Daimler(Art(Collection( ( Willi(Baumeister(International( Willi(Baumeister(And(European(Modernism(1920S–1950S( ( November,(21
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Daimler(Art(Collection( works%by%Willi%Baumeister,%ranging%from%his%constructivist%phase%to%the%Mauerbilder%and% ( the%late%Montaru%paintings%as%well%as%the%Afrika%series.%They%offer%an%overview%of%the% Willi(Baumeister(International( development%of%Baumeister’s%oeuvre%and%at%the%same%time%demonstrate%his%international% Willi(Baumeister(and(European(Modernism(1920s–1950s( reputation.%The%works%will%be%supplemented%by%archival%materials%such%as%letters,% newspaper%articles,%and%unpublished%photographs%that%impressively%illustrate%the%high% ( degree%to%which%he%was%recognized%both%in%Germany%and%abroad.%Together%they%reveal% November,(21,(2014(—(March,(29,(2015( the%multifaceted%image%of%an%artist%who%engaged%in%an%intense%exchange%with%the% ( international%art%scene%before%and%after%the%Second%World%War.% With%works%on%loan%by%Willi%Baumeister%and%Hans%Arp,%Julius%Bissier,%Carlo%Carrá,%Marc% % Chagall,%Albert%Gleizes,%Roberta%Gonzalez,%Camille%Graeser,%Hans%Hartung,%Wassily% Introduction( Kandinsky,%Paul%Klee,%Franz%Krause,%Le%Corbusier,%Fernand%Léger,%El%Lissitzky,%August% Renate%Wiehager% Macke,%Otto%MeyerIAmden,%Juan%Miro,%László%MoholyINagy,%Amédée%Ozenfant,%Pablo% ( Picasso,%Oskar%Schlemmer,%Kurt%Schwitters,%Michel%Seuphor,%Gino%Severini,%Zao%WouIKi% From%the%outset%the%Daimler%Art%Collection%has,%in%both%its%conception%and%its%aims,%gone% % well%beyond%mere%corporateIimage%enhancement.%In%fact,%over%the%years%the%collection% From%the%Daimler%Art%Collection:%Hans%Arp,%Willi%Baumeister,%Max%Bill,%Camille%Graeser,% has%become%a%living%part%of%the%corporation.%Since%it%was%inaugurated%in%1977%–%with%the% Otto%MeyerIAmden,%Oskar%Schlemmer,%George%Vantongerloo% acquisition%of%a%picture%by%Willi%Baumeister%–%the%inventory%has%grown%to%about%2,000% ( works%today%by%some%700%German%and%international%male%and%female%artists.%The% Daimler(Contemporary(Berlin( collection%represents%an%important%range%of%predominantly%abstract%developments%in%art% Potsdamer(Platz(Berlin( and%pictorial%conceptions%from%the%20th%century%to%the%present%day.%Moreover,%it% ( includes%some%30%large%pieces%of%sculpture,%automobileIrelated%works%done%on% Stuttgart%artist%Willi%Baumeister%(1889–1955)%is%one%of%the%most%important%German% commission%as%well%as%an%inventory%of%international%photography%and%objectI%and%media% artists%of%the%postwar%period%and%among%the%most%significant%representatives%of%abstract% art%that%has%been%built%up%systematically%since%2001.% painting.%His%influence%as%an%avantIgarde%artist,%as%a%professor%at%the%Frankfurt%Municipal% % School%for%Applied%Arts%and%after%1946%at%the%Stuttgart%Academy,%and%as%a%major%art% % theoretician%could%be%felt%far%beyond%Germany.% % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % LEFT:%WILLI%BAUMEISTER,%HANS%ARP;%FRIEDRICH%VORDEMBERGEIGILDEWART% % RIGHT:%ADOLF%FLEISCHMANN,%JOSEF%ALBERS% % ! % % BOTH:%ART%FROM%A%HUNDRED%YEARS%1909–2009.%HIGHLIGHTS%DER%DAIMLER%ART%COLLECTION,%MUSEUM%UND% % GALERIE%IM%PREDIGER,%2009( WILLI%BAUMEISTER%PACKING% % % WORKS%FOR%HIS%EXHIBITION%AT%THE% % GALLERY%JEANNE%BUCHER%PARIS,% % 1949% % % % % From%early%on,%Baumeister%was%in%close%contact%with%French%artists%and%exhibited%his% % works%in%Italy,%Spain,%France,%and%Switzerland.%He%could%seamlessly%resume%these% % contacts%after%the%Second%World%War.%The%exhibition%retraces%his%international%relations% % to%gallerists,%collectors%and%art%historians.%It%will,%for%the%first%time,%present%parts%of%his% % private%art%collection,%which%he%assembled%through%swapping%his%own%works%for% % paintings%by%his%artist%friends.% % The%collection%comprises,%among%others,%paintings%by%Wassily%Kandinsky,%Hans%Arp,% % Fernand%Léger,%and%Kazimir%Malevich.%The%focus%of%the%exhibition%is%on%central%groups%of% ART%&%STARS%&%CARS,%THE%DAIMLER%ART% NOVECENTO%MAI%VISTO,%HIGHLIGHTS%FROM% COLLECTION%AT%THE%MERCEDESIBENZ% THE%DAIMLER%ART%COLLECTION%–%FROM% MUSEUM%STUTTGART,%2011% ALBERS%TO%WARHOL%TO%(NOW),%2013%% Since%the%1999%inauguration%of%the%company’s%own%exhibition%space%–%Daimler% % Contemporary%at%Haus%Huth%on%Potsdamer%Platz%in%Berlin%–%the%systematic%expansion%of% % the%collection%has%been%attentively%followed%by%an%international%public.%New%acquisitions% % for%the%Daimler%Art%Collection%are%presented%there%as%well%as%internally,%in%Stuttgart,% % Berlin%and%Sindelfingen,%in%themed%rotating%exhibitions,%where%they%enter%into%a%dialogue% % with%less%recently%acquired%works.%Since%2003%a%rotating%selection%of%some%150%works%at% % a%time%has%gone%on%tour%worldwide%through%major%museums%in%Europe,%the%United% % States,%South%Africa,%South%America%and%Asia.% % % % % F.L.:%GEORG%MEISTERMANN,%FRITZ% % % WINTER,%WILLI%BAUMEISTER.%CLASSICAL%:% % RENATE%WIEHAGER%(ED.):% ( MODERN%II,%DAIMLER%CONTEMPORARY,% KURT%LEONHARD,%COVER% BERLIN%2008% % % ‘AVANTGARDEN%IN% % SÜDDEUTSCHLAND%NACH% % 1945’,%HATJE%CANTZ%2012% % % ( % % % The%second%part%of%the%series,%in%2008,%focused%on%the%avantIgarde%tendencies%of%postI % war%southern%Germany.%In%2012%this%was%followed%by%the%third%part%of%the%series:%a%first% comprehensive%appreciation%of%Kurt%Leonhard%(‘Avantgarden%in%Süddeutschland%nach% % F.L.:%OSKAR%SCHLEMMER,%JOSEF%ALBERS,% F.L.:%ADOLF%HÖLZEL,%OSKAR%SCHLEMMER,% CAMILLE%GRAESER,%JOHANNES%ITTEN% WILLI%BAUMEISTER% 1945’;%all%related%publications%can%be%obtained%via%www.collection.daimler.com).%Texts% % by%Kurt%Leonhard%–%art%critic,%lyric%poet,%philosopher,%translator%and%curator%who%died%in% % 2004%and%was%a%close%friend%of%Willi%Baumeister’s%–%and%by%Ottomar%Domnick%open%up% % artIhistorical%and%historical%horizons%that%are%intimately%connected%with%southIwest% % German%art%after%1945.%In%keeping%with%the%focal%point%of%our%collection%as%it%has%evolved% % over%the%years,%the%exhibition%‘Willi%Baumeister%International’%will%go%on%to%Berlin%at% % Daimler%Contemporary%in%2014/15%as%the%best%possible%sequel.%% % % % % % % % % % % F.L.:%WILLI%BAUMEISTER,%OSKAR% F.L.:%BEN%WILLIKENS,%JOSEF%ALBERS,%HANS% ( SCHLEMMER,%IDA%KERKOVIUS( ARP% % ( % ALL:%CLASSICAL%:%MODERN%I,%DAIMLER%CONTEMPORARY,%BERLIN%2006% ( ! ( In%its%early%days%the%Daimler%Art%Collection%focused%mainly%on%pictures%and%particularly% ( on%artists%from%southern%Germany,%notably%those%connected%with%the%Stuttgart%Art% ( Academy,%including%Adolf%Hölzel%and%his%pupils%Oskar%Schlemmer,%Willi%Baumeister,% ( Johannes%Itten,%Ida%Kerkovius,%Camille%Graeser%and%Max%Ackermann,%but%also%–%extended% ( to%the%European%level%–%Hans%Arp,%Georges%Vantongerloo,%Otto%MeyerIAmden%and%Max% ( Bill.%What%they%all%had%in%common%was%an%artistically%motivated%interest%in%establishing% ( an%interdisciplinary%dialogue%between%fine%art,%functional%product%design,%architecture% % % and%aesthetic%theory.%Linking%up%with%this%founding%principle,%the%Daimler%Art%Collection% % is,%despite%its%broad%scope,%clearly%anchored%in%the%‘Classical%:%Modern’%exhibition%and% % publication%series,%the%first%part%of%which,%in%2006,%introduced%the%Concrete%and% % % Constructivist%tendencies%of%early%modernist%art%up%to%the%postIwar%era%by%drawing% % primarily%on%the%collection%itself.% % % % % % ALL:%WILLI%BAUMEISTER%INTERNATIONAL,%KUNSTMUSEUM%STUTTGART,%2013–14% % % % ( % ( Willi(Baumeister(International( % Ilka%Voermann%and%Hadwig%Goez% % % % More% than% most% artists,% Willi% Baumeister% is% perceived% as% a% German% painter.% This% is% % particularly% true% of% his% late% work,% which% is% inextricably% linked% with% the% art% history% of% % postIwar% Germany.% This% perception% is% not% completely% erroneous% because% Willi% % Baumeister% was% indeed% strongly% rooted% in% Germany,% especially% in% his% native% Stuttgart,% % which% he% had% left% only% while% he% was% a% professor% at% the% School% of% Decorative% Arts% in% % Frankfurt% am% Main% (now% the% Städelschule)% and% for% brief% periods% during% the% Second% Kopf%[Head],%1920% % Kopf2[Head],%1920% World%War.%This%impression%is%reinforced%by%the%fact%that%he%championed%abstract%art%in% Oil,%graphite%and%sand%on% % Oil%and%sand%on%cardboard% Germany%after%1945,%which%made%him%a%guiding%spirit%in%the%debate%about%the%future%of% canvas% % % German%art%after%the%Second%World%War.%For%all%that,%classifying%Willi%Baumeister%solely% During% the% early% 1920s% figuration% continued% to% yield% to% simple% geometric% forms% in% as%a%leading%German%painter%falls%far%short%of%his%significance.%He%was%deeply%rooted%in% Baumeister’s% painting.% Now% Baumeister% realigned% himself% with% different% role% models,% the%international%art%scene%and%bound%by%close%ties%to%it%both%before%and%after%the%Second% this%time%the%Russian%Constructivists%and%the%Dutch%group%of%artists%known%as%De%Stijl.2% World% War.% He% was% in% contact% with% artists,% art% critics% and% collectors% in% Europe% and% This% was% the% context% in% which% he% developed% his% own% artistic% stance,% with% the% Wall% beyond%Europe;%his%works%were%exhibited%there%and%he%participated%in%the%international% Pictures%featuring%a%unique%blend%of%painting%and%architecture.%Although%the%Wall%Picture% debates%on%art.%% idea%was%in%fact%realized%only%once,%in%the%room%designed%by%the%architect%Richard%Döcker% % at% the% 1922% Werkbund% exhibition% in% Stuttgart,% this% work% definitively% positioned% Baumeister% within% the% international% avantIgarde.% His% work% was% also% made% known% in% France%through%a%positive%article%by%Paul%Ferdinand%Schmidt%that%was%published%in%the% ‘Kunstblatt’3%in%1921%and%a%joint%exhibition%with%Fernand%Léger%at%the%Der%Sturm%gallery% in%Berlin%in%1922.%In%addition%an%essay%by%Waldemar%George%on%Baumeister’s%painting%