”). The artist arranged a strictly and stark- In 1889, van Gogh admitted himself to a sana- directly on canvas. But today one knows that with the works of Post-Impressionist painters ly abstracted view of the beach at the Belgian torium in Saint-Rémy. This is the first picture he proceeded very thoughtfully. He prepared Paul Signac and Georges Seurat. He soon be- seaside resort Blankenberghe in this new style. he was allowed to paint outside the institution. the Poppy Field in a large brush drawing. In gan to compose his own pictures with tiny dabs Only a few paintings from this brief period On the left side of the painting, one can see the the painting he then tightened the symmetry of paint. The dots of primary colour – so the of work have survived. About four years later, walls of the premises. In the past, van Gogh of the composition, and in a later step he added theory goes – were supposed to blend into new van de Velde gave up painting to devote him- was often described as a brilliant artist who, in the yellow house on the right side from his tones in the spectator’s eye. Thus this technique self to decorative art and architecture. DH a kind of creative frenzy, captured his ideas imagination. DH 156 157 is also called Pointillism (“point” is French for BETWEEN MONTMARTRE AND MONTPARNASSE Paris and the Dawn of Modernism THE CAFÉ DU DÔME THE BATEAU-LAVOIR Around 1900, Paris exerted an enormous at - AND CUBISM traction on artists from Europe and the United The Dômiers maintained a wide range of States. The French capital had been a source contacts with the various powerhouses of of inspiration to German artists in the 19th the Parisian avant-garde, such as the older century, and many young creative talents Nabis, the young Cubists of Montparnasse flocked there in the early 20th cen tury. Paris around Henri Le Fauconnier and the group was enticing: as a contrast and alternative to surrounding Pablo Picasso at the Bateau- the state academies in Germany, it offered Lavoir in Montmartre. In addition to Picasso, liberal art schools, where it was possible even Kees van Dongen, Otto Freundlich, Juan for women to receive training. In addition to Gris, Moïse Kisling, Amedeo Modigliani and numerous artist ateliers, most of which had others worked in this simple artists’ atelier. been built in the Montparnasse and Mont- Georges Braque, André Derain, Raoul Dufy, martre districts, there were also numerous Marie Laurencin, Jean-Paul Laurens and opportunities for exhibiting. Above all, the Jean Metzinger as well as writers, art critics city allowed a vi brant exchange with famous and gallery owners were frequent visitors. artistic role models and up-and-coming, Picasso, Braque and Derain took a special in - like-minded people. terest in the work of Paul Cézanne: his search One of the most important meeting places was for elementary basic forms in nature and his the Café du Dôme in Montparnasse. Opened analytical approach became the source of in 1898, it soon became the first port of call their new, Cubist visual language – one of for newcomers as well as a regular meeting the most important artistic ideas of the early place for the Parisian avant-garde. The circle 20th century. The collection in the Kunsthalle of so-called Dômiers included Rudolf Gross- Bremen reflects the many facets of the vari- mann, Moïse Kiesling, Jules Pascin, Hans Purr- ous artistic movements that met and mann, Rudolf Tewes from Bremen and Albert exchanged ideas in Paris at the beginning of Weisgerber. Many others, such as Wilhelm the 20th century: from the late Impressionist Lehmbruck, were in informal contact with this colour tendencies of the Dômiers, to the group. They did not have a common pro- earthy tones and geometric abstractions of gramme. Instead, each of the artists worked the Cubists, from the poetic realism of a in their own visual languages – in movements Lehmbruck to the cubic construction of Oto ranging from late Impressionism to the paint- Gutfreund. ing of the Fauves – above all, Henri Matisse, who became a key figure of the Dômiers. Eva Fischer-Hausdorf The art of the Dômiers soon became popular in Germany, especially through the future gallerist Alfred Flechtheim, who had been a frequent visitor to the Café since 1906. In 1911, it was the Berlin art dealer Paul Cassirer who exhibited their works for the first time. The director of the Kunsthalle Bremen, Emil Waldman, was very interested in the works of the Dômiers in the 1920s and acquired several paintings from them. 240 ACTIVATING THE SENSES New Media and Questions of Perception in Art ART AND TECHNOLOGY high art and popular culture. Chance was a World-changing scientific discoveries and significant compositional principle for Cage.

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