Fall 2008 Modern and Contemporary Art Letter from the Acting Director
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fall 2008 modern and contemporary art letter from the acting director t the heart of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture culture at its core. Fortunately for us, these original grand Garden is its collection. The more than 12,000 objects designs were not realized, and Mr. Hirshhorn was compelled Athat now comprise its holdings are largely the result of to continue his pursuit of a suitable repository for his art. The the generosity of the Museum’s founder, Joseph H. Hirshhorn. rest is history, which leads us to this museum and its role as the Our collection also includes gifts from a new generation of only institution solely dedicated to modern and contemporary donors and purchases that not only enhance the existing art on the National Mall. collection but also look to the future with recent works by emerging and influential international artists in all media. When you’re here, please take a moment to also visit the lower level of the Museum. The Black Box features intriguing works This fall, we devote our galleries to the permanent collection— by Semiconductor and Ori Gersht, and you still have time to old favorites, new additions, and even an exploration of what catch Currents: Recent Acquisitions, which closes November might have been. 16 to make way for Strange Bodies, which opens in December. Strange Bodies offers a fresh look at some of the fascinating Visitors will have their first opportunity to view the acquisition figurative works in the collection. The exhibition includes of thirty-nine works from the world-renowned private pieces that are new to the Museum as well as perennial collection of Count Giuseppe Panza di Biumo. In addition to favorites like Untitled (Big Man), 2000. Associate Curator Kristen filling a Conceptual art gap in our collection, these works also Hileman discusses her thought process behind the creation of round out holdings by specific artists. In nine instances, they’re this installation on page 13. the first acquired by important and innovative Conceptual, Minimal, Light and Space, and Environmental artists. For those of you who would like to learn more about objects on view, we offer Friday Gallery Talks. These informal chats We’re also pleased that Dr. Panza and his wife, Giovanna, will led by local artists, scholars, and Hirshhorn staff focus on a serve as guest curators for the next installation of the Ways of different work each week. See page 17 for more details about Seeing series. Be sure to read Dr. Panza’s interview with local this program. collector and longtime Hirshhorn supporter Mitch Rales on page 5. I hope to see you at the Hirshhorn soon! Terence Gower’s Directions project considers a little-known period in the history of Joseph H. Hirshhorn’s quest to find a Kerry Brougher home for his collection. The artist’s research-based multimedia Acting Director and Chief Curator installation presents Hirshhorn’s plan in the 1950s to build a town in the Canadian wilderness that would have art and hirshhorn.si.edu Photo of the Hirshhorn by Chris Rossi. 1 | 2 The Panza Collection October 23, 2008–January 11, 2009 second level Robert Barry Larry Bell Count Giuseppe Panza di Biumo is one of the world’s foremost collectors Hanne Darboven of American and European contemporary art. The Hirshhorn recently acquired thirty-nine works from Dr. Panza’s collection, all of which are Jan Dibbets on view this fall. As a group, the pieces provide an overview of the critical premises driving Conceptual, Light and Space, Minimal, and Environmental art. Created in the late 1960s and early 1970s by an Hamish Fulton international roster of artists, the works shed light on an era when many artists began to reject traditional media and aesthetic concerns. Instead, Douglas Huebler they redefined art in a broader range, from Conceptual works that favored ideas over the creation of unique objects to large-scale installations that challenge prevalent notions about the boundaries between an artwork Robert Irwin and the surrounding environment. On Kawara The Panza Collection features paintings, sculptures, installations, film, and wall drawings that attest to the remarkable diversity of artistic practices that flourished amidst a wide-ranging interrogation of Joseph Kosuth the nature and meaning of art. These artists dismissed conventional concerns in favor of an avid engagement with ideas, processes, social Sol LeWitt and political issues, the body, and phenomenological experiences. The acquisition includes multiple works by Joseph Kosuth, Robert Irwin, Robert Barry, Hamish Fulton, and On Kawara, among others, which will Richard Long enable the Museum to survey these individuals’ most salient projects during a critical period in both their individual development and the Bruce Nauman trajectory of twentieth-century art. Dr. Panza distinguished himself by his willingness to collect art that few Richard Nonas museums or private collectors at the time were willing to acquire, such as Conceptual works that exist only as documentary certificates or room- Roman Opalka sized installations that require vast storage space and significant resources to install. Now, as part of the Hirshhorn’s collection, these works offer visitors new perspectives on the art of this pivotal historical moment, Lawrence Weiner as well as the ways contemporary artists continue to both draw on and reconsider the ideas of previous generations. This exhibition is organized Doug Wheeler by Associate Curator Evelyn Hankins in association with Giuseppe Panza. hirshhorn.si.edu The Panza Collection Ways of Seeing: Giuseppe and Giovanna Panza In the adjacent galleries, Dr. Panza and his wife, Giovanna, curate the second installment of the Hirshhorn’s onging series Ways of Seeing. This series invites noted artists, collectors, filmmakers, and others to explore the Museum’s holdings of nearly 12,000 artworks and create installations that reflect their own unique perspectives, encouraging new ways of looking at the collection. Dr. and Mrs. Panza’s selection features paintings and sculptures dating from the 1960s and 1970s, including pieces by Donald Judd and Agnes Martin, alongside earlier works by artists such as Constantin Brancusi, Robert Rauschenberg, and Mark Rothko. The Panza Collection is organized by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Center: Robert Irwin’s Untitled (Disc Colored Pale Grey Green Pink Violet), 1966–67, photo by A. Zambianchi—Simply.it, Milan. Right from top to bottom: Richard Long’s Carrara Line, 1985; Garden. The exhibition is made possible by the Holenia Trust, in memory of Joseph Kosuth’s Self-Defined, 1965, photo by A. Zambianchi —Simply.it, Milan; and detail of Roman Joseph H. Hirshhorn, the Friends of Jim and Barbara Demetrion Endowment Opalka’s 1965/1- ∞: Detail 460.260=484.052, 1965. All works are from the Hirshhorn’s collection, The Panza Collection. Fund, and the Hirshhorn’s Board of Trustees, with additional support from the Museum’s National Benefactors. 3 | 4 collector to collector Mitch Rales and Giuseppe Panza ince collectors are an integral part of both the history and the future of the Hirshhorn, we thought Sour readers would like to hear from two of the most prominent collectors associated with the Museum: Count Giuseppe Panza di Biumo and Mitchell P. Rales. Dr. Panza assembled one of the most significant collections of mid-twentieth-century art in the world, and, in the past year, the Hirshhorn acquired thirty-nine of his works (see page 3). Mr. Rales has also assembled an impressive collection of contemporary art and has a long and generous relationship with the Hirshhorn. The two recently discussed Dr. Panza’s collecting practices. MR: When did you start collecting art, and what inspired you to do so? GP: I started collecting contemporary art in 1956. I always had a great love for everything beautiful. When I got married, I had a new house, the walls were empty, and I had some money to spend. Since I was a boy, I had studied art: old and modern. When very young, I bought color reproductions of the art I liked: Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Cézanne, Rembrandt, Titian, Michelangelo, and many Count Giuseppe Panza di Biumo, photo by Bob Allen. others. It was my imaginary collection. MR: What made you decide to collect contemporary art? What factors do you look at when considering an artist’s work for your collection? GP: I collected contemporary art because I was fascinated by the new and the unknown. I’m interested in the art of all countries and of all times. I like confrontations between the new and the old, even when shapes are completely different; but when we look to the meaning, differences disappear, and we see only the substantial. With these considerations in mind, I chose new artists still unknown to most people. I have been lucky, because my wife, Giovanna, loves modern art as well. hirshhorn.si.edu collector to collector Mitch Rales and Giuseppe Panza MR: What prompted or drew you to the MR: Tell me about your family home, the movements you collected? Villa Menafoglio Litta Panza. What are GP: I collected European abstract art of the 1950s, including the benefits and challenges of living with the works of Antoni Tàpies because it showed the destruction contemporary works of art, particularly in a of modern ideas after the Second World War. American historical setting? Abstract Expressionism offered a different interpretation of American life than what we had seen before and in GP: It was a great pleasure and a great opportunity to live in a new form. Pop Art showed us how American popular a beautiful and historical building. Merging the new with the culture could become art while following classical art rules. centuries old is a good test. Only really good modern art can Minimal, Conceptual, and Environmental art showed the exist together with it.