The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, famous for the quality and diversity of it's collections and for it'a exhibitions, is now hosting a new event, an impressive showcasing of several works from the Thannhauser Collection. The story of this collection is even more interesting than the varied works.
Justin K. Thannhauser was the son of the famous art dealer Heinrich Thannhauser, the one who founded, in 1909, the Galerie Moderne in Munich, a place that will eventually play a key role in the development of modern art. Even from his early years, Thannhauser worked with his father in the gallery, learning everything there was to know about the misteries of arts, and the two put together an impressive program of events and exhibitions. It was there, at the Galerie Moderne, that the most important Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists, as well as the avantgarde, both French and German, found the best place for exhibition. The two were particularly interested in the works of artists such Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee or Franz Marc, and collected their works with great care.
In 1911 the Thannhauser couple presented the first exhibition of the Der Blaue Reiter group, a landmark in the development of modern art, and two years later they organised a Picasso exhibition, with 76 paintings and 38 works on paper, ranging from the Blue Period tu Cubism. They would keep a close relationship with Picasso, that lasted until the artist's death, in 1973.
The so-called Thannhauser Collection, now on show at the Guggenheim Museum, comprises of 73 carefully chosen works, only the best, of which 32 are by Picasso.
It was in 1963 that the Guggenheim Museum received a large part of the Thannhauser collection, as the passionate art lover decided to donate most of his treasure to the respected cultural institution. In order for the museum to be able to exhibit the works on permanent view, at the second floor of the building a special hall was opened. In 1978, two years after Thannhauser passed away, other works were donated to the museum, and in 1991 another ten canvases made the collection even more impressive.
Paul Cezanne . Still Life: Flask, Glass, and Jug
The visitors of this special exhibition have the chance of discovering first hand the richness and variety, doubled by the passion for art, that made the Thannhauser Collection one of the best of it's kind.
July 2007
