The Guggenheim Museum and Its Collection

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in 2012 with funding from
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http://archive.org/details/artofthOOsolo
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Art of This Century The Guggenheim Museum and Its Collection
 ©1993. The Solomon 1>'
Foundation,
fork
All rights teserved
ISBN 0-89107-072-2 (hardcover)
isbn 0-89207-073-0 (softcover)
Printed in Germany by Cantz

Guggenheim Museum Publications,

1071 Fifth Avenue,
New York, New York 10128

Hardcovei edition distributed by

Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.,
300 Park Avenue South,
New York, New York 10010

Art of This Century: The Guggenheim Museum and lt\ Collection

has been made possible through an endowment fund
established by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

This publication has been sponsored in part through the

generosity of Sotheby's.

Frontispiece: Dan Flavin, Untitled (to Tracy, to celebrate the

love of a lifetime), 1992, expanded version of V initial (to Ward
Jackson, an old friend and during the fall of 1957
when 1 finally returned to New York from Washington and joined
him to work together in this museum, kindly communicated), 1971.

<ent light, variable dimensions. Solomon R.

um, Partial gift of the artist in honor of
Ward Jackson 72.1985. Installed at the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum fot the 1992 exhibition Dan Flavin.
Photo by David Heald.

***" rotunda of the Solomon R.

um. Photo by David Heald.
 1

Preface and Acknowledgments

7 'honu i Krtiti

The Genesis of a Museum

A History oj the Guggenheim
Thomas Krens

43
Frank Lloyd Wright and the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Brua Brook >
Pfeiffer

85
Paintings of Modern Life and Modern Myths
Late-Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-
Century Representations of Gender, Class,
and Race in the Thannhauser Collection
Andrea Feeser

109

1912
Lisa Dennison

149

Technology and the Spirit

The Invention of Non-Objective Art
Michael Govan

181

Peggy's Surreal Playground

Jennifer Blessing

221

Art of This Century and

the New York School
Diane Waldman

257
Against the Grain
A History of Contemporary Art
at the Guggenheim
Nancy Spector

291

The Institution as Frame

Installations at the Guggenheim
Clare Bell

314
Exhibition and Publication History
Preface and Acknowledgments

Thomas Ktms

The Guggenheim Museum has a reasons a significant addition to the Left: Fig. 1.1/

long and distinguished tradition oi literature- on the Guggenheim.

producing publications devoted to us While calling on tlu- fundamental
holdings oi Modern and contemporary research conducted by Rudenstine,
art. The very first catalogue ol the Harnett, and other scholars who
collection assembled by Solomon have worked at the museum over tin-

R. Guggenheim appeared in [936, a past tour dec ades, it has also provided
full year before the foundation that several an historians with the
bears his name was chartered, and three opportunity to write thematically on
years before his museum opened. the collection. The book begins with
Under Thomas M. Messer, director of a historical overview of the Solomon

the museum from 1961 through 1988, R. Guggenheim Foundation, which was
the Guggenheim earned a reputation chartered [937 primarily to provide
in

for meticulously researched books Guggenheim a means of exhibiting

documenting its major masterworks; his collection of non-objective paintings
indeed, Angelica Zander Rudenstine's and which has grown in the
two-volume The Guggenheim Museum subsequent years to encompass the
Collection: Paintings 1880-1945(1976) Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and
and her Peggy Guggenheim Collection. the Guggenheim Museum S0H0,
Venice: The Solomon R. Guggenheim both in New York City, and the Peggy
Foundation (1985), as well as Vivian Guggenheim Collection in Venice,
Enclicott Barnett's The Guggenheim Italy; in addition, the Guggenheim
Museum: Justin K. Thannhauser Collection Museum Bilbao, in Spain's Basque
(1978) are not only used by scholars Country, is scheduled to open in 1997.

interested in the Guggenheim's A major essay by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer,

collection, but are often cited as director of the Frank Lloyd Wright
models of museum scholarship in Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona,
general. charts the fascinating architectural-
Recent publications have stressed design process that led to the erection of
the author's role in interpreting aspects Wright's greatest masterpiece, a
of the museum's collection, which building that since its opening in 1959
allows for the application of diverse hasbecome synonymous with the
art-historical methodologies in the Guggenheim. Seven scholarly yet —
writing of essays. Since the reopening of wholly engaging — essays by staff
the Guggenheim in June 1992 after a members of the Guggenheim follow,
two-year renovation and expansion each examining some period
project, several such publications have encompassed by the holdings of the
been produced, notably: Guggenheim Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.
Museum: A to Z, a concise, highly The profusely illustrated essays,
readable overview of the collection of arranged chronologically, provide a
the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum diverse yet coherent portrait of Modern
in New York, with entries that situate and contemporary art.

specific works within their historical, The title of this book is taken from
social, and cultural climates; a revised, Peggy Guggenheim's famous New
second volume devoted to the York gallery of the 1940s, Art of This
Thannhauser Collection, which includes Century. In 1979, the Solomon R.
updated scholarship and two new, major Guggenheim Foundation took on
essays by art historians Paul Tucker and full responsibility for her extraordinary
Fred Licht; and Paul Klee at the collection of Surrealist and abstract
Guggenheim Museum, a book that art,which remains on view in her
captures the Guggenheim's rich palazzo on Venice's Grand Canal. This
holdings of works by this Modern volume is the first to draw on a
master through new photography and a broad selection of masterpieces from
comprehensive essay by Klee scholar both the New York and Venice
Andrew Kagan. collections — as such, it truly provides
A rt of This Century: The Guggenheim a unique and vital overview of the art
Museum and Its Collection is for manv of our century.

Preface
 Books such as this are increasingly original, and significant additions to the
more difficult to realize in today's literature of art history. Cara Galowitz,
economy. Yet the Guggenheim remains Manager of Graphic Design Services,
steadfastly committed to a publications showed tremendous care in the layout of
program that continually promotes new this beautiful book. David Heald,
research on its permanent collection. Manager of Photographic Services,
The museum has been joined in this reshot all of the Guggenheim's
goal by the Andrew W. Mellon paintings and sculpture reproduced in
Foundation, which for almost a decade this volume, and, with Cara Galowitz,
has supported some of our most went to extraordinary lengths to check
important endeavors in research and the veracity of the color separations at
publishing. In 1984, the Mellon every stage of production. They were
Foundation awarded the Guggenheim a aided by Pamela Myers, Administrator
generous gift in the form of a for Exhibitionsand Programming.
permanent endowment, its purpose Anthony Calnek and the rest of the
being "to assist the museum in Publications Department staff Laura —
producing serious publications that Morris, Assistant Editor; Elizabeth
require careful preparation, scholarly Levy, Production Editor; and Jennifer
and professional evaluation."
research, —
Knox, Editorial Assistant edited the
The Mellon Foundation has also book and brought it to completion with
encouraged the museum to use the gift great enthusiasm, perseverance, and
to allow its curators "to advance their talent. Samar Qandil, Photography
professional training and achievements." Coordinator, gathered photographs;
Art of This Century: The Guggenheim Juliet Nations-Powell, Curatorial
Museum and Its Collection fulfills the Assistant, conducted research that led to
mandate of this visionary gift in a the color-plate captions; Simone
tangible way. The Guggenheim is very Manwarring, intern in the Registrar's
grateful for the opportunity created by Department, aided in the compilation
the Mellon Foundation to continue to of the exhibition history; Jennifer Knox
publish important and innovative books compiled the comprehensive
about the permanent collection. bibliography, the first detailing the full
We also express grateful scope of the Guggenheim's publishing
acknowledgment to Sotheby's, which activities; and, as with so many books,
provided partial sponsorship for this Ward Jackson, Archivist, and Sonja Bay,
publication. Librarian, provided invaluable
The funding and encouragement assistance. While these individuals
described above were essential to the made readily identifiable contributions,
realization of this book, as were the Art of This Century: The Guggenheim
talents and dedication of so many Museum and Its Collection truly results
people on the staff of the Guggenheim from the efforts of the entire staff. It is

Museum. The book was shaped over the to the staff as a whole, then, that I offer
course of several years, with its final profound and collegial thanks.
contents defined by a group consisting
of Michael Govan, Deputy Director;
Lisa Dennison, Collections Curator;
Nancy Spector, Associate Curator; and
Anthony Calnek, Managing Editor. As
the essays by Clare Bell, Assistant
Curator; Jennifer Blessing, Assistant
Curator; Lisa Dennison; Andrea Feeser,
former Curatorial Assistant; Michael
Govan; Nancy Spector; and Diane
Waldman, Deputy Director and Senior
Curator, demonstrate, when scholars are
given the time, resources,
encouragement, and freedom to write,
they will often produce compelling,
Following two pages: Fig. 2. The skylight in the main
rotunda of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Photo by
David Heald.
Plate 1 . Vasily Kandinsky, Blue Mountain (Der blaue Berg),

1908-09. Oil on canvas, 106 x 96.6 cm (41 '/» x 38 inches).

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Gift, Solomon R.
Guggenheim 41.505.
The Genesis of a Museum
A History of the Guggenheim

Thomas Kreris

When Solomon R. Guggenheim

the The tenor oi
competitive- market.
Museum its famed Frank
inaugurated Guggenheim's patronage shifted
Lloyd Wright building in 1959, the dramatically, however, in 1927, when he
museum was already twenty years
itself first encountered the young German
old and the collection was more than baroness Hilla Rebaj \<>n Ehrenwiesen,
thirty years in the making. What who introduced him to experimental
originated as a private accumulation of trends m contemporary European
some of the finest examples of painting.
twentieth-century European avant- The daughter of a Prussian military
garde painting had emerged over the (who was also a gifted
officer
years as a professional institution woodworker and painter), Rebay
devoted to the edification and education studied art and music at an early age.
of an increasingly art-aware public. Though extremely talented as a portrait
Unlike other museums founded in New painter, Rebay eventually gravitated
York at roughly the same time the — toward the most radical tendencies in
Whitney Museum of American Art, European art. The Dada artist Jean Arp,
distinguished by its national Rebay 's suitor from 1915 until 1917,
parameters, and the Museum of Modern initiated her into the avant-garde art
Art, notable for its encyclopedic world: he presented her with a copy of
approach to the history of Modernist Kandinsky's treatise On the Spiritual in
culture — the Guggenheim was initially Art (JJber das Geistige in der Kunst, 19 12)
committed to one specific aesthetic for Christmas of 1916 and during that
vision: non-objectivity in art. year introduced her to Herwarth
Articulated by its first director, Hilla Walden, owner of the Berlin gallery Der
Rebay, epitomized visually by the Sturm, where she exhibited her
paintings of Vasily Kandinsky, and paintings in 1917. Impressed by the
backed by Solomon R. Guggenheim, artists with whom she exhibited at Der
this collective vision of pure painterly Sturm, including Robert Delaunay,
abstraction served as the catalyst for a Albert Gleizes, Kandinsky, and the man
remarkable, though idiosyncratic, who would become her longtime
assemblage of canvases and works on confidant and lover — Rudolf Bauer
paper. Rebay embraced the idea of non-
The founder of the museum that objectivity in art as both a style and an
bears his name, Solomon R. aesthetic philosophy. Differentiating
Guggenheim was born into a large, between abstraction as an aesthetic
affluent family of Swiss origin, which derivation of forms found in the
amassed its fortune in American mining empirical world and non-objectivity as
during the nineteenth century. In the pure artistic invention, Rebay devoted
Top: Fig. 3. Solomon R Guggenheim.
manner of the educated, prosperous herself to the latter, believing it was

elite, Guggenheim and his wife Irene infused with a mystical essence. Her Bottom: Fig. 4. Hilla Rebay. with one of her collages,
ca. 1929-30. Courtesy The Hilla von Rebay Foundation
Rothschild were brought up in a own studies, at the age of fourteen, with
tradition of philanthropy and Rudolf Steiner in the esoteric religion of
connoisseurship, and became theosophy laid the foundation for her
enthusiastic patrons of the arts, lifelong pursuit of the spiritual in art.
accumulating a collection of works by The word "non-objective" is Rebay 's
Old Masters, including Flemish panel translation of the German term
paintings and French Barbizon canvases, gegenstandslos, which means, literally,

American landscapes, Audubon prints, "without object." Used in Kandinsky's

and oriental manuscript illuminations. theoretical writings and in Bauer's
Although fashioned after exemplary correspondence with Rebay, the term
American art collections assembled by came to signify for her a unity of the
such entrepreneurs as Henry Clay Frick highest aesthetic and spiritual
and J. P. Morgan, Guggenheim's principles. "Never before in the history
decisions about acquisitions suffered of the world," wrote Rebay years after
from his lack of expertise, a rather she first formulated her artistic mission,
undefined personal taste, and his "has there been a greater step forward
relatively late entry into a highly from the materialistic to the spiritual

The Genesis of a Museum 7

 than from objectivity to non-objectivity harmony Comparing colors to musical
in painting. Because it is our destiny to tones and shapes to specific emotional
be creative and our fate to become states, he devised a formal vocabulary
humanity will come to
spiritual, expressive of what he termed the artist's
develop and enjoy greater intuitive "inner necessity." While it has since
power through creations of great art, the been proven by scholars that
glorious masterpieces of non- Kandinsky 's seemingly nonmimetic
objectivity."' forms were actually abstracted from
Upon moving to America in 1927, models drawn from literature or
Rebay began a personal crusade to biological phenomena, his written
promote the art in which she so proclamations and evocative canvases
profoundly believed. Guggenheim convinced Rebay that his work
commissioned her to paint his portrait exemplified her own goals as a painter
that same year. Impressed by Rebay 's and curator devoted to non-objectivity.
impassioned commitment and lured, In addition to the work of
perhaps, by the thought of pioneering a Kandinsky and Bauer, early acquisitions
relatively untouched area of collecting, included paintings by Marc Chagall,
Guggenheim began in 1929 to Delaunay, Gleizes, Fernand Leger,
systematically purchase works by non- Amedeo Modigliani, and Laszlo
objective artists. Moholy-Nagy. Soon the walls of
During the spring of 1929, the Guggenheim's suite at the Plaza Hotel
Guggenheims accompanied Rebay on a were covered to capacity with the new
European tour. Introduced to collection. Inevitably, his thoughts
Kandinsky in the artist's studio in turned toward the possibility of
Dessau, Germany, Guggenheim publicly exhibiting the work, and in
purchased an important oil painting, 1937 he established the Solomon R.
Top: Fig. 5. The Museum of Non-Objective Painting on
East Fifty-fourth Street, New York. Composition #(1923, plate 2), the first of Guggenheim Foundation for the
more than 150 works by the artist to "promotion and encouragement and
Bottom: Fig. 6. Installation view of In Memory of
Museum of
enter the collection throughout the education in art and the enlightenment
Vastly Kandinsky, presented in 1945 at the
2
Non-Objective Painting on East Fifty-fourth Street. years.Even though Bauer held a of the public." With the foundation
At right are Painting with White Border (May and
1913)
privileged position in Rebay 's vision of incorporated, Guggenheim envisioned
Improvisation 28(\yiz).
non-objective art — she arranged for the construction of a museum designed
Guggenheim to entirely subsidize to house the ever-increasing collection.
Bauer's production, providing a Seizing upon his intentions, Rebay
monthly income in return for immediately began to plan how best to
paintings —
it was the presence of realize their dream. Her correspondence
Kandinsky 's work that ultimately from the 1930s is filled with proposals to
defined the tenor of the collection. erect a "museum-temple" of non-
Russian-born Kandinsky is objective art. Schemes included an
associated with the earliest formulation exhibition hall at Rockefeller Center to
of pure nonmimetic painting. The be designed by Frederick Kiesler and
artist's color-infused canvases of Edmund Korner; a relocation to
dynamically converging and contrasting Charleston, South Carolina, where
forms demonstrate his philosophy of Guggenheim owned an estate; and a
abstraction, which is defined in his most debut at the 1939 New York World's
widely read theoretical writings: On the Fair in a specially fabricated circular
Spiritual in Art and Point and Line to pavilion. Finally, in 1939, Guggenheim
Plane (Punkt undLinie zu Flache, 1926). rented a former automobile showroom
Inspired by the theosophical teachings in Manhattan on East Fifty-fourth
of Steiner(as was Rebay), Symbolism Street, which Rebay transformed, with
and Romantic antecedents, the
its the assistance of architect William
intense and direct new visions of the Muschenheim, into a functioning,
French Fauves and German temporary exhibition space called the
Expressionists, as well as by the atonal Museum of Non-Objective Painting.
music of Arnold Schonberg, Kandinsky Only the purest examples of non-
developed a painting technique that, he objective art were shown in the new
professed, resonated with spiritual museum; abstract or representational
Plate 2. Vasily Kandinsky, Composition 8, July 1923.
Oil on canvas, 140 x 201 cm (55 V» x 79 '/% inches).

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Gift, Solomon R.

Guggenheim 37.262.
 — a

works by artists considered precursors kindred spirit in matters of art and its

also included in the collection by this presentation. Wright's description of

time — remained Guggenheim's Plaza
at
suite. Rebay, assuming the position of
the museum's first director, decorated
the gallery walls with pleated gray
velour and covered the floors with thick
organic architecture recalls the art for
which Rebay proselytized —
regenerative art full of moral and
Utopian implications that seemed to
materialize as a direct expression of its

gray carpeting. The plush velvet- creators' souls:

upholstered seats, subtle indirect
lighting, recorded music by Bach and Out of the ground into Not
the light — yes!
Beethoven, and the odor of incense only must the building so proceed, butwe
wafting through the rooms created an cannot have an organic architecture unless we
atmosphere designed to spiritually achieve an organic society! We who love . . .

enlighten as well as aesthetically architecture and recognize it as the great

entertain. The museum was a great sense of structure in whatever —
is music,
success, attracting many young painting, sculpture, or life itself —we must
American abstract painters, whom somehow act as intermediaries —maybe
Rebay welcomed and supported and missionaries.*

1 whose work she eventually exhibited.

1 ..JJSftJ ^, II

A woman of formidable energy In 1946, when construction of the

* and determination, Rebay instituted a new building seemed imminent, an
series of traveling loan exhibitions exterior and interior model was
£- devoted to Guggenheim's collection, presented to members of the press. Life
while simultaneously organizing shows magazine published an article featuring
in the East Fifty-fourth Street space. photographs of Wright's model, which
Top: Fig. 7. The dining room in Solomon Guggenheim's
For each of the loan exhibitions, was complete with electrical wiring and
suite at the Plaza Hotel in New York, with Marc Chagall's
Paris through the Window (1913) to the right.
held at the Gibbes Memorial Art a mock exhibition. Entitled "New Art
Gallery, Charleston (March i-April 12, Museum Will Be New York's Strangest
Bottom: Solomon Guggenheim's suite at the Plaza
Fig. 8.
Hotel, with three paintings by Rudolf Bauer. Courtesy The 1936); the Philadelphia Art Alliance Building," the article made the
Hilla von Rebay Foundation. (February 8-28, 1937); and the cylindrical structure famous — or
Baltimore Museum of Art (January 6— perhaps infamous — well before it was
29, 1939), an illustrated catalogue was Johnson, director of the
built. Philip
published with didactic essays by Rebay Department of Architecture and Design
on the principles and goals of non- at the Museum of Modern Art and
objectivity. Her texts reveal an obsession himself an architect, expressed interest
with the metaphysical and an implicit in the museum to Wright in 1952,
belief in the teleological progression of stating:
history and culture. Although Rebay 's
proclamations may sound naive today, The Museum of Modern Art would like very
her reflections on this particular strain much to formalize our greeting to your
of Modernist thought remain a museum by giving a one-person show to your
remarkable document of the period. design. . . . It would be of greatest interest to

the public, and it seems to us that it would

In 1943, to meet the demands of the by- also help the Guggenheim Foundation to a
then flourishing Museum of Non- good publicity send-off.
*

Objective Painting, Rebay initiated her

campaign permanent
to build a Though Wright agreed, the exhibition
structure to accommodate the never took place; the public had to wait
Guggenheim collection and the seven more years before construction
activities of the foundation. It took was completed.
little time for her (apparently with the Several factors contributed to
assistance of Irene Guggenheim) to prolonging the project, including two
select therenowned American architect alterations in the site itself. Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright for the project. made major revisions in the plans for
When she saw an exhibition of Wright's the building, though the spiral form
work in Berlin in 1910 and read his remained a constant. (For a full
published writings, Rebay discovered a discussion of the design process that led
to the finished building, see "Frank serious Demonstrations, Harry F.

Lloyd Wright and the Solomon R. Guggenheim, then president of the

Guggenheim Museum," pages 43-80.) foundation, issued a statement
—
When Guggenheim who intentionally announcing revised exhibition
delayed building because of postwar prog ramming that would include
inflation — died in 1949, construction "objective" examples of Modern art."
was further postponed until a new Realizing that no true shift in
administration was in place at the exhibition policy could occur with
museum. Encountering resistance from Rebay still in charge of the museum,
the museum's trustees to support the the trustees requested her resignation,
unprecedented and increasingly which they received in March 1952.
expensive building project, Wright Seven months later, it was announced Fig. 9. Speaking of PktUia New Art Museum VX'ill Be
Hem York 1 SaangcM Buildinj cobet H, 194]
that James Johnson Sweeney had
I

astutely suggested be reconceived as

1

it

a memorial to Guggenheim. In 1952, accepted the position she had vacated.

the name of the institution was officially Formerly director of the Department of
changed to the Solomon R. Painting and Sculpture at the Museum
Guggenheim Museum. of Modern Art, Sweeney approached his
The modification in name from the new curatorial and directorial role with
Museum of Non-Objective Painting, a broader sensibility than Rebay,
which indicated a strictly circumscribed augmenting the collection with works
aesthetic scope, to the more neutral, yet that encompassed more aspects of
commemorative, Solomon R. Modern art than the non-objective.
Guggenheim Museum reflects certain Attempting to fill serious gaps in the
institutional revisions that occurred collection —such as the almost complete
around the time of its benefactor's absence of sculpture, which Rebay did
death. In 1948, the museum purchased not admit due to its "corporeality" — he
the entire estate of Karl Nierendorf, a instituted an aggressive acquisitions
New York art dealer who specialized in program. Before Sweeney resigned in

German painting. This acquisition i960, eleven Constantin Brancusis, three

enriched the collection by some 730
objects, including eighteen Kandinskys,
no Paul Klees, six Chagalls, and
twenty-four Lyonel Feiningers. Perhaps
more importantly for the future of the
institution, Nierendorf's holdings
expanded the scope of the museum's
focus by the inclusion of many major
Expressionist and Surrealist works.
Particularly notable among the former
is Oskar Kokoschka's historic Knight
Errant (1915).
During the early 1950s, the museum
was widely criticized for the limited
scope of its programming. Though
Rebay had always been receptive to and
supportive of young, emerging artists,
her criterion of non-objectivity was
construed by many as too biased and
restrictive. Aline Louchheim (later
Aline Saarinen), the art critic for the
New York Times, questioned whether
museum was "justifying its tax-free
status as an educational museum," and
described the institution as "an esoteric,
occult place in which a mystic language
was spoken."' In response to such
Alexander Archipenkos, seven
Alexander Calders, bronzes by Max
Ernst and Alberto Giacometti, as well
as other major works such as Paul
Cezanne's Alan with Crossed Arms
(ca. 1899, plate 3) and seminal
Abstract Expressionist paintings by
Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, and
Jackson Pollock were acquired. In
addition to Sweeney's purchases, the
museum received a bequest from the
estate of Katherine S. Dreier,who,
along with Marcel Duchamp, had
founded the Societe Anonyme.
Most important among the twenty-
eight works of art donated by the
Dreier estate in 1953 were Brancusis
Little French Girl (1914-18), an
Archipenko bronze (1919), Piet
Mondrian's Composition (1929), an
untitled Juan Gris still life (1916), and
three Schwitters collages dating from
the the early 1920s.
Sweeney's revision of acquisition
policies was symptomatic of the
dramatic institutional changes that he
initiated upon assuming directorship of
the museum. Ten members of Rebay 's

The Genesis of a Museum 1

Fig. 10. Temporary (summer 1993) of works by
installation

Constantin Brancusi High Gallery of the Solomon R.

in the
Guggenheim Museum. Left to tight: Adam and Eve
(1916-24), The Sorceress (1916-24), King of Kings (eatly 1930s),
and The Seal (Miracle) (1924-36). Photo by Lee Ewing.
 —

staffwere terminated on his first day of "When you install pictures so that
work/ In the spirit of professionalism, visual and not intellectual focal points
Sweeney hired a registrar, initiated a are contrasted, thinking of space
conservation program, established a relationships and tensions between
photography department, and expanded objects," he once explained, "these
the library. Redecorating the exhibition relationships and contrasts bring out
townhouse at 1071 Fifth
spaces in the criticism, which is more important than
Avenue, where the museum had been chronological or historical data." 9
relocated in 1947, he dispensed with the It was in the area of installation

H plush, curtained walls in favor of clean,

white surfaces and displayed the
design that Sweeney disagreed most
profoundly with Wright's plans for
paintings without their customary the new museum building. Initially,
heavy gold or ornate wood frames. Sweeney's pragmatic attitude toward
Sweeney also rescued the many the museum environment ran
"objective" masterworks languishing in counter to Wright's conception of
storage or hidden away in the institution as a haven for
Guggenheim's Plaza suite, highlighting contemplation, relaxation, and artistic
them in a series of Selections exhibitions experimentation. Their correspondence
during his early tenure. Interspersed records often bitter conflicts over
with the collection-oriented exhibitions specific architectural details, as well as
were critically acclaimed loan shows each man's thoughts concerning the role
assembled at the museum by Sweeney, of the museum. Fortunately for Wright,
such as the first large-scale American he found advocates in Harry
exhibition of Delaunay's oeuvre, the first Guggenheim and his wife Alicia, who
retrospective of Brancusi's sculpture, remained committed to Solomon
and the comprehensive museum
first Guggenheim's and Rebay's vision for
analysis of Giacometti's work, all held the new structure even though they
in 1955. Sweeney also instituted a supported critical policy changes. When
program of exhibitions of important but Sweeney repeatedly demanded more
not excessively valuable works, which space for administrative offices as well as
were lent for periods of six to nine areas for conservation, preparation, and
months to various small American —
photography all requisite for the
museums and university galleries that modern, professional art institution
lacked resources in Modern art; this Wright attempted to accommodate his
practice was elaborated upon and fully requests. But he would not condone the
realized during the 1980s through the director's rejection of his designs for
Top: Fig. 1 1. Frank Lloyd Wright, Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, interior perspective, 1958. Pencil on Guggenheim's Collection Sharing natural lighting, gently sloping display
tracing paper, 85.4 x 98.1 cm (33 Vt x 38 Vs inches). Program. walls, and color scheme. Convinced that
The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, The Frank Lloyd Wright
Foundation 4305.011.
When asked by the New York Times Sweeney would not abide by his plans
how he equated his revised policies with for the interior of the museum, Wright
Center: Fig. 12. Frank Lloyd Wright, Solomon R.
Solomon R. Guggenheim's innovative prepared a series of perspective
Guggenheim Museum, interior perspective, 1958. Pencil on
tracing paper, 86.4 x 101.6 cm ( 34 x 40 inches). but narrowly focused vision, Sweeney drawings illustrating sample
Private collection 4305.012.
replied that he found "non-objective a exhibitions (figs. 11— 13); these drawings
Bottom: Fig. 13. Frank Lloyd Wright, Solomon R. linguistic confusion." "More offered a graphic tour through the
Guggenheim Museum, interior perspective, 1958. Pencil importantly," stated the Times article, museum's interior as Wright envisioned
and colored pencil on tracing paper, 87 x 97.2 cm (34 V4 x
"he believes the significance of the great it. The architect distributed copies of
38 Vi inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives,
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.010. works in the collection lies in their this series, along with an essay called
fundamental aesthetic values, not in the "The Solomon R. Guggenheim
fact they fit into a verbal category."
8
Museum: An Experiment in the Third
Sweeney's installation technique Dimension," to the trustees and to
corresponded to his emphasis on formal various architecture journals as
and, hence, visual correlations among testimony to his intentions. Wright
works of art, as opposed to thematic or favored natural light, which, according
conceptual subdivisions. He did not, for to his design,would flow in from above
instance, employ didactic wall labels, through the glass dome and from
believing that aesthetic objects are self- behind the paintings through a narrow
explanatory, experiential entities. glass band running along the exterior
Plate 3. Paul Cezanne, Man uith Crossed Arms (Homme aux
bras croises), ca. 1899. Oil cm
on canvas, 92 x 72.7 (36 '4 x
28 V% inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 54.1387.
Plate 4. Joan Miro, The Tilled Field (La Terre labouree),
1923-24. Oil on canvas, 66 x 92.7 cm (26 x 36 'A inches).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 72.2020.
wall of the spiral. Artificial illumination hi this a\ ruinous m musii if "/u is not
would be available- in the event of poor deaf. IJ not color blind, whitewashed
weather and tor evening viewing. environment is just as ruinous to the sensitive

Defend mil; his Lighting scheme in a 1955 color-senst oj painting. Background becomes
letter to Sweeney, Wright wrote in his foreground.' Therefort in violation oj the

usual flamboyant manner: balance oj the values of id most any color-

composition the corpse fakes over. Hut soft

The strength of the Guggenheim, as you ivory . . . is luminous-receptive:

know, is as a space in which to view the sympathetically selj-efjacing instead of
"
painter's creation truthfully, that is to say competitive.

honestly, in the varying light as seen by the

painter himself and in which it was born to Such disputes continued, with Wright
be seen. . . . A humanist must believe that formulating increasingly eloquent
any picture in a fixed light is only a "fixed" explications of design and theory,
picture! If this fixation be ideal, then see virtually until his death in April 1959,
death as the ideal state for man. The six months before the museum opened
morgue' to the public.
When Wright's building opened on
Wright's plan for the installation of October 21, 1959, enormous crowds of
paintings along the spiral ramp is people lined up to experience the
evident in his perspective drawings: the architecture and to see the impressive
canvases, supported by the slanted base inaugural exhibition of highlights from
of the gently sloping rear walls, were the collection. Newspaper accounts at
intended to tilt slightly backward, as if the time reported an attendance on
on easels. Wright believed that their opening day of some three thousand
proximity to the viewer would sustain people. Although generally favorable,
the human scale he was attempting to opinions on the structure were
secure in the building. Sweeney and the restrained. While extolling the building
trustees thought this design would as a sculptural masterpiece, art critics
subjugate the paintings to the voiced concern for the integrity of the
architectural scheme and wanted, art object within such an overwhelming
instead, to "float" the canvases architectural environment. On one
perpendicular to the ground by means extreme, Emily Genauer pronounced
of support rods projecting from the that the museum "has turned out to
walls. In an attempt once again to be the most beautiful building in
justify his intentions, Wright explained America never for a minute
. . .

to Harry Guggenheim that he dominating the pictures being shown."

conceived of "the building and the On the other, Ada Louise Huxtable
painting as an uninterrupted, beautiful wrote that the structure is "less a
symphony such as never existed in the museum than it is a monument to
world of Art before."" The theoretical Frank Lloyd Wright."" The fact that
battle with Sweeney and the Wright began referring to the building
administration continued over the during the last few years of design as
choice of color for the interior. Though the "Archeseum," an appellation that
Wright envisioned the walls painted in caused considerable alarm among the
soft ivory tones, Sweeney favored bright trustees, only justified the critics'
white, much to the architect's dismay. apprehension. Over the years, however,
Employing his persuasive, dramatic artists and curators have found the
writing style, Wright pronounced his welcome challenge.
distinctive space a
thoughts on the subject: As Wright intended, the self-enclosed
structure composed of pure, curving
White, itself the loudest color of all. is the lines has offered new possibilities for
sum of all colors. If activated by strong light installations, exhibitions, and the
it is to color like a a
corpse. To use it as contemplation of art.
forcing-ground for a delicate painting would
be like taking high C in music as a Shortly after the museum opened,
background for orchestral tonality. Easy to Sweeney resigned as director. H. H.

The Genesis of a Museum 1 7

Mat* 5. Fernand Leger, The Great Parade (definitive state)

(La Grande Parade [£tat definitif]), 1954. Oil on canvas,

299 x 400 cm (117 >/« x 157 'A inches). Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum 62.1619.
Arnason, who had been director of the Under Messer, the curatorial and
Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, was technical staff was enlarged in
enlisted to serve as a trustee and the proportion to the increased exhibition
Vice President for Art Administration. and publishing activities that were
He was asked to oversee the general taking place. Acquisitions followed the
development of the museum until a new same comprehensive trend established
administration was established. While by Sweeney: Leger's late painting The
at the Guggenheim, Arnason organized Great Parade (1954, plate 5), Egon
a number of important exhibitions, Schiele's Portrait ofjohann Harms (1916),
including a retrospective of Philip Frantisek Kupka's Planes by Colors, Large
Guston's work and the first survey of Nude (1909-10), Brancusi's marbleMuse
Abstract Expressionism in a New York (1912), as well as numerous works by
museum. Joan Miro, Calder, Klee, and
In 1961, Thomas M. Messer assumed Giacometti, entered the collection as
the directorship of the Guggenheim. He examples of Modern art. In the
critical
enlarged upon Sweeney's efforts to more contemporary category, Messer
modernize and professionalize the was responsible for the acquisitions of
museum's staff and administrative Bacon's large triptych Three Studies for a
structure. During his twenty-seven-year Crucifixion (1962), several paintings by
tenure, Messer initiated an ambitious Jean Dubuffet (a favorite of his),

publications program focused not only Anselm Kiefer's monumental canvas

on temporary exhibitions but also on Seraphim (1983-84), Robert
the growing collection, which required Rauschenberg's Red Painting (1953), and
in-depth cataloguing of works, as well David Smith's stainless-steel sculpture
as the institution of scholarly research Cubi XXVII (1965, plate 114). A keen
projects. Masterworks from the proponent of the international avant-
collection are meticulously documented, garde, Messer also acquired works by
for instance, in Angelica Zander Latin American and Eastern European
Rudenstine's two- volume work The artists throughout his tenure.

Guggenheim Museum Collection: Paintings Exhibitions organized by Messer and his

1880— 194$ (1976) and Vivian Endicott
Barnett's The Guggenheim Museum: Justin
K. Thannhauser Collection (1978).
Three years after the Wright
building opened to the public, Messer
reinstated some of the architect's
original installation techniques,
Sweeney had abolished. A letter
Lawrence Alloway, curator at the
Guggenheim at the time, to the painter
Francis Bacon records Messer's
intervention:
In the early days of the museum, when
it was painted white, the paintings were
projected off the wall by bars. This
longer done, so that the paintings rest
back on the wall in the accustomed manner.
In addition, the museum is no longer
painted dead white. Thus the effect
which people used to experience here is
Not only that, but the pictures
longer felt.
are now hung in line with the slope of
the ramp, and not, as used to be the case, at
an absolute horizontal. The effect of this is of
complete stability of the painting in the
'4
visual field.
curatorial staff were equally wide-
ranging, covering the early Modern
period with a major Kandinsky
retrospective in 1963; a trilogy of
scholarly shows devoted to discrete
stylistic periods in Kandinsky 's
which development, held between 1982 and
from 1985; a 1965 show representing the
contributions of Gustav Klimt and
Schiele; a Klee retrospective in 1967; a
Mondrian centennial tribute in 1971;
and a survey in 1973 of works by Miro
related to poetry, to cite only a few
examples. Exhibitions of contemporary
art included shows devoted toRoy
is no Lichtenstein (1969), CarlAndre (1970),
John Chamberlain (1971), Eva Hesse
(1972), Joseph Beuys (1979), and Enzo
Cucchi (1986).
of glare The collection was dramatically
no enriched in 1963, when the foundation
received a portion of Justin K.
Thannhauser's prized collection of
Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and
Modern French masterpieces as a
permanent loan. These paintings and
sculptures formally entered the
Plate 6. Pablo Picasso, Woman with Yellow Hair
(Femrneaux cheieux jaunes), December 1931. Oil on canvas.
100 x 81 cm (39 VS x 31 "/» inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum. Thannhauser Collection. Gift, Justin K.
Thannhauser 78.2514 T59.

museum's collection in 1978, two years
after Thannhauser's death. The
Thannhauser bequest provided an
important historical survey of the period
directly antedating that represented by
the Guggenheim's original holdings and
enhanced its concentrations of works by
Pablo Picasso (with, for example,
Woman with Yellow Hair, 1931, plate 6)
and School of Paris artists. In 1981,
Hilde Thannhauser, Justin's widow,
augmented the gift with three
additional paintings, by Georges
Braque, Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh.
Upon Hilde's death in 1991, the
museum received her bequest of ten
important works: by Picasso, one
five
each by Cezanne, Klee, Edouard Manet,
and Jules Pascin, and the museum's first
painting by Claude Monet. The 1963
procurement of the Thannhauser
paintings and sculptures, including
major Cezannes, Paul Gauguins, and
Picassos, necessitated an expansion of
the museum's exhibition space in order
to display them adequately. The Justin
K. Thannhauser Wing was created on
the second floor of the Monitor building
in 1965 (the Monitor was renamed for
the Thannhausers in 1989).
The creation of galleries in the
Monitor required the relocation of
administrative offices, the library, and
storage space. In response to the now-
acute need for additional work areas, the
foundation commissioned Taliesin
Associated Architects, the heirs to
Wright's practice, to design an
adjoining structure on the site behind
the museum that had been reserved for
an annex building originally envisioned
by Wright. Designed by William
Wesley Peters, Wright's son-in-law, and
completed in 1968, the new annex
helped to alleviate the most immediate
functional needs. For example, the
relocation of the conservation
department, housed on the seventh
ramp of the rotunda, annex
to the
allowed the museum to open the
entire spiral for public viewing for the
first time. Although planned as a
six-story structure, the annex was
actually provided with only four
floors due to unforeseen budgetary
constraints. Nevertheless, because the
administration recognized that future
—
expansion would be inevitable, the
foundation was designed and
constructed to carry a ten-story
building.
To the list of visionary collectors who
have contributed to the exemplary
holdings of the museum, the name of
Peggy Guggenheim must be added.
Though an autonomous entity and
geographically separate, the Peggy
Guggenheim Collection in Venice has
been an integral part of the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Foundation since 1976,
when Peggy bequeathed her art and the
palazzo that houses it to the New
York— based institution. Peggy
Guggenheim's sensitivity to stylistic
currents overlooked by her uncle
—
Solomon namely Surrealism and early
postwar American gestural painting
resulted in a collection of more than
three hundred objects, rich in genres
that are absent from the New York
museum's holdings. When considered
in concert, these two collections form a
bicontinental entity that begins to trace
the complex and multivalent history of
twentieth-century art.
Peggy Guggenheim was always
considered something of a renegade,
escaping to Europe when her family had
emigrated from there a generation
earlier. Wealthy, high-spirited, and
rebellious, she sought adventure and
excitement while the majority of the
Guggenheims were investing money
and building empires. At the age of
forty, Guggenheim discovered a
vocation for which she was well suited:
art patronage. In January 1938, she
opened the Guggenheim Jeune gallery
in London with the intellectual and
artistic support of her friends and
colleagues Duchamp and Samuel
Beckett. Her opening exhibition
featured the work of Jean Cocteau;
subsequent shows included
presentations devoted to Kandinsky and
the Surrealist painter Yves Tanguy.
June 1939, Guggenheim decided
In
to abandon her ownership of the gallery
in order to found a museum of Modern
art. She asked the art historian and
critic Herbert Read to be its director,
and together they drew up a list of the
painters and sculptors whose
Plate 7. Rene Magritte, Empire of Light (L'Empire des
lumieres), 1953-54. Oil on canvas, 195.4 x 131. 2 cm (76V16 x
51 Vi inches). Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG102.
' !'• firi>ce Nouman, Green Light Corridor, representation would create an accurate Abstract and Cubist Gallery . . . two walls
'.

green fluorescent lights, 304.8 x

\o x 480 x 12 inches). Solomon R. portrait of twentieth-century art. Using consisted of an ultramarine curtain which
un, Panza Collection, Gift 92.4171. this list, which was revised by curved around the room with a wonderful
Colombo.
Duchamp and Nellie van Doesburg, sweep and resembled a circus tent. The
Guggenheim formed the core of her paintings hung at right angles to it from

personal collection.
relinquishing plans for a
because of the impending war, lack of
physical quarters, and a diminishment
While eventually strings. In the center of the room the
museum paintings were clustered in triangles,
hanging on strings as if they were floating in
triangular wooden platforms
space. Little

of interest on her part, she continued to holding sculptures were also suspended in this
purchase paintings and sculptures in manner.
France until she was forced to flee

Europe as Hitler's troops approached On the opening night of the gallery,

Paris. Her motto time was "buy
at that October 20, 1942, Guggenheim wore
a picture a day," and, according to her one earring made by Tanguy and
autobiography Out of This Century, she another by Calder to prove her
lived up to it, adding Brancusi's impartiality between Surrealism and
Maiastra (1912?) and Bird in Space abstraction. In addition to providing
(1932—40, plate 87), Giacometti's Woman her New York audience with the finest
with Her Throat Cut (1932, plate 90), and examples of European Modern art as —
works by Victor Brauner, Salvador Dali, did Pierre Matisse and Julien Levy at
Jean Helion, Leger, Rene Magritte this time —
Guggenheim exhibited
(including his Empire of Light, 1953—54, works by then little-known American
plate 7), and Man Ray to her collection painters whose automatic, expressionist
before leaving France. stylehad been inspired by Surrealism:
Upon her return to the United States William Baziotes, Robert Motherwell,
during the war, Peggy Guggenheim Mark Rothko, and Clyfford Still.
opened museum/gallery devoted
a Pollock, a "discovery" of hers, was given
exclusively to Modern art, on Fifty- his first solo exhibition in late 1943 at
seventh Street in New York City. The Art of This Century. In 1950, she
gallery, Art of This Century, was organized the first Pollock show held in
designed by Kiesler in the most Europe in the Sala Napoleonica of
experimental manner. Preceding her Venice's Museo Correr. About the
uncle Solomon by one year, Peggy exhibition, Guggenheim explained:
commissioned a museum environment
that became known as a work of art It was alwaysat night, and I remember
lit

itself. "Kiesler had really created a had sitting in the

the extreme joy I
wonderful gallery —
very theatrical and Piazza San Marco beholding the Pollocks
extremely original," she wrote in her glowing through the open windows of the
autobiography. "Nothing like it had Museum. .It seemed to place Pollock
. .

ever existed before. If the pictures historically where he belonged, as one of the
7
suffered from the fact that their setting greatest painters of our time.'
was too spectacular and took away
people's attention from them, it was at In 1947, after the war and the
least a marvelous decor and created a breakup of her marriage to Ernst,
ls
terrific stir." Guggenheim's description Guggenheim returned to Europe, where
of the gallery interior vividly recalls this her personal collection was exhibited
phenomenal environment: at the 1948 Venice Biennale and
subsequently at the Strozzina in
The Surrealist Gallery had curved walls Florence and the Palazzo Reale in
made of gum wood. The unframed paintings, Milan. Deeply attracted to Venice,
mounted on baseball bats, which could be Guggenheim purchased the Palazzo
tilted, at any angle, protruded about a foot Venier dei Leoni, an uncompleted, one-
from the walls. Each one had its own story, eighteenth-century palace
spotlight. The lights went on and off every designed by Lorenzo Boschetti to be the
three seconds . . .
first lighting one half of the widest structure on the Grand Canal. In
gallery and then the other. . . . In the 1949, she opened her collection,
 fe

MH •/A'CE '.^
 i jgenheim Museum SoHo, installed throughout the palazzo, to the Europe, will face critical decisions about
Photo by Lee Ewing.
public, presiding over this private its future. It must assess its capacity to
museum until her death in 1979. continue to collect and its capacity to
Several exhibitions since then have fulfill the principal functions of
united examples of non-objective, stewardship and preservation that are
Cubist, Surrealist, and Abstract central to its mission. Indications of the
Expressionist art from thePeggy direction that this institution will take
Guggenheim Collection and the in the coming years are found in the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. events of its recent past.
These shows have attested to the By the early 1980s, the repeated
remarkable comprehensiveness of the annexing of offices in the Wright
combined collections, while building for gallery space, the
demonstrating the truly international consequent physical restraints placed on
profile of the Solomon R. Guggenheim the staff, and accelerated institutional
Foundation, under whose auspices both development required immediate action
institutions operate. and an ambitious solution. In 1982, the
The acquisition in early 1990 of the foundation contracted Gwathmey Siegel
Panza di Biumo Collection of American and Associates Architects to furnish a
Minimalist and Conceptual art design that would provide new galleries
(including Bruce Nauman's Green Light and reduce insufficiencies in operating
Corridor, 1970—71, plate 8) confirmed the space without disrupting the Frank
Guggenheim's position one of the
as Lloyd Wright structure. Before Thomas
leading museums in theworld for art of Messer retired in 1988, he had initiated
the entire twentieth century. As one of plans for the construction of a tower
the great private collections defining based on Wright's original design for an
the aesthetic identity of the eleven-story annex, which would act as
Guggenheim, the Panza Collection a backdrop to the dominant sculptural
gives the museum the postwar depth form of the spiral museum. The
and quality to match the strength of its addition, now completed, provides more
prewar holdings. administrative spaces, thus allowing
The scope of the Guggenheim's public access to previously restricted
collection was further enlarged in portions of the original structure. Four
December 1992, when the Robert new rectilinear galleries open onto the
Mapplethorpe Foundation gave the rotunda's spiral, providing an
museum a two-part gift that will form uninterrupted circulation pattern very
the basis of a collection of twentieth- much in the spirit of Wright's design.
century photography (an area that had By permitting a sequential and spatial
been virtually ignored by the integration of all portions of the
Guggenheim in the past): the gift existing complex for the first time, the
includes two hundred of Mapplethorpe 's design enables the public to experience
finest photographs (including a series of the entire interior of both parts of the
among them fig. 18) and
self-portraits, original building.
unique objects. The agreement between The Wright building has also
the Guggenheim and the Mapplethorpe undergone a major restoration. Guided
foundations provides for the designation by the administration's desire to return
of a Robert Mapplethorpe Gallery all elements of the museum's
within the museum's Fifth Avenue architecture to their original state, the
building and for the initiation of a restoration process was as committed to
program of exhibitions devoted to historical accuracy as to preservation. As
Following six pages: photography. an institution, the Guggenheim has
Fig. 15. The Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice, formerly
Guggenheim's residence and now home to the Peggy
finally come to terms with Frank Lloyd
y

rieim Collection. Photo by David Heald. As the end of the twentieth century Wright's design. The top-floor ramps,
approaches, art museums and cultural the skylighted bays, the smaller rotunda
). Gehry and model for the
Associates'
Museum Bilbao, Spain. Photo by Joshua institutions throughout the world are in the Thannhauser Building, the roof
The
facing a crisis of definition. terrace, and the original restaurant space

i > model for the Guggenheim

Guggenheim Museum, like many other are now completely integrated into the
1-hoto by Edith Jekel. museums in the United States and public presence of the Guggenheim
 n^ ?C ^ ^*

in
in
I 41

I
!
3775

1!
''fig
i
 Museum. The restoration of the Wright significant degree. Despite the progress
building to its pre-original condition at forging a closerworking relationship
has redeemed a troublesome history and between the two institutions, it became
resolved a basic dilemma — the clear, however, that the fundamental

antagonism between the architecture barrier to realizing the potential of one

and the art that it was meant to
house —
that has bedeviled the museum
from its inception.
Perhaps the most significant
development in recent years affecting
the future course of the
museum on two continents was the lack
of sufficient space in Venice. With
approximately one-tenth the space of
the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
the Peggy Guggenheim Collection was
Guggenheim not in a position to function as a full

Foundation has been the steady partner to the museum in New York,
transformation of the Peggy and thereby generate the economies of
Guggenheim Collection from a purely operation and the benefits of collections
private collection housed in an utilization that could result from a
unfinished Venetian palazzo to a single curatorial group, a joint
modern art museum operating in administration, and a common program
accordance with the most advanced and was simply not
collection. Venice
professional standards of museum large enough on parts of the
to take
operation. Under the direction of collection based in New York or host
Messer, the Peggy Guggenheim any of the exhibitions that were
Fig. 18. Robert Mapplethorpe, Self-Portrait, 1988.

Gelatin-silver print, edition often, 61 x 50.8 cm (24 x Collection and its home, the Palazzo designed for larger-scale spaces. The
20 inches). Collection The Robert Mapplethorpe Venier dei Leoni, were stabilized and logical course, therefore, was to plan an
Foundation. ©1988 The Estate of Robert Mapplethorpe.
reoriented through the introduction of expansion in Venice that would enable
sophisticated systems of inventory, it to participate more successfully in the
research,and climate control. As overallGuggenheim Foundation
physical improvements were realized in program. One particular location — the
the palazzo, a professional museum staff old customs house at the end of the
was developed and a yearlong program Grand Canal, the Dogana —was the
of exhibitions was introduced. These natural site.

changes helped turn the Peggy With changes in the museum

Guggenheim Collection into one of administration in 1988 (the year in
Venice's most important cultural which I succeeded Thomas Messer as
attractions, drawing more than 175,000 director), the board of trustees began to
visitors a year to its relatively modest discern that the objectives and
display spaces. requirements of the Peggy Guggenheim
was with these changes in scope
It Collection were beginning to merge
and program in Venice that the with those of the Guggenheim Museum
Guggenheim Foundation was able to in New York. Construction for the
recognize more clearly, by the end of the expansion and renovation of the Wright
1980s, the potential of a fully integrated building began that year. The
international institution with one controversial program was completed in
collection situated in two locations. June 1992. But because of various
Even as the two branches of the reductions in programming to
Guggenheim were developing their accommodate political and financial
individual programs during the 1980s, realities in New York City, it had
it became increasingly apparent that become clear that the expansion still
neither could realize its institutional would not satisfy the programmatic
objectives in isolation from the other. requirements of the collection that were
Two separate institutions under one so carefully articulated when the
director and board of trustees made planning process was begun almost a
little practical sense. The respective decade ago — the foundation's mission
curatorial and administrative staffs often to collect, conserve, present, and
overlapped as the collections came educate with respect to twentieth-
increasingly to complement one century and contemporary art would
another, and exchanges, loans, and still be constrained. With the space
exhibitions interconnected to a requirements for large-scale
contemporary art in mind, and the < arolino Augustium, Hollein's proposal
desire to reach a new audience in New w.is thewinner of an international
York, a lease was negotiated for tour competition sponsored by the icy. <

Hours uf a loft building in the historic The extraordinary appeal ol Hollein's

cast-iron district in SoHo. The projec t rested with Ins e hallengc to
celebrated Japanese architect Arata traditional thinking about
Isozaki was commissioned to design the contemporary architecture and
two interior Hoors that would be museums of Modern and contemporary
devoted to public space. The art. Parallels to the Frank Lloyd Wright

Guggenheim Museum SoHo, which building, not necessarily in aspects of

also opened to the public in June 1992, design, but in the fundamental
features approximately 30,000 square radicality of the approach to museum
feet of new exhibition space. With the architecture, became immediately
addition of the SoHo site and the new apparent. The brilliance of the Hollein
uptown tower, the museum's exhibition proposal for an underground museum is

space in New York is greatly increased, found first of all in its absolute
enabling the Guggenheim to expand its compatibility with the existing
overall programming and to display a architecture of Salzburg. What could be
larger percentage of its prized more Postmodern than a
perfectly
permanent collection. building with no facade, an exterior
While the New York expansion was completely at one with its environment
underway, several developments in in its virtual invisibility, and yet at the
Europe indicated that the goal of same time a wonderfully exuberant
creating a truly international institution though essentially conservative
would move closer to becoming a exhibition space? Perhaps the most
practical reality. As the complex process subtle and fundamental aspect of this
of discussion, presentation, and project, the feature that separates it

negotiation for an additional site in most from the usual exercise in

Venice began, a new opportunity in contemporary museum architecture, is

Europe surfaced for the Guggenheim in Hollein's segregation of the two

July 1988. Peter Lawson-Johnston, the principal and often contradictory
grandson of Solomon R. Guggenheim functions of museum architecture. On
and now president of the foundation, the one hand, the museum building
was approached by private citizens from must attract and impress a public
Salzburg about the possibility of audience with the quality of its

establishing a Guggenheim Museum in conceptual design; on the other, it must

their city. At first, the notion of another subordinate the architecture to the art,

site for the Guggenheim seemed to fulfill the original function as a space
unrealistic. Salzburg's size, its relative for the display of art. In this project,
proximity to Venice, and its strong Hollein accomplishes a unique and
identity as a center of music, not to difficult duality —one that has proved
mention the city's distinctly baroque elusive to most modern museum
architectural character, all seemed to commissions. Specifically, he takes
argue against this proposal, despite the advantage of the special circumstances
general inclination of the Guggenheim and composition of the Monchsberg by
Foundation to consider international scooping out of the heart of the rock a
development. In the year that followed, towering and dramatic central atrium
despite steady and increasing attention and placing over it, at ground level
from the Austrians, the Guggenheim from the top of the plateau, a vast
resisted seriously considering the skylight. The result may well turn out
Salzburg proposal. The catalytic event to be one of the most spectacular
that changed that thinking, however, interior spaces ever created. Yet the
was the extraordinary proposal of galleries hollowed from the rock and
Austrian architect Hans Hollein for a adjacent to the atrium suggest a certain
museum to be built within the rock of austerity that may be entirely
the Monchsberg mountain. Originally appropriate and hospitable to the
conceived as a project for the Museum display of works of art within.

The Genesis of a Museum 35

 As a commentary on architecture, entirely by the Basque government?
the Hollein project is simultaneously Bilbao, on the northern coast of Spain,
both the opposite and the complement is that country's fourth-largest city.
of the Frank Lloyd Wright building in Originally a steel town, the prosperous
New York. As difficult as the Wright city has recently undertaken an
building reputedly has been for the art aggressive redevelopment program and
that has been displayed within it, the is positioning itself to become a major
building, nevertheless, is far more than financial and cultural center in the new
the aggressive strength of its Europe. The proposed Guggenheim
architecture, and is remarkably Museum Bilbao would be a cornerstone
hospitable to certain experiences of the of that program. In April 1991,
artistic object. Sculpture in particular accompanied by Carmen Gimenez, the
has been shown to considerable Guggenheim's Madrid-based Curator of
advantage in the "post-neutral space" Twentieth-Century Art, I toured Bilbao
environment of the Guggenheim, to and met with several representatives of
which the Beuys, Richard Long, and the Basque administration. As a result
Mario Merz exhibitions of the past of this visit, the Guggenheim suggested
decade have so elegantly testified. As a several prerequisites for serious
discourse on twentieth-century values discussions on the project, among them
which are so closely linked to the art being a commitment to build a
and culture of the period —
the Wright structure of sufficient importance and
building itself is an extraordinary work stature that it would make the new
of art. Architectural quality and museum a significant architectural
architectural adventure are attributes statement in its own right; a parallel
that have been associated with the commitment to the development of an
Guggenheim since its inception. These indigenous collection for a Bilbao
qualities are also found in Hollein's museum with acquisitions funds
proposal for a museum in the rock. A provided by the Basque administration;
feasibility study for the Guggenheim and consultation with the Guggenheim
Museum Salzburg was formally Foundation at every planning stage.
presented to members of the Austrian With these points agreed to and with —
government in 1990. The federal a dramatic location chosen on the banks
government (Bund) then indicated that of the Nervion River —
an architectural
it would provide a majority share of the competition and a feasibility study were
capital costs, provided that the regional conducted. On December 13 of that
stategovernment (Land Salzburg) and year, an agreement was signed to create
the municipal government (Stadt a new Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao,
Salzburg) provided a percentage of the currently slated to open in 1997.
funding. The project has been much The winning entry in the
debated in the Austrian press since architectural competition was
then, with attention focused on issues submitted by an American architect,
ranging from the environmental impact Frank O. Gehry. Perhaps that architect's
of the building to the need for a greatest achievement to date, it is of
contemporary and Modern visual-arts equal distinction to Hollein's Salzburg
museum in a city that prides itself on a project. Gehry 's sculptural structure, to
classical-music culture. be made of sandblasted stainless steel
The synergy created by these and limestone (materials that are locally
European projects yielded an available), is emblematic of its locale

unexpected, yet astonishing, and as important and unique in its own

opportunity for the Guggenheim in right as the Frank Lloyd
1990. Late that year, representatives of Wright—designed Guggenheim. It
the Basque government approached the promises to be one of the world's
Guggenheim Foundation with a foremost museums of Modern and
proposal: would the Guggenheim contemporary art, distinguished not
consent to lend its name and expertise only by its architecture, but also by its
to a new museum to be located in the and special-exhibitions
collection
Basque capital of Bilbao and funded programming.
 The Guggenheim was attracted to
Bilbao by the site, the scope of the city's
redevelopment plan, and its

commitment developing an
to
institution that would enable the
foundation to fulfill its mission to
collect and present twentieth-century
art of the highest possible quality to the
widest possible audience. The success of
the projects in Bilbao and Salzburg, as
well as the plans to expand in Venice,
will depend in large part on the degree
of public enthusiasm in Spain, Austria,
and Italy for an alliance with a private
cultural foundation from the United
States, for architectural adventure, and
for the art of this century. The
Guggenheim's commitment to these
projects reflects its history, its
traditions, the breadth of its collection,
and its dedication to cultural excellence.

The Genesis of a Museum 37

Notes

1. Hilla Rebay, "Definition of Non-Objective 12. Quoted in Frank Lloyd Wright: The
Painting," in Catalogue of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Correspondence, p. 248.
Guggenheim Collection of Non-Objective Paintings,
exh. cat. (Charleston, S.C.: Carolina Art 13.Emily Genauer, quoted by Peter Blake in
Association, 1936), p. 12. "The Guggenheim: Museum or Monument?",
Architectural Forum, December 1959; Ada Louise
2. Charter of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Huxtable, "That Museum: Wright or Wrong?",
Foundation, June 25, 1937. The New York Times, October 25, 1959. Both
cited in Beauchamp, p. 68.

3. "An Organic Architecture: The Architecture

of Democracy," The
George Watson
Sir 14. Letter dated May 16, 1963, in the Solomon R.
Lectures of the Sulgrave Manor Board for 1939. Guggenheim Museum Archives.
The text of four lectures delivered by Wright at
the Royal Institute of British Architects in May 15. Peggy Guggenheim, Out of This Century:
1939. Excerpted in Frank Lloyd Wright: Writings Confessions of an Art Addict, rev. ed. (New York:
and Buildings, selected by Edgar Kaufmann and Universe Books, 1987), p. 274.
Ben Raeburn (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1974),
p. 278. 16. Ibid., pp. 274-75.

4. Letter dated April 3, 1952, in Frank Lloyd 17. Quoted in John H. Davis, The Guggenheims
Wright: Letters to Architects, selected by Bruce (1848-1988): An American Epic (New York:
Brooks Pfeiffer (Fresno: The Press at California Shapolsky Publishers, 1988), pp. 370-71.
State University, 1984), p. 152.

5. Quotations are from Aline B. Saarinen,

"Lively Gallery for Living Art," The New York
Times Magazine, May 30, 1954, p. 16. The initial
critical article, "Museum in a Query," appeared
in The New York Times, April 22, 1951. Saarinen's
criticism of the museum
documented in Toniis

Ramona Beauchamp, "James Johnson Sweeney

and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston:
1961-1967," Master's thesis, University of Texas
at Austin, 1983.

6. "Museum Changing Exhibition Policy," The

New York Times, August 5, 1951.

7. Beauchamp, p. 62.

8. Aline B. Louchheim, "A Museum Takes on a

New Life," The New York Times, March 1, 1953.

9. Quoted in Dore Ashton, "Museum Prospect:

Director of Guggenheim Discusses His Plans,"
The New York Times, November 18, 1956. This
approach is relatively uncommon today among
art-historically oriented curators, who respond
to the call for social contextualization while
avoiding formal analysis. In 1989, however,
Germano Celant, the Guggenheim's Curator of
Contemporary Art, installed the retrospective
Mario Merz in a completely nonlinear fashion,
accentuating visual contrasts and complements
rather than defining chronological development,
a practice suggested by the implicitly
synchronic quality of Merz's production.

dated October 5, 1955, in Frank Lloyd

Guggenheim Correspondence, selected

Pfeiffer (Fresno: The Press at
y; Carbondale:
> Press, 1986),

'k Lloyd
270.
Following two pages: Fig. 19. Frank Lloyd Wright,
Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, perspective
(night rendering), ca. 1950-51. Watercolor and black ink
on paper. 66 x 94 cm (26 x 37 inches). Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum.
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Frank Lloyd Wright and the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer

1943-49 museum such as now exists in New Left: Fig. 20. Frank Lloyd Wright at tht contti
lice of the Solomon K Guggenhein M
On summer's morning in Wisconsin,
a York. . . . No such building as is now Photo b] William II Shon
i i
vs"'

early in June 1943, Frank Lloyd Wright customary for museums could be
found among his morning mail a appropriate for this one." 1

A contract
handwritten letter on small blue was signed by Wright and Guggenheim
stationery, dated June and signed 1 on June 29, 1943, but it would be nine-
"Hi 11a Rebay." The letter was a months before a definitive site for the
request — almost a plea — Wright to
for museum was selected and purchased.
design a new museum for Solomon R. During that time, ideas were coming to
Guggenheim's collection of non- the architect, but without a specific site
objective paintings. In describing the he believed he could not create a specific
works of art and the sort of building she design. He expressed this anxiety to
envisioned for them, Baroness Rebay Rebay when he wrote, "I hope we can
approached the affair with zealous get a plot before [late January] as I am
enthusiasm, writing, "I feel that each of so full of ideas for our museum that I

these great masterpieces should be am blow up or commit suicide

likely to
6
organized into space and only you so it unless I can let them out on paper."
seems to me would test the possibilities Within days of this letter, dated
to do so. ... I need a fighter, a lover of December 18, 1943, he had decided to
space, an originator, a tester and a wise start designing, site or no site. Wright's
man. ...I want a temple of spirit, a letter to Rebay of January 20, 1944,
monument!" She ended the letter, "May written while he was starting work on
this wish be blessed."' the Guggenheim design, puts on record
"I appreciate your appreciation," a rare and detailed account of what was
Wright replied. "I would like to do being, as he phrased it, "let out on
something such as you suggest for your paper":
2
worthy foundation."
Thus was initiated an intense era of I've been busy at the boards — putting down
work, of struggle a saga —
that would — some of the thoughts concerning a museum
occupy Wright for the next sixteen that were in my mind while looking for a
years. No other commission in his long site. . . .
If non-objective painting is to have
career consumed his life force as did this any great future it must be related to

challenge to design and build the environment in due proportion as it pretty

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. much is already, not to the high ceiling. . . .

Toward the end of his life, when the A museum should have above all a clear

building was under construction, atmosphere of light and sympathetic surface.

Wright — who was noted for his fine Frames were always an expedient that
—admitted, have
health "I not been too segregated and masked the paintings offfrom
well, as you probably have heard and environment to its own loss of relationship
part of my distress is due to the struggle and proportion, etc., etc.

over the Museum." 1

A month later, he A museum should be one extended

wrote, "Since some fifteen years ago, I expansive well proportioned floor space from
have fought steadily through thick and bottom to top —a wheel chair going around
thin — through every sort of adverse and up and down, throughout. No stops
circumstances and at great expense to anywhere and such screened divisions of the
myself to preserve the integrity of all lit within from above as
space gloriously
this affair of building this new idea in would deal appropriately with every group of
museums according to the bequest." 4 paintings or individual paintings as you
He
endured the struggle, the adverse might want them classified.

circumstances, and the fight simply to The atmosphere of the whole should be
get a museum built unlike any other in luminous from bright to dark anywhere —
the annals of architecture. When desired: a great calm and breadth pervading

Wright and Guggenheim first met in the whole place, etc. . . . Well, I've just had
1943, long before any sketches or to get it out of my system and it is taking
drawings existed for the project, definite shape not as language but as a
Guggenheim made his objectives clear: building adaptable to the New York plot. . . .

"I do not want to found another When I've satisfied myself with the

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Guggenheim Museum 43

preliminary exploration I'll bringit down to unity between beholder, painting and
New York before going West and we can architecture. As planned, in the easy
have anguish and fun over it. downward drift of the viewer on the giant
The whole thing will either throw you off spiral, pictures are not to be seen bolt-upright

your guard entirely or be just about what as though painted on the wall behind them.
you have been dreaming about. 7 Gently inclined, faced slightly upward to the

viewer and to the light in accord with the

Wright's allusion to a "well upward sweep of the spiral, the paintings
proportioned floor space from bottom to themselves are emphasized in themselves and
top —a wheel chair going around and are not hung "square" but gracefully yield to
up and down" gives the strong hint of a movement as set up by these slightly curving

spiral plan. What was actually down on

'"
massive-walls.
paper at that point has not survived.
But what is clearly known about Early sketches reveal that Wright was
Wright's method of design he himself not only considering the ramp for
revealed to his apprentices of the exhibition purposes and the sloped wall
Taliesin Fellowship when he said, some on which to place the paintings, but he
years later, "I never down
sit to a was also concerned with the scale and
drawing board — and this has been a the lighting of the interior. The ceilings
lifelong practice of mine — until I have were planned to be relatively low, in
the whole thing in my mind. I may comparison with other museums, so
alter it substantially, I may throw it all that the public could view the art in a
away, I may find I'm up a blind alley; more intimate environment.
but unless I have the idea of the thing Placing the works of art in a setting of
pretty well in shape, you won't see me more human scale grew quite naturally
at a drawing board with it."
8
out of his own experience with and
Wright's idea of using the spiral in a preference about the display of art. At
building predates his Guggenheim Taliesin (figs. 21—22), his home in
Museum design by nearly twenty years. Spring Green, Wisconsin, which he had
In 1924, Wright designed for Gordon begun in 1911, Wright displayed his
Strong a tourist facility on Sugar Loaf own Asian art collection — Japanese
Mountain in Maryland in which three folding screens, prints, and kakemono
spiral ramps circumnavigated the (hanging scrolls), Chinese landscape
exterior. Five years later, Wright wrote paintings, and wood, bronze, iron, and
to Strong, asking him to return the stone sculptures from both Japan and
drawings of the unbuilt project: "It China — as an integrated feature of the
seems something of the kind is interior. The screens were set flat

contemplated on the other side, in against the walls and bordered merely
France, only in that case, it is a museum. by a strip of cypress to match the other
Some interest has arisen in this idea as I cypress woodwork throughout the
have worked it out for you and I have residence. Kakemono were similarly hung
been asked many times to see it." 9 flat against the walls or stone piers.
There is nothing before this rather Japanese prints were matted in soft, tan
enigmatic letter on record to give a clue paper and placed on specially designed
as to the nature of the commission, and freestanding easels. The wood
nothing follows. But it is quite clear sculptures were carefully placed on
that in 1929Wright was considering the shelves and decks around the interior,
museum.
use of the spiral for an art while bronze, iron, and stone sculptures
Wright firmly believed that what he were placed outdoors in the gardens and
was designing for Guggenheim would courts. Everywhere, these works of art
make the viewing and enjoyment of art appeared in harmony with the
a far richer and more meaningful architecture and extremely sympathetic
experience than the traditional museum to the overall environment.
plan. In 1958, he wrote: Lighting played an important role in
Wright's earliest drawings for the new
Walls slant gently outward forming a giant museum. Besides the large dome over
spiral for a well-defined purpose: a new the central open court, another light
source — continuously running
a narrow, a glimpse of the interior. To the right,
skylight — was planned over the sloped he made a small "thumbnail" view of
walls, in addition to fixtures for the museum. In the next four drawings
incandescent light installed in the same he made (figs. 33-36), Wright developed
location. Wright explained to Rebay the scheme shown in the sectional
and Guggenheim that the inspiration elevation sketch, with the ramp on the
for the direct lighting from wall and south or right-hand side of the site.
skylight also came from his own work Then Wright moved the ramp to the
space at Taliesin." north side, as three drawings — a sketch
With the ramp idea firmly fixed in his plan (fig. 37), a section (fig. 38), and a
thinking (save for one flat-floor scheme), final perspective (fig. 39) — show. It was
Wright proceeded to make several the final perspective drawing that
designs in order to study the one he Wright signed and placed on the cover
finally wished to develop. Variations as of the group of sketches, which he then
to placement of the ramp and the color presented to Guggenheim and Rebay.
of material, for example, were carefully These early schemes were lavishly
rendered as part of the initial set of drawn up in watercolor, showing a
preliminary drawings in 1944. choice of white, deep rose, or beige
One of the earliest studies made by marble. The building was conceived as a
Wright (fig. 24) shows the elevation of poured-concrete structure, with the
the exhibition spaces with low ceilings marble applied over it in thin sheets,
in addition to several sectional drawings like a membrane. The drawings
depicting the various ways of lighting themselves are unique in the collection:
Top: Fig. 21. Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright s house in
the galleries to the left. This was by this time in his career Wright was
Spring Green, Wisconsin.
followed by a hexagonal plan (fig. 26) using graphite pencil and colored
Bottom: Fig. 22. Taliesin, interior view
for the gallery to the right and "the pencils for his renderings. (Occasionally,
Monitor" — or office, staff, and residence he would use a sepia or black ink, and
space — to the left. The elevation sometimes he made what was called a
(fig. 25) and view (fig. 23) that "night rendering" —
a drawing made on
correspond to this plan show copper and black illustration board with tempera
glass tubes along with poured concrete. and colored inks; see, for example, fig.
Immediately after he made this scheme, 19.) But the set he made and then took
Wright changed the level floors to a to New York to show Guggenheim and
sloping ramp, a concept that first Rebay was painted more than drawn,
appears as a "footnote" on the hexagonal perhaps in keeping with the
plan, where he wrote "constant ramp." commission for a building to house
Wright drew another interior elevation paintings. "When [Guggenheim] saw
(fig. 27) entitled "Various Allotments of the first sketches I made and that I took
Exhibition Space," denoting the ramp, to him New Hampshire at his
in
and dated it September 1943. In the request," Wright recollected, "he went
plan (fig. 28), a circular spiral ramp is over them several times without saying
placed to the right, the Monitor to the a word or looking up. Finally when he
left.Each band of the ramp diminishes did look up there were tears in his eyes,
in size asit rises, permitting a 'Mr. Wright,' he said, 'I knew you
continuous skylight to run along the would do it. This is it.'"
outer, upper edge of the ramp (fig. 29). Several plans and sections were
From this sketch elevation drawn by incorporated into the set, and some

Wright, the study elevation (fig. 30) was elevations show the manner of hanging
developed by his apprentices. The final pictures. The interior elevations with
perspective (fig. 31) renders the building paintings on the walls have a
in rose marble. At the same time, distinctively different feature about
Wright was considering a ramp that them: their frames, or more specifically,
would expand as it rises, as the rather their lack of frames. In Wright's
unusual sketch combining section and drawings, paintings are displayed with
elevation shows (fig. 32). Here, Wright no more than a narrow, almost
drew a cut-line down the central imperceptible band around them.
portion of the elevation so as to present An interesting event happened in

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Guggenheim Museum 45

 23

v
IP71 ""
v*-1

L,

24

& N H ,e 1-jM FOUNDATION — - M S>>J t U M M p'

Da ni;'h6Vd

25
17

Fig. 27. Interior elevations and plans. September 1943.

23. Perspective, 1943. Watercolor on paper, 50.8 x Fig. 25. Elevation. 1943. Colored pencil on paper, 50.8 x
Fig.
Wright Pencil and colored pencil on paper. 50.8 x 61.6 cm (20 x
cm (20 x 24 inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives. 62.2 cm (20 x 24'/: inches). The Frank Lloyd
61
14 i inches) The Frank Lloyd
Wright Archives. The Frank
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.748. Archives, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305006.
Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.002.

24. Sections (left), interior elevation (above right), and Fig. 26. Plan, 1943. Pencil on tracing paper. 4- x 93.7 cm
Fig. Fig. 28. Ground-floor plan, 1944. Pencil on tracing paper,
(18
:

x 36' inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives.

plan (below right), 1943. Pencil on tracing paper, 67 x
*

cm (18 x l~ inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright

i

45.8 x 68.6
cm The Frank Lloyd Wright
(26 Vt x 36 inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.091.
91.4 Archives, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.063.
Archives, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.078.
and colored Fig. 31. Perspective, 1944. Watercolor on paper, 50.8 x Fig. 33. Perspective, 1944. Watercolor and ink on paper,
x 35 inches). 61 cm (20 x 24 inches). Collection of Erving and Joyce Wolf. 51.1 cm (20 'A x 24 Vt inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright
x 61.3
Lloyd 4305-747- Archives, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.745.

Fig.32. Sectional elevation, 1943. Pencil and colored pencil Fig. 34. Perspective, 1944. Watercolor and ink on paper,
on tracing paper, 66.7 x 77.2cm (26 '/, x 30 V» inches). The 50.8 x 61.6 cm (20 x 24 '/4 inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.746.
4305.007. Foundation 4305. 014.
 - -

-
-

'

-
i
"

37
 Fig. 37. Ground-floor plan, 1944. Pencil on tracing paper. Fig. 39. Perspective, 1944. Watercolor and ink on paper.
Fig. 35. Perspective, 1944. Watercolor on paper, 50.8 x
51.8 x 57.8 cm (20 '/« x 22% inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright 69.8 x 9- 2 cm 12- 1x38 , inches). The Frank Lloyd
61 cm (20 x 24 inches). Collection of Erving and Joyce Wolf.
Archives, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.068. Wright Archives. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
4305-749-
4305.008.

Fig. 38. Section, 1944. Pencil on tracing paper, 74.9 x

Fig. 36. Elevation, 1944. Pencil and colored pencil on paper,
88.6 cm (29 x 34 inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright
60 x 61.6 cm (23 V% x 24% inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright
: i

Archives, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.041.

Archives, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.025.
 Wright's life at just about this time. drawings that would be used to
His friend Georgia O'Keeffe had construct the building. The first set

decided to give him her painting Pelvis twenty-nine sheets of architectural

with Shadows and the Moon (1943, fig. 40) drawings and thirteen of structural
some time before, but sent it to him —
drawings was signed by Wright on
only after her husband, Alfred Stieglitz, September 7, 1945. It reveals a structure
died.' 3
Wright had seen
and other it quite different from what stands now.
works at Stieglitz's New York art The character of the first set of
gallery, An American Place, and was drawings — seven other complete sets
especially taken by the method of would eventually be made — is more in
framing. Wright noted this in his keeping with Rebay 's initial idea of a
acknowledgment of the gift: "The temple to non-objective paintings.
masterpiece arrived properly framed! In referring to the building and to
That is to say none showing."' 4 The public access within the museum,
Fig. 40. Georgia O'Keeffe, Pelvis with Shadows and
the Moon, 1943. Oil on canvas, 101.6 x 123.8 cm (40 x painting was framed in thin metal Wright often used the phrase "the
48 '4 inches). Private collection.
bands, V% inch wide by 2 inches deep. downward drift." Clearly, it was his
The site that was finally purchased for intention that visitors would enter the
the museum, on Fifth Avenue between building, take the elevator to the top
88th and 89th streets, turned out to be level, and begin their descent. From any
only 25 feet less in breadth than the place on the grand ramp visitors could
preliminary sketches had shown, which seewhere they had been and where they
was "made up for by the additional were going. Wishing to bypass a section
depth," Wright wrote. "The area is of the exhibition, they need only get
nearly almost exactly the same — the Gods back on the elevator and get off at the
are kind."'
s
Now the preparation of desired level. The Grand Gallery would
plans could go ahead in earnest. be near the end of the tour, and finally
Guggenheim placed Rebay in charge of on the ground floor visitors would end
the project, and asked only that letters at the front door, adjacent to a small
to Rebay be copied for him. During the cafeand tea garden.
ensuing months, Rebay 's once-zealous Other aspects of the building, evident
enthusiasm gave way to doubts about in the section drawings, reveal features
the direction the new gallery was not commonly associated with museum
taking. In fact, the bulk of Wright's design. An observatory housed in a glass
correspondence to her centered on sphere was planned for the very top, off
trying to placate her fears and relieve to the side of the rotunda (fig. 46),
her anxieties. It seemed that she still above the elevator machinery. In the
thought of a museum as a tall, square auditorium beneath the ground floor of
room. And to that end, a special "Grand the main rotunda, seating was arranged
Gallery" was designed (the present-day so that the audience could recline, as in
High Gallery) where larger, more a planetarium, to view slides of
imposing works could be exhibited. paintings projected on the ceiling above
Wright describes his conception of the (fig. 47). It was Rebay 's desire that this

Grand Gallery: viewing be accompanied by a string

quartet playing Bach and Mozart! In the
The Holy of Holies should be on the main Monitor, adjacent but connected to the
not on the ground floor
floor, The ground . . . main exhibition ramp, was another,
floor is never quiet. That will be impressively smaller theater, called the Ocular
open above to the sky and on two sides to the Chamber. Here the seats, as in the
park and be a general rendezvous — tea auditorium, reclined for viewing images
16
service from the kitchen, etc., etc. cast up from a sunken central projector,
but the surface for the images was a half
Guggenheim wrote
In July 1944, to dome (fig. 48). The Monitor held
Wright assuring him that the museum offices and apartments for
preliminary sketches were entirely Guggenheim and Rebay. Later,
satisfactory and authorized him to go Guggenheim felt it prudent to remove
ahead with the next phase of the living quarters from the museum. He
project, the production of the working reasoned that Rebay, in practicing her
own work as a painter, would be
from curatorial distractions if she had an
independent studio away from museum
activities, while he himself already had
a residence at the nearby Plaza Hotel.
Consequently, a revision was called for;
the section that had previously housed
private apartments was turned over
entirely to offices and staff workrooms.
When Wright brought the drawings
east and Guggenheim countersigned
them with his initials, it seemed from
that point on the building was ready to
go into construction. World War II was
over and building materials were now
freed up from the war effort. But
Guggenheim was of the firm belief that
building costs, which were beginning to
surge, would eventually go down. Thus,
the construction of the museum was
postponed.
Both Guggenheim and Rebay were
convinced that a model of the museum
was absolutely essential to explain the
workings of its unique form both to
themselves and others. Wright
concurred with their wish and prepared
a set of special drawings for the sake of
making the model. By the end of
August 1945, the model was completed
and sent to New York. The first model
(figs. 44-45) sent to New York in 1945
was made at Taliesin by Wright's
apprentices, members of the Taliesin
Fellowship. Constructed of Plexiglas,
sections were heated so that they could
be curved, then they were assembled
and painted a cream color to represent
the poured concrete of the final
structure. Plexiglas scored with lines
represented the glass tubing of the main
dome, other glass areas, and the
continuous skylight that wrapped
around the exterior of the ramp. Glass
tubes were first used by Wright in the
skylights and partitions of the Johnson
Wax administration building ten years
earlier; he had found the crystalline
light that emanated from the tubes
most desirable. After being displayed
in New York, the model was sent back
to Taliesin, but it was irreparably
damaged during shipment. In 1947,
when plans were made for an annex to
the museum, another model had to be
made (figs. 41-43).'"
The next year, with the working
free drawings signed and approved by
both architect and client, Guggenheim
and Rebay once again began to express
would
certain fears that the building
dominate the paintings and that the
toplighted wall would provide
inadequate lighting. Wright cried to
assuage their fears in a letter to
Guggenheim:
Now, to understand the situation as it exists
in the scheme for the Guggenheim Memorial
all you have to do is to imagine clean
beautiful surface throughout the building all
beautifully proportioned to human scale.
These surfaces are all lighted from above
with any degree of daylight (or artificial
light from the same source) that the curator
or the artist himself may happen to desire.
The atmosphere of great harmonious
simplicity wherein human proportions are
maintained in relation to the picture is
a
characteristic of your building.
But the constant concerns, mainly on
the part of Rebay, about the building
dominating the paintings and about the
lighting system continued to hound
Wright year after year. He began to
wonder, and asked in his letters to
Rebay, why she had selected him as
her architect in the first place. Although
the model had been received
enthusiastically, Wright increasingly
began to doubt if Rebay really
understood the building and its
purpose. Guggenheim's faith in Wright,
however, remained steadfast.
In 1947, three years after the initial
property on Fifth Avenue was
purchased, a narrow townhouse on the Top: Fig. 41. Frank Lloyd Wright's 1947 model of" the
museum, view of Fifth Avenue facade.
88th Street side was also acquired,
which the museum planned to use as its Center: Fig. 42. Wright's 1947 model of the museum,
view of 88th Street entrance.
temporary quarters. Wright advised
against investing large sums of money Bottom: Fig. 43. Wright's 1947 model of the museum,
view from the corner of 88th Street and Fifth Avenue.
for a building that would eventually be
torn down. He suggested, instead, that
another structure, to be called the
annex, be built to serve as a temporary
gallery and office facility, but which
eventually could be connected with the
main structure. Guggenheim agreed to
this,and Wright made the working
drawings at great speed and sent them Following four pages:
to New York."' At the same time, Fig.44. Frank Lloyd Wright, Hilla Rebay, and Solomon
R. Guggenheim with Wright's 1945 model of the museum.
Wright made another perspective to
show the addition of the annex at Fig. 45. Wright's 1945 model of the museum.
Frank Lloyd Wright and the Guggenheim Museum 53
 I

1 I

k*>

4>
 Hi

flKT

j
Fig. 46. Section (detail showing observatory), 1944. Fig. 48. Section (detail showing the Ocular Chamber), 1944.
Pencil and colored pencil on tracing paper, 66 x 88.6 cm Pencil and colored pencil on tracing paper, 66 x 88.6 cm
The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives,
(z6 x 34 7/s inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives,
(26 x 34 78 inches).
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305. 035A. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.035c.

Fig. 47. Section (detail showing auditorium), 1944.

Pencil and colored pencil on tracing paper, 66 x 88.6 cm
(26 x 34 7/s inches).
The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives,
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305. 035B.
 "

the rear of the museum (fig. 49). Although he pressed for Harry
But again, Guggenheim, no doubt Guggenheim's support in order to get
impaired by his failing health, the museum built, construction was
procrastinated. Further revisions were again postponed.
made on the main building to try to Also in 1950, the remaining parcel of
lower construction costs, which were land was acquired. The full front on
rapidly rising, especially in York New Fifth Avenue, from 88th to 89th streets,
City. The architect finally promised made a far more desirable building site
Guggenheim that he would build his than the one previously available.
museum for the appropriated $2 million Wright went back to work to revise the
if he himself could make the necessary plans accordingly. The large spiral ramp
changes. Wright realized that had been shifted from the south to the
Guggenheim's health was failing and north side several times. When the land
wanted him to see the museum built. was bought between 88th and 89th
The architect revised the plans, streets in 1944, neither the 88th nor
proposing the removal of 380,000 cubic- 89th street corner parcel was part of the
feet so thatwould come closer to the
it sale. The ramp was then located on the
appropriated sum. But Guggenheim north in the drawings and in the models
refused to look at the plans when of 1945 and 1947. In 1948, the corner lot
brought to him, saying, "No, Mr. on 89th Street was acquired and the
Wright. I like it as it is. If we have ramp was moved further north as the
prosperity what does a million more or result of additional frontage on Fifth
less mean to me."
:o
Filled with hope Avenue (figs. 50-51). When the corner
by Guggenheim's response, Wright at 88th Street was acquired in 1950, the
wrote to Rebay in June 1949, "You say spiral ramp was shifted to the south. For
we might have started long ago. Tell each of these changes, a new set of
me when. Meantime Life doesn't. working drawings was required. When
The Cosmos sweeps onward and upward this last shift was made in 1950,
while we crawl on the surface like flies Wright, in response to the changing
on a transparent window-pane." u administrative requirements of the
Five months later, Guggenheim museum, suggested the construction of
was dead. seemed that hopes for
It a tall building behind the museum
building his memorial had died for a historical gallery, staff offices,
with him. workrooms, and storage (figs. 52—53).
Rising behind the museum would be an
1950-59 eleven-story structure containing
In 1950, Harry Guggenheim, S. private studio apartments that could be
Solomon's nephew, was made president rented out as a supplementary source of
of the Solomon R. Guggenheim revenue. It was this 1951 design by
Foundation. Wright immediately wrote Wright that served as precedent for the
to him: 1991 addition of a "backdrop" building
behind the museum.
Never for a moment have I lost the feeling In 1952, Rebay resigned as director.
that here was the only American The museum was now moving in a new
multimillionaire, who, when he died, direction, expanding its collection,
instead ofplacing his means at the disposal being rearranged along broader lines.

of what passed for respectability in With the appointment of James

conventional art-museums — though laughed Johnson Sweeney to succeed Rebay,
at by his friends — intended to face the these programs demanded another set of
future. He backed up his feelings as well changes in the architectural plans as
as his faith by the liberal bequest to well.
represent to the future a distinguished However tedious and time-consuming
quality. Other millionaires cuddled up to the all these changes were, Wright was
Past for their memorial when they died. constantly improving the scheme to
Not so Solomon R. Guggenheim. No. simplify the final result, which would
He died facing the way he had lived — come after another two sets of working
forward. drawings, in 1954 and 1956. All the

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Guggenheim Museum 59

 -

49

SO 51
 I MODERN GALLERY
FOR THE JOi

52

Fig. 49. Perspective from 88th Street, 1947. Ink, pencil, Fig. 51. Perspective, 1948. Pencil on tracing paper, Fig. 53. Perspective, Tempera on board,
1953.

and colored pencil on tracing paper, 50.2 x 73 cm 40.3 x 89.5 cm (15 "A x 35 'A inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright 68.6 x 101.6 cm (2- x 40 The Frank Lloyd Wright
inches).

(19 % x 28 % inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, Archives, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.016. Archives, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.062.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4727.013.
Fig. 52. Perspective, 1951. Ink, pencil, and colored
Fig. 50. Perspective, 1948. Ink and pencil on tracing paper, pencil on tracing paper, 66 x 100.3 cm < 2 ^ x 39 'A inches).
50.8 x 75.6 cm (20 x 29 Vt inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives. The Frank Lloyd Wright
Archives, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.015. Foundation 4305. 017.
 "
MODERN
-
i LLER.Y
,

54

u G c- ;

55

Fig.54. Perspective, 1952. Ink on mylar, 77.8 x no. 5 cm

The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives,
(30 Vs x 43 'A inches).
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.306.

Fig.55. Perspective, 1957. Pencil on tracing paper, 83.8 x

127 cm
(33 x 50 inches). The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives,
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 4305.009.
 —

making the
while, the burden of designed for the exhibition on Fifth
commensurate with
building's cost Avenue. Adjacent to the pavilion was a

Guggenheim's bequest weighed heavily model home — a Usonian house

on Wright's ingenuity. Many details had also designed by Wright specifically for
to be sacrificed in order to stay within the exhibition. Fntrance for the public
budget, but this was something at was through the old townhouse at
which Wright was a master. Over and 1071 Fifth Avenue, which was serving at

over again he remarked that that time as a temporary gallery for

"limitations are an artist's best friend.'' the Guggenheim collection pending
No building in Wright's career construction of the museum.
illustrated this axiom better than the An archway in the north wall on the
Guggenheim. ground level led into the pavilion,
By 1952, the whole building had taken which was roofed in glass and Masonite
on a more unified, solemn appearance panels supported by a framework of
(fig. 54). Throughout the project's pipe columns. When the exhibition
development, Wright was troubled by ended, the pavilion was demolished.
the vertical, unrestful nature of the As construction of the museum
spiral, although he knew it was essential became imminent, consultations were
to the purpose and design of the necessary with Sweeney, Harry
building. The first sketches show a Guggenheim, and city officials over the
horizontal form engaging the spiral and building permit and construction
tying it to the Monitor; but by 1951 the details. For these sorts of discussions,
horizontal band reaches across the entire Wright was usually able to assign his
FifthAvenue elevation, both spiral and apprentices to represent him. His son-
Monitor rising out of it. Yet again, in in-law William Wesley Peters was well
1957, he further accentuated this trained, as both an engineer and
horizontal band by having it protrude architect, to handle the more complex
out, just before it reached 88th Street, jobs such as the Johnson Wax building.
and then continue back to engage the Other apprentices at Taliesin could
mass that houses the Grand Gallery manage the homes being built around
(fig. 55). The space created by this the country. But the Solomon R.
extension was called the "Architecture Guggenheim Museum was a job that
Archive." 25 (In 1978, architect Wright felt needed his constant
Richard Meier created the Aye Simon personal supervision. In order to
Reading Room in this space, connecting facilitate this, he decided to establish a
it to the main gallery via a keyhole- New York office.
shaped doorway.) Ail of these Although Wright was a great
design factors, intended to economize, exponent of decentralization and a firm
strengthened the integrity of believer that cities were, essentially,
the design. evil, he could not conceal his love for
There was a brief span of time before New York. His favorite place to stay
theGuggenheim Museum was built when intown was at the Plaza Hotel,
when another Frank Lloyd Wright which became the logical choice for an
building stood on Fifth Avenue between office. A two-room apartment with

88th and 89th streets. This was a vestibule, kitchen, and bath was rented
temporary pavilion that was designed to and refurbished according to his design
house a world-touring exhibition of (fig. 58). A sitting room served partly as

Wright's work entitled Sixty Years of reception area and office, while a
Living Architecture (figs. 56—57). The bedroom could be screened off during
exhibition, which opened in January of the daytime and used for another
1951 in Philadelphia and was sponsored office/drafting room. Sleek, black
by Gimbel's department store, consisted lacquer tables, easels, and hassocks were
of original drawings, architectural made by Wright's apprentices at
models, mural-sized photographs of and carpets were
Taliesin; the fabrics
executed buildings, and furniture and lush and elegant —
deep plum velvet
decorative objects. In 1953, it was draperies and golden-peach wool carpet.
installed in a pavilion that Wright The walls were covered in rice paper

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Guggenheim Museum 63

 with gold-leaf speckles. Into this continued to do so throughout
environment he brought some of his 1957 and 1958.
favorite works of oriental art from A group of artists sent a letter to
Taliesin along with the O'Keeffe Sweeney and the trustees voicing their
painting, arranging them on easels concern that any space with sloped walls
along with a complete set of Sweet's and a ramped floor would be totally
Catalog File (a set of reference books for unsuitable for the exhibition of
architects). After Wright's death in paintings. When confronted with this
1959, among was found a
his papers Wright responded to Harry
letter,

"press notice" he himself had penned on Guggenheim, assuring him that the
Plaza notepaper just after moving into design of the building would better
his new apartment /office. It reads: serve paintings precisely because of the
slanted wall, the skylight above, and the
Frank Lloyd Wright at the Plaza ramp for easy circulation. At the same
time, Wright realized that Sweeney
He has always worked where he ate and had very strong, and very conventional,
slept and is doing so now with the air of ideas about the exhibition of paintings.
magnificence and expense one associates with One thing that Sweeney definitely
the Plaza. He has done the rooms over in the did not want was to place the pictures
vein of the original Plaza as conceived by on the sloped wall, as had been
Henry Hardenberg { sic/ and managed at intended from the very start of the
the same time to get a practicable working project in 1943.
office, showroom, and sleeping quarters out of To demonstrate to the trustees and
it — all pretty harmonious with Plaza director themanner in which the art
elegance — with certain additions that Mr. could be best exhibited, Wright
Top: Fig. 56. Pavilion designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Wright thinks would have pleased Henry prepared a group of interior perspectives
View
the exhibition Sixty Years of Living Architecture, 1953.
from Fifth Avenue. Photo by Pedro E. Guerrero.
Hardenberg (sic/. Unfortunately the in 1958 (figs. 11— 13). On each drawing,
apartment as it existed before he began it was he titled the placement of the
Bottom: Fig. 57. Interior view of pavilion for Sixty Years of
not photographed so what happened is exhibition area in relation to its
Living Architecture, 1953. Photo by Pedro E. Guerrero.
anyone's guess. "station" on the ramp and also gave the
approximate sizes for pictures.
2*
FLLW. Beginning at the top ramp was "The
Watercolor Society," depicting
On
August 14, 1956, ground was paintings both on the sloped wall and
broken. The construction contract was on freestanding easels. Next came "The
given to George Cohen of Euclid Average," meaning the general way of
Construction Company. Wright showing the oil paintings and
appointed architect William Short as freestanding sculpture, followed by
the Clerk of the Works. Short was to "The Middle of the Road," halfway
remain on site each day of construction, down the ramp, and finally "The
make certain that the architect's plans Masterpiece," a large Kandinsky-like
were carefully carried out, and report to painting occupying one entire bay. The
him on a weekly basis; he also four interior perspectives made by
documented the construction in a Wright and his apprentices in 1958 also
detailed series of photographs (for show his concern for the placement of
example, 59—64). It must have
figs. hassocks and benches along the way.
seemed Wright, standing in the
to Sweeney chose not to follow these
excavated area where the grand ramp suggestions, and when the museum
was soon to rise, that something of a opened in October 1959 the paintings
miracle had taken place: thirteen years were mounted on pikes projecting from
had passed almost to the month since the wall, as if floating in a white void.
the commission was given. Everything Sweeney had insisted on an all-white
and everyone seemed to have tried to interior, despite Wright's specification
thwart its execution. Doubts and of a soft, off-white or cream color. The
problems beset Wright at all stages. But effect of seeing the vibrantly colored
now, during the summer of 1956, the paintings, so unrelated to the
building was finally rising, and architectural space and clashing with an
 unsympathei dead white, was
[< ne< essitated .1 series of physical c hanges
and disturbing.
startling to the building.
The struggle ro get the building built In some cases, the original intentions
was over by this time — now began the of the architect were either never fully
struggle to let the building serve the carried out or they were drastically
purpose for which it was intended. altered. The cafe on the ground floor, for

Right up until his death, Wright was example, was never executed; the
involved in a bitter controversy with conservation and framing departments
Sweeney over these matters. were relegated to that area instead.
When construction of the ramp had Justin K. Thannhauser gave the
reached its top level by 1958, and the museum a portion of his collection of
formwork had been stripped from the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art
general ramp levels below, the public at in 1963 on permanent loan. Since this
was able to get a glimpse of how
large gift was not part of the changing
the final opus would eventually appear collection, the museum decided to
upon completion. The building's convert space on the second floor of the
exterior, nearly finished, caused even Monitor from library to galleries. These
more of a furor than during the design alterations were designed by William
phase. Artists continued to criticize the Wesley Peters of the Taliesin Associated
16
building as impractical for exhibition Architects. An arched opening was
Fig. 58. Frank Lloyd Wright's suite at the Plaza Hotel.
purposes, and the general public cut through from the main ramp to ca. 1956. Photo by Pedro E. Guerrero.
ridiculed its place on "elegant Fifth connect with this new exhibition space.
Avenue." But the building was forged A portion of the fourth floor in the
through to completion and opened to Monitor was converted to gallery space
the public on October 21, 1959. By that in 1980 in order to house an installation
time, Wright had been dead six drawn from the permanent collection.
months. When the first change took place in
Two months before his death, Wright the Monitor in 1963, Peters designed
acknowledged the support of Harry the annex, located on 89th Street,
Guggenheim when he wrote, to house the offices previously located
in the Monitor. With the thought of
Dear Harry: further expansion in mind, the four-
story annex was built on a foundation
. . . I cannot tell you how much your that could adequately support ten floors
reassurance means in this late day of the when needed. The requirement for a
supreme effort involved in the museum. That bookstore space and the relocation of a
you are prepared to stand by the philosophy tearoom was satisfied by enclosing the
that gave the building its present form. It is original drive-through passage between
there in good shape and working against the the rotunda and the Monitor for those
odds you yourself have stood against and are two functions. But the major change
experiencing — the transition from the that has occurred in the last thirty-four
carpenter and his square to the more liberal years is without a doubt the tower on
and universal atmosphere of Nature. 89th Street, rising six stories higher
than the four-story Peters annex. This
Affection. Frank Lloyd Wright. IS
new addition, designed by Gwathmey
Siegel and Associates Architects and
1960-91 completed in 1992, provides four floors
Museums across the world seem of exhibition space, three of which are
besieged with the problem of space each two stories high, and two
requirements as their collections and additional floors of office space. The
office spaces expand and the demand for tower engages the Frank Lloyd Wright
more exhibition areas steadily increases. rotunda behind the triangular stair
Added to these needs are the growing tower at the second, fifth, and seventh
requirements for conservation and floors, but does so in such a way that the
climate control. The Guggenheim drama and completeness of the main
Museum is no exception. Its expansion ramp is not impaired or disturbed. The
in both collections and programs lighting continues the sentiment that

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Guggenheim Museum 65

Figs. 59-64. Construction of the Solomon R. Guggenheim The ramp from the ground-floor slab to the level
rises The floor slab has been poured to the third turn of the
Museum, 1956-59. Photos by William H. Short. of the of the Thannhauser Building. In the
first floor ramp, in the High Gallery, and at the third floor of the
foreground, the floor of the cafe has been poured, and Thannhauser Building.
Reinforcing rods have been laid at the ground level of the formwork has been constructed for the floor of the
rotunda in order to pour the concrete floor slab. Aye Simon Reading Room.
 £ ^
^A^f

:*;

Construction on the
fifth turn of the ramp has Formwork has been erected in order to pour the The structure of the skylight, roof, and ramp has been
commenced. The main structure of the Thannhauser members of the skylight.
structural completed.
Building is complete.
 Wright employed in the rotunda: a windows and doors, the interior space a
general ambient toplighting with cluster of boxes within the larger box.
concealed focus lighting. The exterior The limitation of materials before the
limestone face of the new building twentieth century had dictated that it

resembles the original tall "backdrop" be so (prominent exceptions being

Above: Fig. 65. Frank Lloyd Wright with workers
construction site of the
Right: Fig. 66. Frank Lloyd
Photo by William H. Short.
building designed by Wright in
The cafe on the ground floor has
put in place as originally planned.
second, third, and fourth levels of the
Monitor (rechristened the Thannhauser
Building in 1989) now open onto the
at the
main gallery, providing three full floors
museum, ca. 1956.
for showing the permanent collection.
Wright at the museum, 1959. The restoration that was undertaken
simultaneous to the expansion was
greatly needed. New mechanical
systems were installed, the continuous
skylight cleaned and put back into
operation, and countless details, finally,
after a period of more than thirty years,
put to rights. The building emerges
now more in keeping with Frank Lloyd
Wright's design than when it opened in
1959-
Wright wrote "Ziggurat," the
Mesopotamian word meaning "to build
high," on some of the early studies for
theGuggenheim Museum. Since the
ramp of his building expanded as it
rose, he referred to it as the "optimistic
ziggurat." Certainly there have been
other buildings employing the
the main feature of access, dating back
to as early as 2100 B.C. For example,
Deir el Bahari, the funerary temple of
Queen Hatshepsut in Egypt, employed
processional ramps to connect the
terraces of the temple from level to
level. But in the Guggenheim Museum
the ramp takes on an all-embracing
1951. Gothic cathedrals and Islamic mosques).
been At the end of the nineteenth and the
The beginning of the twentieth centuries,
new materials and new ways of putting
them together were applied to
architectural practice. Concrete
reinforced with steel, sheet metal, plate
glass, steel in tension (think of the
Brooklyn Bridge), and new
plastics,
methods of construction gave to both
architect and engineer a vocabulary
never before available. Architecture as
well as engineering could now take a
different direction, liberated from the
concepts that had bound them for more
than thirty centuries.
Wright was the first, and remained
the most innovative, architect to take
this vocabulary and build it into a new
language of form. The Guggenheim
Museum is the apotheosis of this
architecture-engineering integrated into
one entity. There is no way in which the
form of the museum, its physical
appearance, can be separated from its
structure any more than the leaves and
ramp as branches of a tree can be considered
separate from its and trunk. It is a
roots
"plastic" building in that by the use of
reinforced concrete it takes a form that
is moldable. The building is the perfect
symbol of democracy: no stratified
layers, no fixed levels. Its form seems to
move up as it moves down; there is
nothing static or confining about it.

role: it is not only the means of access, Perhaps this is its greatest contribution
circulation, and exhibition, it to the history of architecture.
constitutes the very form of the Designed in the first half of the
building itself. The ramp ends on one twentieth century, the Guggenheim
edge as a parapet overlooking the points the way to architecture of the
Following ten pages:
central court, and on the other as it The old post-and-
twenty-first century.
Fig.67. Crowds lined up at the opening of the museum on
October 21, 1959. slopes up to become the wall surface, beam type of construction is no longer
both inside and out. It is both floor and needed, or even economical, with the
Fig.68. The Fifth Avenue facade of the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, with the new tower ceiling. Wright's concept of open, development of materials such as
addition, designed by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates flowing, interior space as the reality of reinforced concrete, glass, and steel. The
Architects, on the Photo by David Heald.
left.
the building reaches its zenith here. He only limitation is human imagination.
Fig. 69. Interior of the main rotunda of the Solomon R. often called his work, and the aim of his The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Guggenheim Museum. Photo by David Heald.
work, the "destruction of the box in in this respect, could serve as a valuable

Fig. 70. The skylight in the main rotunda of the Solomon architecture." inspiration for future generations of
R. Guggenheim Museum. Photo by David Heald. Most architecture is, basically, a box, architects if they would but grasp the

Fig.71. The skylight in the Thannhauser Building of the trimmed and decorated in different idea, the principle, that gave life to the
olomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Photo by David Heald. manners, pierced with holes for building in its role to serve humanity.

63 A rt nf This Century
I
**%im
ma

il
 K
T» m

\
Notes

1. Letter to Frank Lloyd Wright, June i, 1943. 23. Drawing 4305.440, the Frank Lloyd Wright
All letters quoted in this essay are in the Frank Archives, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
Lloyd Wright Archives, the Frank Lloyd
Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona. 24. Item 0003.012, the Frank Lloyd Wright
Archives, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
2. Letter to Rebay, June 10, 1943.
25. Letter to Harry S. Guggenheim, February 12,

3. Letter to Harry S. Guggenheim, November 1959-

28, 1958.
26. The firm is a wholly owned subsidiary of the
4. Solomon R.
Refers to the bequest by Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
Guggenheim of funds to build the Wright
design. Letter to Harry S. Guggenheim,
December 27, 1958.

5. Letter from Wright to Harry S. Guggenheim,

May 14, 1952.

6. Letter to Rebay, December 18, 1943.

7. Letter to Rebay, January 20, 1944.

8. From a lecture delivered on September 12,

1952.

9. Letter to Gordon Strong, July 10, 1929.

10. Manuscript, dated June 1958, in the Frank

Lloyd Wright Archives.

11. Letter to Rebay, August 27, 1946.

12. Letter from Wright to Harry S. Guggenheim,

May 14, 1952.

13. Letter from O'Keeffe to Wright, May 1942.

14. Letter to O'Keeffe, February 14, 1947.

15. Letter to Rebay, March 20, 1944.

16. Letter to Rebay, March 21, 1944.

17.This model is now in the Frank Lloyd

Wright Archives; it was revised in 1950 to
conform with the new shape of the ramp's
exterior slope.

18. Letter to Guggenheim, August 14, 1946.

19. When the annex was designed in 1947,

Wright did not have a license to practice
architecture inNew York. Accordingly, he
sought the services of Arthur Holden, of Holden
McLaughlin Associates, a New York
Holden was charged with
architecture firm.
obtaining the building permits for both the
museum and the annex. The working drawings,
at this time, bear the names of both Holden's
firm and Wright.

20. Letter from Wright to Rebay.

21. Letter to Rebay, June 23, 1949.

22. Letter to Harry S. Guggenheim,

May 14, 1952.

80
Following two pages: Henri de Toulouse-Lautre<,
-
M (detail)
 ''•*/

T 'jt Mk. a
. *>

1
1

,jj*z**»*;.••.-.«'•'

* *

W
 .

VJ^h lw ;*- M ittE

mLJ
seF*

*r

I
I
Plate 9. Edouard Manet, Before the Mirror (Devant la glace),

1876. Oil on canvas, 92.1 x 71.4 cm (36 '4 x 28 'A inches).

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Thannhauser
Collection, Gift, Justin K. Thannhauser 78.2514 T27.
 '

Paintings of Modern Life

and Modern Myths

Late-Nineteenth- and Earl) Twentieth-
Century Representations of Gender, Class,
and Race in the ThannhatiSer Collation

Andrea Feeser

Late-nineteenth- and early twentieth- the "modern," the latter ol whit li he

century representations of work and .issot 1. ins with the ephemeral. 1 1<

leisure often reveal conflicting ideas in. tint. mis that the c hanging aspei ts ot

about women of various classes and any given period are those elements that
about people of color. The Thannhauser define an age and that point to man's
Collection at the Guggenheim shifting tastes in Ins quest tor an ideal.
Museum is rich in such paintings by Sett ions ot Baudelaire's essaj devoted
Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and to women contain contrary and class-
early twentieth-century artists. Close based Images. The poet dest ribes
readings of many works in the women .is "the shimmer of all graces ot

collection provide insights into why nature, condensed into one being,''
Edouard Manet, Paul Gauguin, Pablo but notes that "their beauty [is]

Picasso, and other artists regularly enhanced by every kind ot artifice,

depicted women and nonwhite people regardless of what soc uil class they
in restricted and subservient roles. belong to."
1
In a description of women
From the mid-nineteenth century, in amusement halls, he details a "shady
modernization —
which saw the type of beauty" who "either displays an
application of new technologies that alluring and barbaric form of elegance
altered living and work spaces, the of her own invention, or she apes, more
continued aggressive colonization of or less successfully, the simplicity
foreign lands, and the burgeoning of current in higher circles. . . . She is a
capitalism with expanding range of
its perfect image of savagery in the midst
—
commodities produced broad changes of civilization. . . . Her eyes art-

in French society and culture, which in cast towards the horizon, like a beast
turn affected artistic representation. of prey."'
Artists embraced or rejected these new Baudelaire's essay also contains
conditions, and devised differing sections that both celebrate and
techniques and styles to give life to denigrate people of other races. In his
their artistic visions. Avant-garde artists appreciation of fashion and women's
explored sexuality, popular culture, and makeup, for example, he lauds the dress
geographical areas thought to be and adornment of "savages" as a
"primitive," using these social and "symptom of the taste for the ideal."' In
psychic realms to provide them with his report on the French military-

transgressive experiences that they presence in Turkey, he praises a picture

could depict in their art. But although of a Turkish general that captures "the
their work challenged artistic tradition noble aristocratic air that usually

and frequently confounded the morals belongs to the master races."' However,
of the majority, it nevertheless in a discussion of Turkish prostitution
represented conventional beliefs about in which he notes the oppression
the roles played by men and women of inherent in the institution, he refers to
different races and There is
classes. the Armenian, Greek, Hungarian,
nothing given or natural about these Jewish, Polish, and Wallachian
roles; indeed, they were largely prostitutes as "women of easy virtue
determined by powerful men's needs, (if one can speak in such terms, where
desires, and fears and the changing the Levant is concerned).'"
historical conditions that shaped these Baudelaire offers the following
emotions. definition of a modern artist:

The art criticism of the poet

Charles Baudelaire, who collaborated His gaze steady . . . exactly the same gaze
with Manet and whose work influenced he directed just now at the things about
that of the Symbolists, eloquently him . . . {the artist works quickly), as

expresses many of the assumptions and though he was afraid the images might
contradictions evident in nineteenth- escape him. . . . All the materials, stored

and early twentieth-century art. In his higgledy-piggledy by memory, an classified.

1863 essay "The Painter of Modern Life," ordered, harmonized, and undergo that

Baudelaire argues that beauty and art deliberate idealization, which is the product

are comprised of both the "eternal" and of a childlike percept iveness.

Paintings of Modern Lift and Modern Myth 85

 For Baudelaire, the modern painter
operates as a dandy, a man of privilege
who has the power and resources to
explore the wealth of his surroundings,
and who anonymously observes and
retains all the details of the world
around him in an attempt to distill the
eternal from the transitory. Although
the poet argues that the modern painter
captures the ultimate "truth" of
experience, his description of that
process points to the fact that the
representation is formed by the artist
and not merely impressed upon him.
The "truth" that any creator expresses is
no final determination, but an
impression shaped by beliefs that
materially or psychically uphold it.
For the privileged members of the
upper-middle and upper classes who
possess the resources to enjoy free time,
"leisure, nature, beauty, femininity, and
culture are loosely grouped together, in
8
opposition to labor." The subject
matter and the techniques employed by
Manet and the Impressionists 9
demonstrate their varied relationships
to this bourgeois belief. Unlike officially
sanctioned mid-nineteenth-century
paintings, which regularly feature
themes from myth or history, travels to
exotic countries, and moralizing or
allegorical genre scenes, Impressionist
pictures contain contemporary scenes from
urban, suburban, and occasionally rural
life, which sometimes represent people
at work but predominantly show them
10
at leisure.
Although the Impressionists had
individual styles of painting that
changed over the course of their careers,
they are recognized for having captured
episodes from contemporary French life
through sketchlike brushstrokes, bright
color, and unusual, often cropped
vantage points, which evoke a scene
caught at a rapid glance. Their
paintings appeared to contemporary
audiences to have constituted quick
impressions rather than finished,
laboriously constructed products." The
physical fragmentation in the
construction of Impressionist pictures,
which initially troubled viewers and
which is perhaps most associated with
the work of Claude Monet, came to
signify for spectators effortless, inspired
86 A rt of This Century
genius, valued for its supposed access to
natural, instinctive perception, and its
denial of "mere 'work.'"'
2
Edgar Degas 's Dancers in Green and
Yellow (ca. 1903, plate 10) represents
female urban entertainers at work. In
this image, four ballet dancers are
shown waiting in the wings. Today,
ballet isform of entertainment
a
associated with the upper class, but in
Degas 's time it was largely an activity
performed by lower-middle-class
women for a middle- and upper-class
audience. However, although most
dancers had solid financial means, they
were popularly thought to come from
low parentage." The dancers shown in
this picture exhibit great physicality:
they lean and crouch, with their bare
arms and legs forcefully bending and
thrusting into space. Degas 's brilliant
color and rich texture create an air of
refinement and dazzle that is strangely
at odds with the awkward, almost
bestial treatment of the dancers' faces
and bodies. These working women,
whose job it is to provide a form of
leisure for their audience, wear the
magic garments characteristic of the
ballet, but do not possess the ethereal
deportment one expects of ballerinas.
Indeed, their "rat"-like faces' 4 and
hunched, attentive positions liken these
performers to animals. Although their
bodies are freed by their costumes
unlike the restrictive everyday clothing
they would normally wear — their
outfits' low necklines, strapless bodices,
and short skirts offer up their abundant
flesh to male delectation. After
performances, the theater wings (in
which Degas stationed his dancers) were
often filled with abonnes, bourgeois men
with season tickets to the Opera who
admired dancers and who regularly
pursued sexual liaisons with them.' 5
Pierre Auguste Renoir's Woman
with Parrot (1871, plate 11) and Manet's
Woman in Evening Dress (1877—80,
plate 12) depict women of higher rank at
leisure. In Renoir's picture, the artist
represents his mistress wearing a pretty
dress, standing in an elegant middle-
class interior, and holding a parrot, a
common pet at the time.' Although
6
parrots have been associated with
7
sexuality,' the reference here is discrete;
Plate 1 0. Edgar Degas, Dancers in Green and Yellou
(Danseuses vertes et jaunes), ca. 1903. Pastel on several pieces
of paper, mounted on board, 98.8 x 71.5 cm (38 '/% x
28 '/% Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
inches).
Thannhauser Collection, Gift, Justin K. Thannhauser
78.2514 TI2.
Left: Plate 1 1. Pierre Auguste Renoir, Woman with Parrot
(La Fernme a la perruche), 1871. Oil on canvas, 92.1 x 65.1 cm
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
(36 '4 x 25 Vs inches).
Thannhauser Collection, Gift, Justin K. Thannhauser
78.2514 t68.

Above: Plate 1 2. Edouard Manet, Woman in Evening Dress

(Femme en robe de soiree), 1877-80. Oil on canvas, 174.3 x
83.5 cm (68 Vs x 32 Vs inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum, Thannhauser Collection, Gift, Justin K.
Thannhauser 78.2514 T28.
 feathery, richly textured brushwork adds her elaborate dress firmly encase her
to the painting's air of having captured upper body, conveying a sense of
a lovely young bourgeois woman restraint. Therefore, although the
passing some free time playing with her painting equates the female body with
feathered companion. nature, it also undermines the woman's
However, the picture's emphasis on naturalness. Indeed, in this painting,
somber hues, the woman's ambivalent the "outdoor" space the woman inhabits
expression, and the somewhat is aman-made, domestic garden.
claustrophobic space she occupies The contradictory messages conveyed
indicate that this work is not merely a in these three paintings point to very
glimpse at a frivolous pastime. The dark real contradictions in the lives of
houseplants in the background and the nineteenth-century French women.
spiky greens beneath the birdcage seem Proper ladies such as those represented
to close in on the artist's model, in Renoir's and Manet's pictures were
restricting her space like that of her meant to embody the freedom, beauty,
bird. That the woman can be read as a and grace associated with nature;
caged bird is further suggested by her however, their lived experience was
ruffled dress with its red "plumes" of completely manufactured. Their
ribbon, and by her contained, slightly "womanly" curves were artificially and
bored or sorrowful inward regard. painfully enhanced through corsets and
Unlike Renoir's work, Manet's bustles, although physical features
Woman in Evening Dress situates a female considered overly erotic were hidden:
model within a warmly lit exterior their legs were covered, and their hair
environment. In this painting, the was pinned up. Unlike men, they were
brushwork is much sketchier and evokes unable to freely roam through Paris or
a shimmering play of sunlight on the its environs: they had to be chaperoned,

woman's dress and through the trellis and certainly did not venture into
behind her. The juxtaposition of the sexually charged spaces such as seedy
8
model with a basket of flowers and her cafes or brothels.' The only forms of
placement before a cluster of flowering physical work that bourgeois women
vines metaphorically suggest her engaged in were light domestic chores;
embodiment of "the flower of youth." they functioned in highly restricted
Indeed, Manet's dispersal of sketchy spaces as decorative companions,
strokes across the surface of the canvas household managers, and child
serves to embed the woman partially producers for their bourgeois male
within the garden around her, thus counterparts.
suggesting her conflation with "nature." Extreme physical labor fell to women
Such an association has a long life of lower classes. Their work in the
within the history of representation, entertainment industry — as prostitutes,
surviving in condensed and powerful dancers, singers, waitresses, or
form in the mythic Mother Earth. barmaids— or labor in service
Like Renoir's painting, however, —
professions as seamstresses, milliners,
Woman in Evening Dress contains laundresses, servants, or artists'
elements that frustrate reading the models — enabled them to occupy a
picture as an instance of the purely wider range of environments than
pleasurable. The woman in Manet's bourgeois women. However, these
painting is also situated in a spaces were often those in which men of
claustrophobic space. The work contains privilege sought to possess them
little indication of depth; the model is women were
sexually. Since lower-class
placed almost immediately in the thought to be more sexual "creatures"
foreground, with space barely receding than women from higher stations,
behind her. Her expression is equally representations of their bodies contain
flattened, and her pose is awkward: she signs of eroticization while at the same
holds her arms to her sides and slightly time denigrating them for their lower
in front of her body, almost as if she status.Unlike their bourgeois female
were a doll with stiff limbs. The counterparts, who were supposed to
prominent black-and-white stripes on embody nature's beauty and purity,

90 Artol
Plate 13. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, An salon, 1893.

Pastel, gouache, and pencil on cardboard, 53 x 79.7 cm

(20 Vs x 31 Vs inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Thannhauser Collection, Gift. Justin K. Thannhauser
78.2514 T73.
 lower-class women were seen to condition readily apparent in the artists'

Top: Fig. 72. Georges Seurat,
Jatte — 1884 (Un dimanche a
Oil on canvas, 207.6 x 308
Institute of Chicago, Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial
Collection 1926.224. ©1993
All rights reserved.
Bottom: Fig. 73. Georges Seurat, Three Models
1886-88. Oil on canvas, 200.7 x 248.3
The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania.
©1993 The Barnes Foundation.
represent the "baser" side of nature treatment of urban and rural work and
earthy, animal sexuality. leisure.
The Impressionists' relationship to Toulouse-Lautrec focused on scenes
nature — or man-made versions of it — is from city life, and was especially drawn
transformed in crucial ways in Post- to its seedier aspects. His Au salon (1893,
Impressionist works." Although they plate 13) represents a few prostitutes in
produced many scenes of leisure, Henri their quarters. Like Degas, whose work
de Toulouse-Lautrec and Georges Seurat he greatly admired, Toulouse-Lautrec
virtually banished the natural from depicts nonidealized figures, defining
their work, whereas the physical their forms and the space they occupy
nuances and emotionally stirring aspects through glowing colors and
rich,
of landscape were important sinuous, flattened shapes informed by
components of Paul Cezanne's, Vincent Japanese prints, contemporary posters,
van Gogh's, and to a lesser extent, and the work of his peers Louis
Gauguin's art. Like van Gogh, Gauguin Anquetin, Emile Bernard, and van
fled his bourgeois urban lifestyle to the Gogh. As with Degas 's Dancers in Green
"country," first painting in Brittany, and Yellow, the female workers in
with its plethora of tourists seeking a Toulouse-Lautrec's pastel are waiting to
20
"timeless" rural and
environment, provide leisure entertainment, and the
finally to foreign lands, where he hoped lounging prostitute's arching,
to lead a harmonious "native" abandoned stretch evokes the highly
existence. Each of these artists had been physical and sexual nature of her work.
associated with and informed by This gesture, in conjunction with the
A Sunday on La Grande
Impressionism prior to establishing his woman's slightly feline face, suggests
la Grande Jane — 1884), 1884-86. own style of painting." The that the artist equates her with a cat.
cm (81 '4 x 121 % inches). The Art
Impressionists' conception of nature as a The woman's
stretch also points to the
The Art Institute of Chicago. field of enjoyment and personalized fatigue and boredom, which are more
vision initially made work
their evident in the prostitute in profile: her
(Poseuses), attractive as "an ideal domain of heavy-lidded and dark-circled eyes stare
cm (79 x 97'/4 inches). freedom" for Post-Impressionist artists." vacantly into space.
The Post-Impressionists, however, came Although the stretching body of the
to find the work of their Impressionist far prostituteseems to open up to the
peers too focused on perceived viewer, the two prostitutes seated in the
sensations of outer phenomena. Despite foreground are turned away from full
the diversity of Post-Impressionist view; indeed, the red-haired woman is

painterly concerns, the artists were each
committed to picturing their
experiences of the external world as
'"essences' grasped in a tense
2'
intuition."
A
kind of visual condensation
accompanies this emphasis on essences.
Unlike the Impressionist sense of the
momentary, evoked through slashing
brushstrokes and the cropping of
images, the Post-Impressionists
constructed their canvases through
points, patches, swaths, or flat
color meant to fix the visual array
its "inner" structure. This inner
structure, although organized
artist, was thought to represent either
laws of perception or of the spirit. As
with the work of the Impressionists,
however, that of the Post-Impressionists
does not transcend time and history, a
seen only from behind. Unlike Degas 's
dancers, the women's bodies are closed
off from delectation, and the difficulties
of their labor are revealed in their tired,
bored demeanors. However, as with
Degas 's performers, the messages
conveyed about the women are
contradictory: their bodies are sexual
objects, but they are not invitingand
luscious. They
awkward, somewhat
are
self-contained, and in both pictures
have bestial qualities.
areas of Like Toulouse-Lautrec, Seurat
and consistently painted scenes from urban
life. In his well-known Three Models
by the (1886-88, in the Barnes Collection,
Merion, Pennsylvania, fig. 73) he depicts
three female models in varying stages of
undress in front of a section of his
painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte —
1884 (1884-86, in the collection of the

92 mtury
Plate 1 4. Georges Seurat, Farm Women at Work
(Paysannes au travail), 1882-83. Oil on canvas, 38.5 x 46.2 cm
(15 Vt x 18 V, inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Gift, Solomon R. Guggenheim 41.713.
 nai/t>f fun*- r*ei< «,' ai<Litv^r *W /«»*#
foam Jo aw., pid\)Ko\-e-^ Jfafttim[:
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/lllvUJ. £y /U Jea McbL,

Plate 1 5. Vincent van Gogh, Letter to John Peter Russell,

late June 1888. Ink on wove paper, 20.3 x 26 cm

(8 x io'/s inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Thannhauser Collection, Gift, Justin K. Thannhauser
78.2514 T189.
Art Institute of Chicago, (i^. 72). Both absorbed by vegetation, their bodies
works are executed through
Pointillist, seem to meld smoothly with their
the application of contrasting clots of surroundings. However, the abrupt
color. These dabs were meant to fuse in treatment of the peasants' bodies and
the eye of the viewer rather than on the the almost agitated < harsu ter of the
canvas, thereby eliciting purportedly brushstrokes in the painting suggest
purer, more vibrant color, supposedly that the women are not installed within
truer to the experience of things seen. a "natural," harmonious order. The
Although not a mechanical process, peasants' forms are virtually
Pointillism's laborious and repetitive undifferentiated, as it they were
elements mechanized work, a
recall variations of the same robot, and the
phenomenon that increasingly informed deep bend of their bodies indicates that
modern life. The figures in Seurat's their labor — planting or gleaning — is

paintings possess a mechanical aspect as backbreakmg. The difficult, rote, and

well; although pronounced curves depersonalized nature of their work has
structure the women's bodies, their a visual parallel in the almost crabbed,
Plato 16. Vincent van Gogh, \{,ajuj j (,irl, Ute June
forms appear stiff and partially prickly dashes of color that structure the
iXXN Ink 00 wove paper, iX % n> <, i m [j'A x 7"/* inches)
flattened, as in some of the popular, painting. Solomon H Guggenheim Museum. Thannhauser
mass-produced posters Seurat admired/ 4
The sense of alienation and tiring, K Thannhauscr -K 2514 TIO.
Collection, (ntf. Justin

The three models do not interact with physical labor in Toulouse-Lautrec's and
one another —
a circumstance that Seurat's pictures is missing from many
injects a feeling of alienation into the of van Gogh's images of rural laborers.
picture —
and only the woman in the Although he was acutely aware of and
middle looks out, somewhat awkwardly portrayed suffering among the lower
meeting the viewer's gaze. The other classes — as a young man he
lived with
models appear either bored or impoverished workers, proselytizing
inattentive; the bow of their shoulders Belgian miners to Christianity —he also
suggests fatigue, and like Seurat's tiny romanticized peasants, and believed
dots, points to the actual work involved that his representations of some of them
in creating a painting, and perhaps had spiritual qualities." Van Gogh was
specifically the labor that went into the also deeply moved by Japanese art,
construction of leisure pictured in A which, like most of his Impressionist
Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884. The and Post-Impressionist contemporaries,
models' nakedness, marked with these he appreciated and collected in the form
1 ''
signs of labor, thwarts overt of woodblock prints. His ideas about
eroticization of their bodies, although the Japanese reveal the extent to which
Seurat's decision to represent the he romanticized much that was foreign
unclothed female — these women were to him and how much he longed for
among many lower-class women paid to access to an unmediated experience of
disrobe for artists' study — is a nature:
longstanding convention in European
painting. Ij we study Japanese art. we see a man
Seurat's Farm Women at Work who is undoubtedly wise, philosophic and
(1882-83, plate 14), created before the intelligent, who spends his time . . .

artist devised his Pointillist technique, studying .a single blade of grass. But
. .

represents rural women. Instead of dots, this blade of grass leads him to draw etety

the artist has produced a visual fabric of plant and then the seasons, the wide aspects

tight dashes of color, abbreviated marks of the countryside, then animals, then the
that have a greater affinity with the human figure. . . . Come now. isn't it almost
sketchy, but more open, Impressionist a true religion which these simple Japanese

brushstroke. Unlike the laborers in teach us. who live in nature as though they
Three Models, who appear somewhat themselves were flowers?''

divorced from one another and their

environment, the women working in In 1888, the year he wrote these lines to
Seurat's earlier picture partially fuse his brother, Theo, van Gogh left Paris
with the crop they tend. Bent close over for Aries, where he believed that he
the earth, with their arms virtually would have a "Japanese" experience of

Paintings of Modern Life and Modern Myth- 95

nature. Working directly from his animal, not only reinforces the- artist's

surroundings, van Gogh transformed his t.ist i nation with the exotic . bui also
sitters, the interiors he inhabited, and points to a i lass-based ( oiitcmpt Van
the countryside into thick, swirling Gogh's drawing ot the < hild reveals tin
masses of brilliant color, or into extent to wlm h the artist's relationship
expressive dabs and dashes of ink. The to the countryside and its inhabitants
intense physical quality of the artist's was not "natural," but was conditioned
style was meant to communicate his by cultural biases such as those- that
passions and those of humanity, and inform his writing on the Japanese.
palpably suggests the presence of the Van Gogh was keenly interested in
artist's hand and Van Gogh's
heart. the ideas of Bernard and Gauguin,
powerful stroke has been and is still artists who formed a working
read as a material sign of the artist's relationship in 1888 at an artists' colony
suffering, his pantheistic union with in Pont-Aven and with whom van Gogh
nature, and his "genius." corresponded. That same year Gauguin
An illustrated letter from van Gogh spent two months painting with van
to his artist friend John Peter Russell Gogh where he convinced the
in Aries,

(1888, plate 15) features two pictures of Dutch painter working from
to try
people from the countryside: a man memory rather than from life. Like
sowing and a portrait of a little girl. Bernard and the Symbolist poets and Above: Fig. 74. Detail of the West rnc/e ol the Parthenon
Van Gogh ends his letter with the critics whom he befriended, Gauguin Reproduced, in C Yriarte, lus Fruti du Parthr'non, Pans,
1868.
drawing of a sower, a figure that privileged the imagination over natural
interested him greatly and which he phenomena, arguing that his Top left: Plate 1 7. Paul Gauguin, in tht YjniHa Crvue.

based on the work of his predecessor "synthetist" use of color and shape Man Jid \l<ir\t (Dans la xanilli' '-rial). 1891

28
Oil on burlap, 73 x 92 cm (28 , x \(-> , in hesi Solomon R
Jean-Francois Millet. In this hurriedly captured the physical and emotional Guggenheim Museum, Thannhauser Collection.
executed, small drawing, a male peasant sensations associated with an object. Gift, Justin K Thannhauser -X :su n<

stands erect in the field, his arm thrown Like van Gogh, Gauguin sought access Bottom left: Plate 18. Paul Gauguin, //j,t, Mjj. 1891.
far to the side to fling seed over the to a simple, Utopian existence by Oil on burlap. -2 4 x 91 4 1 m 1 ;X x }6 inches) Solomon R
Guggenheim Museum. Thannhauser Collection.
earth. With a large sun blazing behind drawing on the art of foreign cultures
Gift. Justin K. Thannhauser -X 2SM Ti6
him, and with his bowed legs firmly and by living in communities that he-
planted in the ground, the anonymous considered "primitive."
peasant appears to function as the Gauguin's In the Vanilla Grove, Man
embodiment of growth and and Horse (1891, plate 17) was painted
regeneration. Indeed, the potential the year the artist first went to Tahiti
fecundity of the earth appears linked to and depicts a man with his horse
this figure: the active, slightly curved standing in front of a bank of vegetation
lines that structure the ground all within which two women appear to be
converge onto his form. tending vanilla plants. The shapes of
The detailed drawing of a child the females barely emerge from the
(plate 16) that van Gogh included with growth that surrounds them; indeed,
the letter suggests that the artist had a the body of the woman carrying a
more complicated relationship to the basket at the upper right is at first

lower classes, which he admired and barely discernible. Though ostensibly

romanticized. The artist's scratchy, laboring, the females seem to hover
hatched strokes of ink seem to capture weightlessly amidst the rich green
the specific mien of an unattractive, foliage, coalescing with it as if they
disheveled child with matted hair, were actual extensions of the plants. By
wide-set eyes, and pug nose, who is contrast, the solid figure of the male,
incongruously attired in an exotic whose firm body possesses the same
costume. In his letter, van Gogh strength and graceful bearing of the
identifies the little girl as a "dirty horse, is a pronounced presence. Sensual
'mudlark,'" with a "vague florentine sort curves define his trim form, and his
of figure" like those in paintings by the flesh has a warm, rich luster. The

artist Monticelli. This strange mixture pairing of the women with the plants
of romanticism and disdain, whereby and of the man with the horse suggests
the child is associated with both that Gauguin identified the Tahitian
picturesque figures and a grubby women with nature and its fecundity.

Paintings of Modem Life and Modern Myths 97

Plate 19. Pablo Picasso, Le Moulin de la Galette, autumn
1900. Oil on canvas, 88.2 x 115. 5 cm (34 '4 x 45 'A inches).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Thannhauser
Collection, Gift, Justin K. Thannhauser 78.2514 T34.
 and the Tahitian man with a noble, shapes lends the painting an air of
sexual animality. Indeed, Gauguin based mystery and excitement, underscoring
the man and horse pair on a section of the slightly risque character of the
the West Frieze of the Parthenon events represented. The picture features
30
(fig. 74), which indicates that he may a plethora of brightly attired, made-up
have perceived the Tahitian "native" not women, whose dark eyes and brilliant
only as earthy and sensual, but also as a red lips seem to beckon the viewer and
kind of timeless, heroic essence. the bourgeois men in top hats at left.
The artist's use of vibrant, The eroticism in this scene of leisure is

heightened color and broad flattened reinforced by the ambiguous, seductive

forms conveys an air of tropical, lush
simplicity. However, Gauguin's
luxurious treatment of a male body
inserts a subtly disruptive element into
the work. Erotic representations of the
« fr* female body are rather standard fare in
iHIIWmflMi iLl
Modern painting and
Polynesian works; however, sexual
portrayals of the male
exchange by the seated female couple,
and by the inviting smile of their
companion. Although this work depicts
a lively, exciting glimpse of nightlife, it
possesses an ominous, almost
dehumanizing, quality. The men in the
in Gauguin's scene are virtually anonymous, although
the man second from the left has a
body are less slightly feral face: the edges of his hat

Plate 20. Pablo Picasso, Young Acrobat and Child common. Sexual stereotypes about curve upward like pointed ears, and his
(Jeuneacrobate et enfant), March 26, 1905. Ink and gouache people of color were very much a part of long nose resembles a wolf's snout. His
on gray cardboard, 31.3 x 25.1 cm
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Thannhauser
(12V16 x 9 Vs inches).
nineteenth-century consciousness, and bestial aspect —
neither slothful as with
Collection, Gift, Justin K. Thannhauser 78.2514 T42. European settlers in the South Seas the females in Degas 's, Toulouse-
perceived the inhabitants as possessing a Lautrec's, or van Gogh's work, nor noble
freer sexuality than their own. Gauguin as with the "savage" in Gauguin's
shared this perception, and while abroad painting — suggests a hungry, predatory
sought a Utopian existence, which nature. The women in Picasso's work
included a sex life devoid of bourgeois are more clearly defined, but each seems
conventions. However, such a fiction of to be a variation on the same angular,
eroticized, "primitive" harmony in no witchlike mannequin. This scene of
way mirrors Gauguin's existence among male and female pleasure evokes the
people that had actually destroyed their energy and titillation of a cafe at night,
own indigenous cultures. Gauguin did but the interchangeability and
not truly learn the language of the threatening demeanor of the figures
Polynesians; was unable to live off the suggests that the encounters
land, requiring support from the experienced at the night spot may be
families of his teenage mistresses; and both superficial and dangerous.
concocted Polynesian myths for his art In his Woman Ironing (1904, plate 21),
and writing largely based on ill- painted four years later, Picasso moves
informed European texts rather than on from the evocation of a particular
information he insisted came from his environment of leisure to the
"native" community. 3 '

representation of a timeless act of

Pablo Picasso, perhaps the most
celebrated artist of the twentieth-
century, spent the beginning of
his career working through
of styles indebted to those of his older
peers while painting contemporary
scenes of urban life. For example, his
Le Moulin de la Galette (1900, plate 19) is
influenced by Toulouse-Lautrec's boldly
patterned treatment of cafe scenes.' 2
However, the slightly feathery blur of
Picasso's forms has a greater affinity
with a brushy Impressionist stroke. The
pronounced contrast of colors and
debilitating labor. Although the people
in the former painting are as anonymous
as the figure in this picture from
Picasso's Blue Period, the ironing
a variety woman is removed from a specific place
and moment. The overall blue cast to
the image pervades the scene with
suffering, pain, and despair —
emotions
further emphasized by the woman's
emaciated, bent form and vacant eyes.
Relying as the Post-Impressionists had
on color and form to trigger feeling,
Picasso uses the work-worn female body
to generalize human tragedy. His
preoccupation with the universal, rather

1 00 Art of This Century

Plate 21 . Pablo Picasso, Woman Ironing (La Repasseuse),
1904. Oil on canvas, 116. 2 x 73 cm (45 >/4 x 28 % inches).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Thannhauser
Collection, Gift, Justin K. Thannhauser 78.2514 T41.
 than specific human events and
emotions, is manifest in his use of stock
commedia dell'arte or circus figures in
much of his Blue and Rose work,
characters that function as types, or who
are meant to represent "everyman" (see,

for example, his Young Acrobat and

Child, 1905, plate 20).Although Picasso
was impoverished as a very young artist
and witnessed firsthand the plight of
the urban poor, he chose to figure
hardship in his early work through
sentimental, pictorial signs of the
eternal, rather than to describe the
particulars of the penury he saw and
experienced.
This appeal to the "eternal" recalls
one aspect of Baudelaire's description of
the modern artist's project: the need to
capture a timeless truth. This quest
in various manifestations — informs
much of twentieth-century art, notably
that of several European artists active in
the 1910s, including visionary abstract
artists Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir
Malevich, and Piet Mondrian, who
imbued their work with spiritual
meanings. Abstraction reached a kind of
apotheosis in the 1940s through 1960s
with New York Abstract Expressionism
and Color-field painting, both of which
were celebrated by influential critic
Clement Greenberg, whose analyses of
the purely structural and visual
relationship of forms to their material
supports elevated painting to a lofty
sphere uncontaminated by worldly
concerns. Although Greenberg 's type of
formalist criticism retains some
currency today, it is widely challenged

by writers who analyze the imbrication

of form and content (whether the work
is representational or abstract), and who
argue that all types of representation
express the creator's relationship to
social and psychic experience.

102 Arte)
 —

Notes

i. Charles Baudelaire, "The Painter oi conclusion, Boime argues: "By showing that the x8j4 1XH6, diro ted and 1 oordinated l>\ ( h.irles

Modern Life," in Baudelaire: Selected Writings on change took place under the aegis oi Academic s Moitet, exh < .it [San Francisco The!
Art and Artists, trans, and with an introduction dot trine, this study lias endeavoured to Arts Museums ot Son Francisco; Washington,
by P. E. Chavet (Cambridge: Cambridge construt t .1 pii lure ot the totality ot l'rciu h D.C. National Gallery of Art, 1986], p j6i)
University Press, 1972), p. 423. painting during the nineteenth century. Instead Another writer had the following to s.n about
of considering this period as the scene of a the same work: "Formidable l><< ause she is

2. Ibid., p. 428. heroic struggle ot progressives against thoughtless, with bestial effrontery she mows
A< ademics, it shows the positive, ii unintended, her face forward, or rather her little muzzle
3. Ibid., p. 430. contribution of the Academy to the evolution 0! and this word is completely corre< t be< ause this

independent tendencies." poor little girl is the beginning oi a rat" (Paul

4. Ibid., p. 426. Shiff observes that the etude demonstrated Mantz, Le Temps, April 23, 1881, quoted m
the "effect" of chiaroscuro (contrasts of dark and The Neu Painting).
:

5. Ibid., p. 411. light), and notes Boime's statement that in the

nineteenth century "effect" went from 15. Lipton, pp. 76-84.

6. Ibid., p. 414. signifying "artificial contrivance" to "natural
perception" (Boime, p. 169). Shiff proceeds to 16. Vivian Endicott Barnett, The Guggenheim

7. Ibid., p. 402.
ask the following: "Is impressionist painting, Museum: Justin K. Thannhauser Collection (New
then, as an art of the effect, to be considered York: The Solomon R. Guggenheim
8. Robert L. Herbert, Impressionism: An, genuinely original, rather than merely Foundation, 1978), p. 186.

Leisure, and Parisian Society (New Haven: Yale suggestive of originality.'' . . . Does it employ
University Press, 1988), p. 305. the device of the etude as a convention, to relate a 17. Mona Hadler, "Manet's Woman with a

sense of originality and spontaneity to the Parrot of 1866," The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9. Although Manet was close to a number of the viewer:'" (Shiff, Cezanne and the End of Journal j, 1973, pp. 115-22.

Impressionists and worked with some of them, Impressionism: A

Study of the Theory, Technique,
he did not join their group or exhibit with and Critical Evaluation of Modern Art [Chicago: 18. Griselda Pollock, Vision and Different:
them. The University of Chicago Press, 1984], p. 77). Femininity, feminism and histories of art (London:
Routledge, 1988), pp. 56, 62.
10. The Impressionists were by no means the 12. Herbert, p. 304.
only nineteenth-century artists to paint scenes 19. The term Post-Impressionist was coined by
from daily life, but their work is notable for its 13.Eunice Lipton, Looking into Degas: Uneasy the English art critic Roger Fry for a 1910-11

emphasis on then contemporary forms of Images of Women and Modern Life (Berkeley: exhibition that included the work of Manet,

entertainment. In nineteenth-century France, University of California Press, 1986), pp. 88-91. Cezanne, Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Georges
leisure was in the process of developing into the Lipton argues (p. 91) that the following factors Seurat, Maurice Denis, Henri Matisse, and

full-blown industry that it is today. Shortly account for the stereotype of the impoverished Picasso. Fry defined the Post-Impressionists as

after Napoleon III declared himself emperor in dancer: "Two prejudices, I believe, produced those artists who emphasized individual artistic

1851, the vast reconstruction of Paris began this commentary. The sexualization of their expression over "accurate" representation. He
under the supervision of Baron Haussmann. An profession resulted from their being women on believed that willed "unnaturalistic"

immense network of grand boulevards was display; the emphasis on poverty and low manipulation of forms conveys "the originality
constructed to house theaters, cafes, and parentage derived from the notion of the dancer of truly personal experience" (Shiff, pp. 155-57).
department stores, sites where the city's diverse as an artist. At first this might seem The term Post-Impressionist is used to refer to a
population mingled, and where those with contradictory, for an emphasis on her sexuality wide range of artists active in the late-
money could enjoy an array of pleasures. Paris and frivolity would seem to preclude a view of nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
alsobecame a central terminus for the the dancer as an artist. Yet the image of poverty
expanding railways, which brought peasants and mysterious or low parentage, or even the 20. See Fred Orton and Griselda Pollock, "Les
seeking employment from the countryside to illusion that the dancer did not really work, donees bretonnes: la prairie de representation,"

the city, and which discharged city dwellers dovetailed with contemporary attitudes about Art History 3, no. 3 (September 1980),
into the rapidly developing suburbs or into artists — their charm and ease, but particularly pp. 314-44.
rural areas to enjoy a "country" outing or their conquering of harsh material odds."
vacation. Although was ravaged by the
Paris 21. Cezanne met Camille Pissarro at the

Franco-Prussian War and by civil war in 1871, 14. In French, "rat" designates both the rodent Academie Suisse in 1861, and occasionally
the city and its environs began to flourish once and a young female dance pupil at the Opera participated in the meetings of the Batignolles

again during the Third Republic. Indeed, from
the mid-nineteenth through the early twentieth
century, Paris was the cultural and
entertainment capital of Europe.
11. Albert Boime and Richard Shiff have both
Mansion, Harrap's Modern College
(see J. E. group, which formed around 1866 and included
French and English Dictionary, revised by Degas, Manet, Claude Monet, and Renoir.
M. Ferlin and P. Forbes, ed. by D. M. Ledesert Cezanne also showed with the Impressionists
and R. P. L. Ledesert [New York: Charles and intermittently painted with Pissarro in
Scribners' Sons, 1972], R: 8). Ponroise in 1872-73. Cezanne worked with
Degas's contemporaries noted his dancers' Pissarro again in 1881, and the two were joined

discussed sketchlike technique in nineteenth- bestial qualities. One critic made the following that year by Gauguin, who also painted with

century painting. Boime argues that an remarks about the artist's Little Fourteen-Year- Pissarro in 1883. Pissarro met Seurat in 1885, and

"aesthetics of the sketch" arose in nineteenth- Old Dancer (ca. 1881): "I do not always ask that in 1886, the latter's A Sunday on La Grande

century painting whereby a loosely painted art be graceful, butdo not believe that its role
I Jatte — 1884 was shown at the last Impressionist

landscape etude (study) was seen to convey a is Your opera rat

to represent only ugliness. exhibition. That year, van Gogh came to Paris.

sense of originality and spontaneity. He traces takes after a monkey, an Aztec, a puny In the city, he came into direct contact with the

this development in academic and independent specimen —

if she were smaller, one would be work of the Impressionists, and met Pissarro

painting (see Albert Boime, The Academy and tempted to enclose her in a glass jar of alcohol" through Gauguin. In 1889, Gauguin and his

French Painting in the Nineteenth Century (Elie de Mont, La Civilisation, April 21, 1881, friends exhibited together as the Groupe

[London: Phaidon, 1971], pp. 166-81). In his quoted in The New Painting: Impressionism impressioniste et synthetiste at the Paris Universal

Paintings of Modern Life and Modern Myths 1 03

Exposition (see Bernard Denvir, The Thames and 27. Vincent van Gogh in an undated letter 31. Abigail Solomon-Godeau, "Going Native,
Hudson Encyclopaedia of Impressionism [London: (attributed to ca. September 1888) to his Art in America j-j, no. 7 (July 1989),
Thames and Hudson, 1990], entry for brother, Theo van Gogh, in Herschel B. Chipp, pp. 119-29, 161.
"Batignolles," pp. 24-26; John Rewald, The with Peter Selz and Joshua C. Taylor, Theories of
History of Impressionism, 4th rev. ed. [New York: Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics 32. Barnett, p. 113.

The Museum of Modern Art, 1973], chronology, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968),
pp. 591-607; and John Rewald, Post- pp. 38—39. A number of nineteenth-century
Impressionism: From van Gogh to Gauguin, 3rd rev. wrote about Japanese art, and like van
critics

ed. [New York: The Museum of Modern Art, Gogh, felt that there was something
1978], chronology, pp. 502-07). intrinsically different about the Japanese that
modes of representation.
effected their
22. Meyer Schapiro, "The Nature of Abstract Commentators repeatedly explained Japanese
Art," in Modern Art, Nineteenth and Twentieth compositional devices through causal models
Centuries: Selected Papers (New York: George determined by biological, psychological, or
Braziller, 1982), p. 192. religious conditions, and a number of these
models were linked to fields of scientific
23. Ibid., p. 191. exploration popular at the time. For example,
Paul Dalloz, the director and founder of several
24. Schapiro also relates Seurat's figures to those newspapers, maintained that Japanese art
of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes: "As he [Seurat] differed radically from Western art because the
transformed the Impressionist sketchiness into a Japanese actually saw the world differently.
more deliberated method, so he converted the Invoking physiology, Dalloz attributed what he
idealized imagery of Puvis into a corresponding thought to be an intense amount of detail in
modern scene which retained, however, Japanese works to the structure of Japanese eyes,
something of the formality of a classic which he argued functioned like opera glasses
monumental style" ("Seurat" [1958], in Modern (as opposed to European eyes, which he
Art, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, p. 104). compared to the camera). The collector and
critic Theodore Duret favored an explanation of

25. Van Gogh discussed his interest in peasants Japanese artistic vision based on geographical
in his correspondence, and after visiting difference. He
maintained that Japan received
fellow artists Dodge MacKnight and Eugene light purer and brighter than that of Europe,
Boch, he wrote: "The village where they are and that therefore, the Japanese saw fewer
staying is real Millet, pure peasants and nothing shadows and more highly saturated colors.
else, absolutely rustic and homely. . . . The Duret thus stated that while the European artist
natives are like Zola's poor peasants, innocent was concerned with subtle shading, the Japanese
and gentle beings, as we know" (LT 514, quoted artist focused on achieving a balance of strongly
in Ronald Pickvance, Van Gogh in Aries, exh. contrasting colors (Elisa Evett, "The Late
cat. [New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Nineteenth Century European Critical Response
Art and Harry N. Abrams, 1984], p. 164). In to Japanese Art: Primitivist Leanings," Art
another letter, after commenting about his History 6, no. 1 [March 1983], pp. 83-85).
portraits of a peasant and a poet, van Gogh
stated, "In a picture I want to say something 28. Barnett notes that R. L. Herbert believes
comforting, as music is comforting. I want to that van Gogh's 1881 drawing of a sower and his
paint men and women with that something of October 1889 painting of a sower are based on
the eternal which the halo used to symbolize, an 1873 Paul LeRat engraving of Millet's Sower
and which we seek to convey by the actual of ca. 1850 (Barnett, p. 73, note 20). Judy Sund
radiance and vibration of our coloring" argues that van Gogh admired and drew on
(The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh, with Millet'swork because he found it resonant with
reproductions of all the drawings in the Judy Sund, "The Sower
his spiritual beliefs (see
correspondence, vol. 3 [Greenwich, Conn.: New and the Sheaf: Biblical Metaphor in the Art of
York Graphics Society, 1958; reprinted 1978], Vincent van Gogh," Art Bulletin 70, no. 4
p. 25, LT 531). [December 1988], pp. 661-76).

26. Orton and Pollock discuss nineteenth- 29. Jennifer Blessing, catalogue entry in From
century artists' interests in Japanese prints: van Gogh to Picasso,From Kandinsky to Pollock:
"In the 1860s Japanese prints had seemed to Masterpieces of Modern Art (New York: The
offer a pictorial equivalent for the chaos of Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Milan:
metropolitan Paris at that time; their Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri, Bompiani, 1990),
modernity and strangeness was somehow p. 80.
equatable with a new experience of a new Paris.
By the late 1880s they offered something 30. As Barnett indicates p. 57), this source is
(

else. They were seen as providing clues as to identified by Alfred Langer in Paul Gauguin
how a picture's surface could be flattened (Leipzig: VEB E.A. Seeman Buch-und
and integrated and simplified" (Fred Orton Kunstverlag, 1963), pp. 53-54, and Theodore
and Griselda Pollock, "Cloisonism?" Reff, review of Anthony Blunt and Phoebe Pool,
[review], Art History 5, no. 3 [September 1982], Picasso: The Formative Years, in Art Bulletin 48
P- 345) (June 1966), p. 266.

104 Art of This Century

Following two pages: Robert Delaunay,
ReJ Eiffel Touer. 1911-12 (detail).
 7\

% \W-i i

-:^***fc^i
i BiiLi
&M

^fesaliS

i-
 — —

1912

Lisa Dennison

Wins in 1912! What could be more European centers, the release- of several

wonderful for a painter? A believer in signs now-historic publications, and the

might say that this was surely the mark support of Guillaume Apollinaire, who
oj a predestined career. The year 1912 is acted as Cubism's public champion
perhaps the most glorious in the history of assured the- indomitable Strength of t he-

painting in France. This was the apogee of movement. Apollinaire proclaimed thai
Cubism, and Cubism is identified with "the Cubists, no matter to which fai tion
Paris, is Paris itself the real Paris, Paris they belong, appear to all of us who are-

without artifice. . . . Yes, 1912 is the most concerned with the future- of art to be
Parisian moment in painting; it is a moment the most serious and interesting artists
which will never again be recaptured.' of our time."'
Despite the growing recognition and
These words were written by French internationalism of Analytic Cubism,
critic and art historian Michel Seuphor its formal possibilities were narrowing
to describe Piet Mondrian's arrival in rather than expanding, having reached
Paris from Amsterdam at the very the summit of a development that had
beginning of what would indeed prove begun in the 1890s with the work of
landmark year in the history of
to be a Paul Cezanne. By late 1911, Braque and
Modern art." Seuphor suggests that Picasso had each gone as far as possible
Mondrian's encounter with the art of in their analyses of both objects and
Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso at space — so far that the fracturing and Above: Fig. 76. Morum.irtre. Kins. < ,i 1900. with

this pivotal time crystallized the faceting of their subjects into small Le Moulin de la Galette on the- right. Courtesy
Roger-Viollet,
Dutchman's ambition to create "a pure rectangular planes threatened to engulf
plastic art" through the discovery of an the subject, presaging allover Left: Fig. 75. The Eiffel Tower, 1889. Courtesy
Roger-Viollei LL Viollet.
underlying sense of order and harmony abstraction and undermining their
in Analytic Cubism at its most hermetic commitment to Cubism as an art of
stage. He argues that out of the chaos of representation.
Cubism, Mondrian would begin on the But it was precisely out of this
path to pure abstraction: "Henceforward environment of crisis in 1912 that
his values would be order, discipline, innovations occurred; from here, the
sobriety . . . recording in clear logic the revolution that Cubism had sparked
whole teaching of Cubism at the very quickly led in new directions that
moment when the great Cubist painters would have vast implications for
halted or went backwards."' twentieth-century art. Not the least
Although Seuphor oversimplifies among these was Picasso's daring
Mondrian's move toward abstraction, incorporation of a piece of oilcloth
his recognition of 1912 as a watershed printed to simulate chair caning into
moment, representing both an apogee one of his paintings (fig. 78), thus
and a crisis point in the development of creating the first collage, and Braque 's
Cubism, is accurate. In this year, related invention of papier colle a few
Cubism achieved full recognition at months later, when he pasted pieces of
three major Parisian exhibitions: the imitation wood-grain wallpaper onto
Salon des independants, the Salon d'octobre, one of his works on paper (fig. 80).
and most important of all, the artist- Developing the aesthetic possibilities of
4
organized Salon de la section d'or. This collage further, in the realm of three
last exhibition, consisting of more than dimensions, Picasso also began his
180 works by thirty-two painters, was famous construction Guitar in 1912, thus
devoted exclusively to Cubism in all its challenging the Cubist tendency to
manifestations and traveled to London, flatten depicted space. The definition of
Berlin,Amsterdam, Vienna, Dresden, planar sculpture was enlarged by
and Moscow, spreading its influence to a Alexander Archipenko, who initiated
wide international audience. In this his multi-media constructions inspired
same year, several other factors by the Cirque Medrano. At this time,
especially additional exhibitions in Paris Umberto Boccioni published his
(including the first presentation outside Technical Manifesto of Futurist Sculpture
of Italy of Futurist painting, held at {Manifesto tecnico della scultura futurista),
Galerie Bernheim-Jeune') and other in which he encouraged the combining

1912 1 09
 of unorthodox materials such as "glass,
wood, cardboard, iron, cement,
horsehair, leather, cloth, mirrors,
-
electric lights." Robert Delaunay,
had show in Paris in 1912,
his first solo
commenced a new series of Window
paintings, in which vibrant color,
abandoned by many of his School of
Paris contemporaries, played a leading
role in determining pictorial
construction. And Marcel Duchamp
painted his controversial Nude
Descending a Staircase (No. 2), which he
withdrew from the Salon des independents
after members of the hanging
8
committee objected to its title.
Elaborating on Cubism's vocabulary
and enriching its possibilities, various
satellite movements, including
Futurism, Cubo-Futurism, Orphism,
and Rayism, erupted with explosive
forceduring the course of 1912.
Although these offshoots continued to
bear some superficial resemblance to the
Cubist paradigm, their conclusions were
greatest masterpieces in the holdings
of the Solomon R. Guggenheim
and Foundation date from 1911— 13, but
who especially 1912. In each of the major art
centers —
Moscow, Munich, and Paris
works created in and around 1912 by
Braque, Delaunay, Duchamp,
Kandinsky, Fernand Leger, Malevich,
Mondrian, and Picasso, among others,
provide ample evidence of the richness
and complexity of this fertile period.
Imagine the exhilaration that Mondrian
must have felt upon settling in the
French capital in January 1912, the year
that Seuphor described as "an
incomparable theater for the exhibition
of innovations in a climate which knew
no extremes."" As Roger Shattuck
points out in The Banquet Years, a
cultural history of the emergence of the
avant-garde in France from 1885 to
World War I, this climate was in large
part fostered by the interchange and
dissemination of ideas in the cafes,

vastly different in form, intent, and which in the 1860s and 1870s had been
content. Each of these inventions the unofficial headquarters of the
contained the seeds of further Impressionists. By the end of the
innovation, ultimately laying the century, the cafe ritual became not only
groundwork for the purely abstract art a factor in stimulating the creation of
that would soon emerge in Russia art but also a source of its iconography.
(Suprematism and Constructivism) and This atmosphere of communal activity,

the Netherlands (Neo-Plasticism). in which "painters, writers, and

Elsewhere that year, the more musicians lived and worked together
Top: Fig. 77. Pablo Picasso in Sorgues, France, summer or expressionistic manifestations of art in and tried their hands at each other's arts
early autumn 1912. Musee Picasso, Cliche des Musees
Nationaux, Paris. ©R.M.N.
Germany and Austria were at an equally in an atmosphere of perpetual
2
radical stage. Drawing on the work of collaboration,"' carried forward into the
Bottom: Fig. 78. Pablo Picasso, with Chair prewar years, when the heart of artistic
Still Life
the Symbolists and linking often
Caning {Nature morte a la chaise canne'e), May 1912. Collage of
oil, oilcloth, and pasted paper on oval canvas surrounded by-
extreme emotional sentiments with activity moved to Picasso's Montmartre
rope, 27 x 35 cm (10 V* x 13 VA inches). Musee Picasso, Paris. images derived from the visible world, studio in the Bateau-Lavoir.
©R.M.N.
these works were characterized by Although Picasso and Braque were an
violent, unnatural colors. In Munich, essential part of this creative esprit de
the second exhibition of the Blue Rider, corps, frequenting galleries and
a group founded by Vasily Kandinsky museums and mixing with a wide circle
and Franz Marc, and the publication of of writers, painters, and sculptors, the
The Blue Rider Almanac {Der Blaue Reiter two shared a particular self-sufficiency
Almanack) and Kandinsky 's On the that isolated them from the artistic
Spiritual in Art (Uber das Geistige in der community as a whole. They rarely took
KunstY articulated the search by these part in any of the Salons or other group
artists for a common spiritual basis in exhibitions. In fact, until late in 1912
the arts. And in Moscow, the Donkey's neither had much contact even with the
group spearheaded by Natalia
Tail, a other Cubists, who for the most part
Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov, Kazimir lived across the Seine on the Left Bank.
Malevich, and Vladimir Tatlin, was There, artists and writers met to
hailed as the first important assertion of formulate and promote their ideas in
an independent Russian school. 10 the Puteaux studio of Jacques Villon on
It is no coincidence that some of the Sunday afternoons, at the Courbevoie
studio of Albert Gleizes on Monday and sensory basis of Impressionism.
evenings, at many and at the
cafes, Central to the discourse of the period
Closerie des Lilas on the Boulevard was Cubism's relation to reality. Both
Montparnasse, which was frequented by Apollinaire and Salmon agreed that
many of the most influential younger Cubism was an art of representation of

critics, including Apollinaire and Andre a new reality, and that change,
Salmon. The circle of Frenchmen rather than permanence, was a vital
Gleizes, Henri Le Fauconnier, Leger, element of this reality. They diverged,
Jean Metzinger, and Villon was soon however, in that Apollinaire believed

widened to include Roger de La that this reality is not drawn from

Fresnaye, Marie Laurencin, Francis nature but from the transcendental
Picabia, Villon's two brothers, Marcel truth that subsists beyond the scope of
Duchamp and Raymond Duchamp- nature, with complete abstraction as the
Villon, as well as the Ukrainian-born ultimate goal. Salmon, on the other
Archipenko, the Spaniard Juan Gris, hand, stressed the dynamic nature of
and the Czech artist Frantisek Kupka. reality, postulating that through
Appropriate to the spreading intellect the Cubist artists could create a
internationalism of the period, it was new and better reality that would be
Apollinaire — born in Rome to a Swiss- able to reflect change and progress in
Italian father and Polish-Italian the world.
mother — who became the most The change is a vital
belief that
enthusiastic supporter of the new element of was an essential
reality
French art. His "magnetism, his all- concept of philosopher Henri Bergson,
embracing enthusiasm, his very who developed the concept of la duree
ubiquity in prewar Paris made him ("the continuous progress of the past
beyond a doubt the main impresario of which gnaws into the future and which
the avant-garde,"" as well as the most
,
swells as it advances"' ) to express his
respected poet/critic of his generation. notion of the continuous flux of time.
Responsible for introducing Braque and He wrote, "The universe endures. The
Picasso in 1907, Apollinaire organized more we study the nature of time, the
the first coherent group presentation of more we shall comprehend that
Cubism (the famous "Salle 41" at the duration means invention, the creation
1911 Salon des independants), established a of forms, the continual elaboration of
6
liaison between the Montmartre and the absolutely new."' His ideas became
Top: Fig. 79. Georges Braque in his studio at impasse
Puteaux Cubists, baptized Delaunay's the common property of critics such as
de Guelma in Paris, ca. early 1912. The Granger
5,

Collection.
art as "Orphism," and in turn became Salmon and his avant-garde New York.

its principal advocate.' 4 contemporaries, who found Bergson's

Bottom: Fig. 80. Georges Braque, Fruit Dish and Gluts
As a critic for the Paris daily approach to a reality in which the past (Compotier et verre), early September 1912. Charcoal and

L'Intransigeantfrom 1910 to 1914, was captured in present experience to be pasted paper, 61.9 x 44.5 cm (24 V» x IJ'A inches). Private
collection.
Apollinaire reported on the Salons and of great significance to the formulation
gallery shows in his column "La Vie of and a rationale for new pictorial and
artistique" during these formative years literary modes. In the words of
of Modern art. In 1912, he became the Apollinaire, "The painter must
principal editor of the newly founded encompass in one glance the past, the
magazine Les Soirees de Paris and joined a present, the future."'"
new journal, Montjoie! when it was, At the meetings of the Puteaux
established the following year. Some of group, conversations centered on the
his foremost articles on Cubism latest ideas in the realms of not only
appeared in these important periodicals philosophy but of music, literature,
prior to the 1913 publication of his book politics, psychology, mathematics, and
The Cubist Painters: Aesthetic Meditations science, and on the analogies between
{Les Peintres cubistes: Meditations these fields. It should be understood
esthetiques), which, along with Salmon's that many artists and critics who were
1912 The Young French Painting (Lajeune intoxicated by the dynamic concept of
Peinture francaise), pressed the notion of the artist's role as creator of a new
the style as a conceptual and intellectual reality would not come to any common
one as opposed to the physical understanding about this reality despite

1912 1 1 1
 the accelerated exchange of ideas in the
fervid intellectual climate of 1912.
Rather, the interpretations of
theories were to a great degree
superficial, motivated principally by an
attempt to establish an a priori basis for
an art that they considered intellectual.
The paintings of the Cubists were not
about changing the world; rather, they
were the visualizations of these changes.
Ultimately, Cubism is best understood
as a formal development founded on
empirical process, not theoretical
principle.
Yet public controversy generated by
Cubism's radicality prompted others in
addition to Apollinaire and Salmon to
publish a wide range of articles and
books to explain and defend the variety
different mediums and from different
periods and cultures.
new The Blue Rider actively brought
together artists from Germany, Russia,
and France. Delaunay and Henri
Rousseau, for example, had been invited
by Kandinsky to join the first
exhibition of the group, held in
December 1911 at the Moderne Galerie
Thannhauser in Munich (which had also
hosted the September 1910 exhibition of
the NKVM [New Artists' Association
of Munich], another international
gathering organized by Kandinsky). By
1912, Delaunay had been visited in his
Paris studio by Klee, August Macke,
and Marc. Klee returned to Berlin
deeply impressed by what he had seen;
his Flower Bed ( plate 24) of the next year

Fig. 81 . Vasily Kandinsky, cover for The Blue Rider of styles within the movement. Many
Almanac, 1912. Courtesy Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus. the artists themselves — Gleizes and
Metzinger most saliently in their
important volume Cubism (Du cubisme),
published in Paris in December 1912
attempted to provide a theoretical basis
for the movement, while the emergence
of two other influential types of
publications, the aesthetic manifesto in
Italy and Russia and the almanac in
Germany, also gave credence to the
theoretical underpinnings of Modernist
tenets. Futurism was initially conceived
as a literary concept; the first Futurist
manifesto, written by Filippo Tommaso
Marinetti, was published in 1909 in the
Paris newspaper he Figaro. In 1910,
second manifesto laid the foundations of
Futurism's visual expression, and
manifestos of sculpture, music, noise,
photography, theater, architecture,
cinema, and politics proliferated in the
8
next few years.' In Moscow in 1912,
David Burliuk and his contemporaries
issued their own manifesto, in which
poets were encouraged to create new
words from archaic word forms and
fragments. Entitled A Slap in the Face of
Public Taste {Poscbechina obsbchestvennomu
vkusu), the book also included the first
important Russian essay on Cubism.
The Blue Rider Almanac, published in
1912 by Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Marc
only a few months after Kandinsky 's
treatise On the Spiritual in Art, was
established as a showcase for the latest
art from Paris,Moscow, Berlin, and
Milan, as well as a forum for the arts
of reveals the influence of Cubism and
Delaunay in its allover pattern of
faceted forms and brilliant coloration.
Marc later described Delaunay 's Window
paintings to Kandinsky as "pure tonal
fugues"' 9 and was himself influenced by
the superimposed zones of transparent
colors, adapting this technique in works
such as Stables (1913, plate 23) to express
the spirituality and harmony of the
cosmos in his pantheistic vision of
nature.
Many other links between major cities
were established by artists, critics,
dealers, and collectors during this
period, so that national borders were
a transcended in an atmosphere of
exchange and collaboration. In 1912,
Delaunay exhibited at the Moderner
Bund in Zurich along with Jean Arp,
Klee, Kandinsky, Marc, and Henri
Matisse. Gino Severini, who lived in
Paris, was an important liaison with his
Futurist compatriots in Rome, Milan,
and Turin. The interchange of artistic
influence was also broadened by certain
individuals who were instrumental in
bringing the most advanced art of their
time to their homelands. Among them
were the painter and critic Conrad
Kickert, whose Circle of Modern Art
(Moderne Kunstkring) in Amsterdam
held annual art exhibitions of avant-
garde French painting; Herwarth
Walden, founder of the avant-garde
Berlin gallery Der Sturm, where
German Expressionism was shown
in alongside School of Paris works, and the

112 Art of This Century

Plate 22. Vasily Kandinsky, Improvisation 28
(second version), 1912. Oil on canvas. III. 4 x 162. 1 cm
(43/8 x 637* inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Gift, Solomon R. Guggenheim 37.239.
Plate 23. Franz Marc, Stables (Stallungen), 1913.
cm (29 x
Oil on canvas, 73.6 x 157.5 62 inches).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 46.1037.
Plate 24. Paul Klee, Flower Bed (Blumenbeet), 1913.
'

cm (11
Oil on cardboard, 28.2 x 33.7 '/% x 13 'A inches).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 48.1172x109.
 7

eponymous journal, in which Futurist limited to local surroundings. In an age

manifestos were published concurrently of intrusive electronic communication
with Kandinsky's writings and a 'now' became an extended interval of
translation of Apollinaire's Les Peintres time that could, indeed must, include
and the Muscovite collectors
cubistes; events around the world."
Ivan Morozov and Sergei Shchukin, who The manifold developments in the

bought seminal examples of the latest various arts of the period nourished each
French painting. other as well. One of the most
important models simultaneous art
for
One key to understanding this period of and poetry was found in opera when, for
tremendous creativity and mutual example, two or more voices sing
inspiration on an international scale is separate lyrics at once, or in musical
the concept of simultaneity, which was counterpoint, where different melodies
20
new in the period. In its broadest play concurrently. Composers such as
definition, simultaneity became a Bela Bartok, Claude Debussy, and
central theme, as well as a formal and Richard Strauss created simultaneities
structural principle, for some of the involving music in completely different
greatest creators of the time. tonalities, and American composer
Simultaneity was at once a concept, a Charles Ives even experimented with
theory, an experience, a style of painting sections of the orchestra playing to
and literature, a method of musical different tempos same time. 24
at the
composition, an aesthetic system, a In poetry, Apollinaire, Henri-Martin
temporal event, and a spatial event. As Barzun, and Cendrars each expressed
Virginia Spate explains in her study of simultaneity through different methods,
Orphism, simultaneity was an attempt exploiting the Cubist notion of
to embody a change of consciousness in fragmentation in terms of ruptured
response to a belief that sequential syntax and abrupt juxtapositions. In
modes of thought and expression were 1912 and 1913, Apollinaire wrote poems
inadequate to realize the fullness and such as "Zone" and "Liens," in which
complexity of modern urban life.
2
'
The distant places and times are overlapped
Simultanists thus tried to represent a and woven together into present
sense of the unity of all beings — the experience. Also in 1912, Barzun
interrelatedness of all things, mental founded a journal to present his poems
events, and feelings,which might be and his theory of simultaneity, and, in
widely separated in time and space but early 1913, Cendrars published the first

were brought together by the mind. "simultaneous" book, La Prose du

The development of the concept of Transsiberien et de la Petite Jehanne de
simultaneity was stimulated by the France, a poem more than six feet long
impact of the technical revolution, that was printed in varying colors and
whose advances in the realms of typography on an abstract colored
communication (telephone, telegraph, background designed by Sonia Terk
and cinema) and transportation Delaunay (fig. 83). By 1914, Apollinaire
(automobile and airplane) literally was typographically arranging his Top: Fig. 82. Guillaume Apollinaire in Picasso's studio on
transformed perceptions about time and calligrammes to create abstract patterns boulevard de Clichy in Paris, ca. 1910, probably
photographed by the artist. Archives Picasso, Pans.
space and made a reality of the and simple graphic images (see fig. 84);
22
simultaneity of experience. The Eiffel this exploitation of the visual and Bottom: Fig. 83. Sonia Terk Delaunay, design for

Tower, itself a feat of modern grammatical possibilities of poetry to Blaise Cendrars s La Prose du Transsiberien el de la Petite

Jehanne de France, published in France by Pochoir in 1913.

engineering used for radio transmission, reflect those ideas being explored in Spencer Collection. The New York Public Library,
was a soaring testimony to modernity paint is reflective of the deep bond Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. ©ARS. New
York ADAGP. Pans.
and was celebrated by artists such as between artists and writers of this
2S
Delaunay, Marc Chagall, the Futurists, generation.
and poets Apollinaire and Blaise Perhaps one of the greatest models of
Cendrars. As Stephen Kern writes in simultaneity of the period is the
The Culture of Time and Space i88o-ipi8, Cubism of Braque and Picasso. Cubism
"The present was no longer limited to embodied simultaneity in its
one event in one place, sandwiched juxtaposition of multiple views of an
tightly between past and future and object in a single image, as if the artist

1912 1 1
 has moved completely around
subject and reconstructed all
views into one on the flat plane of the
picture surface. Also prevalent in the
masterful canvases of 1911 and 1912, the
apogee of Analytic Cubism, is
tension established between the
<&2 (• -V.^C-3
simultaneous plasticity of the subject
and the flatness of the picture plane. In
works such as The Poet (August 1911,
r'EU~.e/«A*C' C^J * plate 25), Picasso portrayed the figure
facte*--
faceted into small planes in order to
definevolume more vividly and at the
rjt>'
t same time to relate his subject more
firmly to the flat picture plane.
Plasticity emerged both from shading
and from the rhythms created by the
abutment of adjacent flat paint marks.
< i* ' ,<»*.
In order to keep his depicted objects
v /
anchored to the picture plane, he also
MCMXKt fractured the backgrounds into small
planes, and confined his palette to small
Fig. 84. Guillaume Apollinaire, frontispiece of touches of ochers, browns, and grays
Calligrammes: Poemes de la patx
published in Pans in 1917.
et de la guerre (ipij—ipitf) ,
that blurred — but did not obliterate
distinctions of form and setting. By
1912, Picasso's figures were barely
decipherable within his compositions of
fragmented rectilinear and curvilinear
forms, leading to conclusions that
would open a new chapter in the
evolution of Cubism.
In Paris through the Window
plate 27), Chagall accounts not only for
that which is seen but also for that
which is remembered or associated
through physical or psychological
relation. The simultaneous indoor and
outdoor views in the flattened picture
space, the two-headed man who
two directions at once, and the
Chagallian device of the composite
figure — here a human-faced cat
of discontinuity and coexistence.
Chagall moved to Paris in 1910,
there he was closely associated with
Robert Delaunay and Apollinaire.
Apollinaire described Chagall's Cubist-
influenced works of 1911— 13, in which he
joined together elements of his Russian-
Jewish heritage with more specifically
French references, as surnaturel in their
temporal and spatial relationships.
Perhaps the most prominent
application of simultaneity in painting
is in the work of Delaunay, who evolved
a style of painting that he called
Simultanisme and claimed was a
118 Art of This Century
his aesthetic system representative of our
26
of these epoch." Two of Delaunay 's most
important subjects prior to 1912 were
the Eiffel Tower (for example,
plates 31—33) and the city, both favorite
the literary and artistic symbols for
simultaneous experience in their
embodiment of the dynamism of
modern life. In his City (La Ville)
paintings of 1911-12 (for example, plates
29—30), Delaunay treated each canvas
primarily as a vehicle for experiments in
constructive color. He introduced in
them checkerboard zones of color
applied with a pointillist brushstroke,
as well as semitransparent planes of pure
color that would become the hallmark
of his next major stylistic advance.
In April 1912, around the time of
Klee's visit to Delaunay on Kandinsky's
recommendation, Delaunay embarked
on a new series of Window paintings.
These works were groundbreaking for
their unprecedented emphasis on color
suffused with light as the sole means of
pictorial construction. Delaunay based
his experiments on the work of color
theorist Michel-Eugene Chevreul, who,
in The Principles of Harmony and Contrast
of Colors (De la loi des contrastes simultanees
des couleurs, 1839), outlined a system that
(1913, became fundamental to Georges Seurat
and his colleagues. Delaunay focused in
these paintings on the simultaneous
interaction of juxtaposed colors. "At this
time, I had ideas about a kind of
painting which would exist only
through color —chromatic contrasts
looks in developing in temporal sequence yet
simultaneously visible. I borrowed
Chevreul's scientific term: 'simultaneous
—speak contrasts.'
" 1?
Simultaneous Windows {2nd Motif,
and 1st Part) (191 2, plate 34) and Windows
Open Simultaneously ( is t Part, 3rd Motif)
two of his
(1912, plate 35) represent
twenty-two versions of this theme.
Echoing the multipaned structure of
windows, the artist fuses inside and
outside in a continuum of color planes.
Rhythmically alternating between
opaque and transparent, light and dark,
the zones of color are meant to be
perceived simultaneously and as such
create both the image and space of these
compositions. Although one can discern
"new vestiges of the triangular form of the
Plate 25. Pablo Picasso, The Poet (Le Poete), August 1911.
Oil on canvas, 131. 2 x 89.5 cm (51 V% x 35 V, inches). Peggy
Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 pgi.
Plate 26. Georges Braque, The Clarinet (La Clarinette),
summer-autumn 1912. Oil with sand on oval canvas, 91.4 x
64.5 cm (36 x 25 Vs inches). Peggy Guggenheim Collection
76.2553 PG 7 .
Eiffel Tower in the first painting, these similarities to Delaunay's Eiffel Towers in
works are not meant to be descriptive or its predominant vertical axis; it also
symbolic of the natural world. Instead, foreshadows upward thrust the
in its

they are about pure optical experience. interlocking curved planes of Nude
In Delaunay's words, "I have dared to Model in the Studio (1912-13, plate 37). In
create an architecture of color, and have the Contrast of Forms series, begun in the

hoped to realize the impulses, the state latter half of 1912, Leger for the first time
of a dynamic poetry while remaining eliminates the distinction between
completely within the painterly representational and nonrepresentational
medium, free from all literature, from in favor of an active surface pattern of
" ;K
all descriptive anecdote. The oval contrasting circular and geometric
shape of the Peggy Guggenheim shapes. Though verging on abstraction,
Collection canvas (plate 35) dramatically the hierarchical arrangement of forms
presages the development of circularity still contains vague suggestions of
in Delaunay's oeuvre. By 1913, he would external references.
begin his circular compositions, in At a lecture held in conjunction with
which the representation of universal the Section d'or exhibition, Apollinaire
motion was depicted through spinning coined the term Orphism to describe
orbs of color and light. the works of Delaunay, Duchamp,
Delaunay proposed a dynamic art Leger, and Picabia, all of whom he
because light, in its constant movement claimed were moving toward "pure
29
and change, produces color shapes. painting." Encouraged by requests
Conversely, he believed that certain from Kandinsky, Delaunay accompanied
combinations of colors, in harmonic his new pictorial experiments with two
contrast with each other, can reproduce theoretical essays written between the
this movement of light. The viewer summer and fall of 1912, "Light"
would then apprehend the direct ("La Lumiere") and "Note on the
pictorial effect of color and light in a Construction of the Reality of Pure
single instant, as a single experience, Painting" ("Note sur la construction de
simultaneously. la realite de la peinture pure"). The
The Puteaux circle, supported by the former was sent to Klee, who translated
writings of Gleizes and Metzinger, were it and published it in Der Sturm, while
bound and practice to
in their theory the latter was edited by Apollinaire for
seek a "dynamism of form" in contrast the December issue of Les Soirees de
to the more static compositions of Paris."Note on the Construction of the
Braque and Picasso. Leger's works Reality of Pure Painting" drew heavily
demonstrate a close affinity to on Leonardo's treatises, providing the
Delaunay's dynamic interpretation of theoretical basis for Delaunay's
Cubism; he, too, shared the similar goal abstraction as well as the source for
of creating an autonomous picture Apollinaire 's own
on Orphism and
ideas
structure. pictorial simultaneity. This
is only one

In a densely structured, important instance in which Delaunay and

transitional work, The Smokers Apollinaire found mutual inspiration in
(December 1911—January 1912, plate 36), each other's work. Delaunay's essays
Leger adopts Delaunay's device of the manifest strong poetic affinities to
picture plane as a window looking out Apollinaire in form and style, whereas
onto the cityscape, which multiple
in Apollinaire wrote one of his most
viewpoints of figure and setting, renowned poems, "Windows" ("Les
foreground and background, are deeply Fenetres"), based on Delaunay's
interpenetrated. Interpretations vary as paintings of that theme:
to whether Leger is representing two
figures or two different phases of Oh Paris
movement of a single figure, but in From red to green all the yellow languishes
spite of the ambiguity the effect of Paris Vancouver Hyeres Maintenon
movement is obvious, reinforced by the New York and the Antilles
ascension of sculptural billows of The window is opening like an orange
'"
smoke. The painting reveals further The beautiful fruit of light

1912 121
Left: Plate 27. Marc Chagall, Paris through the Window
(Parts par la fenetre), 1913. Oil on canvas, 135.8 x 141. 4 cm
(53/1 x 55 Y> inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Gift, Solomon R. Guggenheim 37.438.

Above: Plate 28. Marc Chagall, The Soldier Drinks

(Le Soldat boit), 1911-12. Oil on canvas, 109. 1 x 94.5 cm (43 x
37 V4 inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 49.1211.
Left: Plate 30. Robert Delaunay, The City (La Vi//e\ 1911.
Oil on canvas, 145 x 112 cm (57 '/i6
44 '/% inches). Solomon
x
R. Guggenheim Museum, Gift, Solomon R. Guggenheim
38.464.

Above: Plate 29. Robert Delaunay, Window on the City

No. _j (La Fenetre sur la ville no. }), 1911-12. Oil on canvas,
113.7 x 130.8 cm (44 '/« x 51 'A inches). Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum 47.878.
 If N,
jr
'-
4

i\
iM
*V
K
K®

fc' f

> I 1
1
k. I'll 1

h llj
ZrWk 1
. 1
1 p 1 1 1 f il

t 1

Plate 31 Robert Delaunay, Eiffel Tower with Trees

.
)dlJ'4**-<JVf>l*\
Plate 33. Robert Delaunay, Red Eiffel Tower
{Tour Eiffel aiix arhres), summer 1910. Oil on canvas,
(La Tour rouge), 1911-12. Oil on canvas, izj x 90.3 cm
126.4 x 9 2 -8 cm (49 V4 x 36 'A inches). Solomon R.
Plate 32. Robert Delaunay, Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel), (49 '/4 x 35 >/g inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Guggenheim Museum 46.1035.
1911. Oil on canvas, 202 x 138.4 cm (79 %x 54 '/• inches). 46.1036.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Gift, Solomon R.
Guggenheim 37.463.
 "*hs
n V I

r •

T
1
1 I •> «

Plate 35. Robert Delaunay, Window* Open

Simultaneously (1st Purl, }rd Molt/) (Penetres ouvertes

§ f simiiltanement { l" ptirtie, )' motif}), 1912.

Oilon oval canvas, 57 x 123 cm (22 '/» x 48 '/i inches).
Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PC36.

Plate 34. Robert Delaunay, Simultaneous Windows

1 2nd Motif, 1st Purl) (Les Penetres simiiltune'es
{2' motif, 1" partie}), 1912. Oil on canvas, 55.2 x 46.3 cm
(21 V« x 18'/, inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Gift, Solomon R. Guggenheim 41.464a.
Left: Plate 36. Fernand Leger, The Smokers (Les Fumeurs),

December 1911-January 1912. Oil on canvas, 129.2 x 96.5 cm

(50 7/8 x 38 inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Gift, Solomon R. Guggenheim 38.521.

Above: Plate 37. Fernand Leger, Nude Model in

the Studio (Le Modele nu dans I atelier), 1912-13. Oil on burlap,
cm (50 V% x 37 Vi inches). Solomon
127.8 x 95.7 R.
Guggenheim Museum 49.1193.
 The search for a pictorial expression of memories of past and present events and
simultaneity was perhaps best realized phenomena. The debate did not end
by the Futurists, who extended the there, however. The Futurists, in
notion temporally so that successive seeking to repudiate the political
stages of movement were seen ineffectuality of earlier art, lambasted
simultaneously, or so that successions of the classicism and "obstinate
events were collapsed into a single attachment to the past" of the French
image. Celebrating the machine, the artists, while Apollinaire, stubbornly

city,and the speed, force, and energy of upholding a nationalism that persisted
modern life in a burgeoning industrial despite the melting pot that Paris had
age, the Futurists used what they called become, proclaimed Futurism an
"force-lines" to depict the trajectory awkward Italian imitation of Fauvism
created by the movement of an object, and Cubism.
of light, or of sound, or even the way an Like the Futurists, Duchamp had
object would decompose according to been involved since the previous year
the tendencies of its forces. They with portraying successive images of a
revealed the essential dynamic sensation figure in motion, culminating in the
of being, in works such as Giacomo famous Nude Descending a Staircase
Balla's Abstract Speed + Sound (1913— 14, (No. 2) (1912, now in the collection of
plate 39), a brightly colored the Philadelphia Museum of Art). In
composition on the theme of a speeding two important studies, including Nude
racing car. {Study), Sad Young Man on a Train
One of the most explicit articulations (1911-12, plate 38X
32
Duchamp
of Futurist principles and the concept of encompasses both the forward motion of
simultaneity was espoused by Boccioni the train and that of the figure itself
in his introduction to the 1912 Futurist (identified by Duchamp as a self-
exhibition catalogue at Galerie portrait). On the surface, the work
Bernheim-Jeune in Paris: seems to borrow elements from Analytic
Cubism, Futurism, and
The simultaneousness of states of mind in the chronophotography. However, in a later
work of art: thatis the intoxicating aim of interview, Duchamp minimized the
our art. . . . In order to make the spectator relationship to Futurism, stating that
live in the center of the picture, as we express "my interest in painting the Nude
it in our manifesto, the picture must be the {Descending a Staircase (No. 2)} was
o/what one remembers and of
synthesis closer to the Cubists' interest in
what one sees. 31
decomposing forms than to the
Futurists' interest in suggesting
Boccioni's Technical Manifesto of Futurist movement, or even to Delaunay 's
Sculpture also first appeared in the Simultanist suggestions of it. My aim
catalogue of this exhibition, which was a static representation of
included fellow Milanese artists Carlo movement — a static composition of
Carra and Luigi Russolo as well as indications of various positions taken by
resident Parisian Severini. a form in movement —with no attempt
Delaunay strenuously objected to to give cinema effects through
what the Futurists called "the painting painting."' 3
The work's perceived
of states of mind," fueling an existing radicality was also due to the fact that
polemic between the Cubists and their the nude had been excluded as a
Italian counterparts. Drawing legitimate theme by the Cubists
inspiration from Bergson, Delaunay because it was not considered part of the
emphasized the dynamic fluxing quality iconography of modern life; in an ironic
of existence, which could be portrayed twist, Duchamp returns the nude to the
through the simultaneity of contrasting liturgy in his own rejection of
colors on a painting's surface. The traditional subject matter.
Futurists upheld a somewhat different Apart from Nude Descending a Staircase
interpretation of Bergson, emphasizing (No. 2), 191 2was a pivotal year in
how the mind gathers together diverse Duchamp's career, in particular because
experiences, merging successive he abandoned traditional painting

130 Art of This Century

Plate 38. Marcel Duchamp, Nude (Study). Sad Young Man
on a Train (Nu {esquisse}. jeune homme triste dans un train),
1911-12. Oil on cardboard, mounted on Masonite, 100 x

73 cm (39 Vs x 28 VA inches). Peggy Guggenheim Collection

76.2553 PG9.
Left: Plate 39. Giacomo Balla, Abstract Speed + Sound
(Velocita astratta * rumore), 1913-14. Oil on board, 54.5 x

76.5 cm (21 '/: x 30 '/» inches), including artist's painted

frame. Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PC.31.

Above: Plate 40. Gino Severini, Sea = Dancer

(Mare = Ballerina), January 1914. Oil on canvas, 105.3 x

85.9 cm (41 '/: x 33 "/16 inches), including artist's painted

frame. Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG32.

thereafter in favor of more experimental still tied to the artist's atelier, is made Top left: Plate 41. Mikhail Larionov, I 191]
Oil on 1 tnvi <,.,n K
art forms, including mechanical even more explicit by the inclusion of
, 1
1".'

drawings and Ready-mades." He was, in typography. The- p. tinted letters arc-

Bottom left: Plate 42. Kazimir Malevich,
1912, an active participant in the Cubist neither in front of nor behind the I

circle around his brothers in Puteaux, illusionistic surface; rather, their • uivu, 80.8 x 80.7 cm Mi . x 31 . in. bet) Solomon K
nil Musi inn 5Z.I327.
and he visited the Futurist exhibition at position serves to define the actual two-
Galerie Bernheim-Jeune on several dimensional picture plane. They exist as
occasions. However, neither Cubism nor elements in and of themselves, not
Futurism were ultimately extreme subject to pictorial distortion. And
enough for Duchamp, who wanted "to beyond that, the letters serve an
get away from the physical aspect of associative value, providing clues to the
painting" and "to put painting once reconstruction of the subject of the
again at the service of the mind."" His painting.
early association with Picabia also dates Braque's and Picasso's practice of
from this period, and the challenging incorporating lettering or words into
stance they took anticipated the official their works conveys a touch of the
founding of Dada in 1916. personal, humorous, or even political,
The Dada movement would have been importing a new level of reality to their
unthinkable without the invention of canvases. Similarly, the inclusion of
collage in 1912. While 1912 marked the tangible elements of everyday reality
end of a long evolutionary phase of onto the surface of the canvases — scraps
Cubism, it was also the year that of newspaper, tickets, labels, and
ushered in a critical new phase of the cigarette wrappers — also made specific
Cubist aesthetic, which would references to the period and, in
culminate in the development of particular, to events of popular culture.
Synthetic Cubism. The first appearance The invention of collage in 1912, and its

of collage in Picasso's oeuvre was Still further development by Braque brought

Life with Chair Caning (now in the the artists a step closer to the idea of
collection of the Musee Picasso, Paris, integral instead of disintegrated forms.
fig. 78), executed in May of that year; in The use of passage, one of the hallmarks
September, Braque glued imitation of Analytic Cubism, gave way to
wood-grain wallpaper to his drawings, contrast. A breakdown in sculptural
thus creating the first papiers colles illusion gave way to an increase in
(for example, fig. 80). sculptural presence. It is indeed one of
Braque's The Clarinet (summer- the seemingly contradictory
autumn 1912, plate 26), is the implications of collage that it

Guggenheim work that best exemplifies immediately led in two directions — to

several of the tremendous innovations of the flattened space of Synthetic Cubist
this transitional stage of Cubism. Most painting and to relief sculpture.
salient among these is the use of the Breaking with the monolithic
trompe-l'oeil technique of painted tradition of carved or modeled
imitation wood graining. In addition, sculpture, Picasso advanced the notion
the stenciled lettering, oval format, and of collage into relief in his cardboard,
the incorporation of sand into the paint string, and wire Guitar (now in the
are all devices that subtly define spatial collection of the Museum of Modern
relationships. In this painting, the Art, New York) sometime in the spring
picture plane is noticeably shallower of 1912."' This construction was not
than the densely penetrated space of predicated on a volumetric conception,
Braque's canvases of the previous year. but rather on the juxtaposition of
The compositional planes also fall into a almost entirely flat metal shapes, with
roughly parallel alignment with the varying degrees of shallow space
picture plane, suggesting the new order between them.
and simplification that would emerge in Although it was a short-lived
Synthetic Cubism's spatially phenomenon, planar sculpture was
compressed, flat, and unmodulated variously interpreted by artists in
shapes and areas of bright color. France, Italy, and Russia. Drawing on
The iconography, much of which is Picasso's achievement, those artists all

1912 135
 employed a simple vocabulary of extension of objects into space
geometric forms and a means of "palpable, systematic, and plastic,"
describing volume through intersecting because "no one can any longer believe
planes. Their work, drawing on that an object ends where another
everyday rather than precious materials, begins."' 9
was rough at the edges, almost The Futurists found in the collages
makeshift, and not meant to endure. and constructions of Picasso the means
In Paris, the mixed-media by which to express their belief in the
constructions of Archipenko, Henri ideas of the modern world, and in this
Laurens, and Jacques Lipchitz reflected respect so did the artists of the Russian
the impact of Cubism. In 1912, echoing avant-garde. In 1913, after having seen
Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase Picasso's work in Paris, Vladimir Tatlin
(No. 2), Archipenko began to explore began to make his first abstract
the theme of a figure in motion in a painterly reliefs in Moscow out of
small group of mixed-media metal, glass, and wood, pushing to its

constructions based on the female logical extreme the idea of Cubist

jugglers and dancers of the Cirque collage.
Medrano. Medrano I (now destroyed),
constructed of wood and glass, was A dizzying succession of events in 1912
dated 1912, although it may not have would herald an equally momentous
Plate 43. Alexander Archipenko, Medrano II, 1913-14?.
Painted tin, wood, glass, and painted oilcloth, 126.6 x 51.5 x been begun until the following year. A year in 1913. But for the continuation of
31.7 cm (49 7« x 20 % x 12 Vi inches). Solomon R. controversial piece in its time, it forced this story, one must look beyond Paris.
Guggenheim Museum 56.1445.
the resignation of Apollinaire from his Whereas Seuphor recognized that "1912
post at L'Intransigeant, when he was is the most Parisian moment in

criticized for hailing this work in a painting," developments in other

review of the 19 14 Salon des independants capitals were equally significant and
as a "most innovative and graceful revolutionary in the movements they
exhibit. "'~ Two days later, the newspaper provoked. As we have seen, 1912 in Paris
carried a front-page illustration of represented both an apogee and a crisis

Medrano I with the following caption: point — perhaps the most drastic
"We reproduce here the photograph of consequence being the development of
the work of art (?) praised elsewhere in collage, which opened to artists
this issueby our collaborator Guillaume everywhere a wide range of aesthetic
Apollinaire, who assumes sole strategies that changed the course of art
responsibility for his opinion.
,(
in the twentieth century. The year 1912
Medrano II (1913-14?, plate 43) is made in Munich and Moscow represents an
of painted tin, wood, glass, and painted equally significant turning point, the
The combination of
oilcloth. eve of an all-important breakthrough to
unorthodox materials pays heed to abstraction, the consequences of which
Boccioni's 1912 manifesto, while the would also be revolutionary for the art
vocabulary of tubular cone-shaped forms of this century. While the orientation
recalls Leger's volumes. Against a two- toward non-objective art was a rather
dimensional rectangular backdrop, the widespread and simultaneous
figure is given a sense of three- development in several countries, many
dimensionality in a play of solids and of its first manifestations appeared
voids, volumes and flatness. outside of Paris in 1913.
Archipenko, who was living in Paris in To return to the notion of
this period, had remained in close simultaneity, one need only look at a
contact with his Russian compatriots, particular month, specifically March
and the structuring of space and use of 1912, when three exhibitions were held
polychromy clearly make reference to that testify both to the radicality of the
the icon painting of his native country. moment and the rich cross-fertilization
Boccioni, too, began to make of the These exhibitions
arts. the Salon —
sculptures in 1912. True to the precepts second
des independants in Paris, the
he espoused, these works consist of a showing of the Blue Rider in Munich,
medley of incongruous elements, which and The Donkey's Tail in Moscow
he used in his attempts to make his shared a number of common

1 36 A >:'
of This Century
Plate 44. Alexander Archipenko, Carrousel Pierrot, 1913.
cm (24 x 19
Painced plaster, 61 x 48.6 x 34 '/« x 13 V% inches).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 57.1483.
 '

contributors of all nationalities.' Yet depicting the spatial forms that arose Top left: Plate 45. Piet Mondrion.
/'«/ / (S////.1. •

they demonstrate the different types of from the intersection of the reflected
solomon K I

pictorial revolutions that arose out of rays of different obje< ts.

the different social and political Malevich's early works were also rh< v
climates from which they were born. heavily influenced by those same Bottom left: Plate 46. Piet Mondrion, SHU I ij

InMoscow, the Donkey's Tail was Western European sources. His Cubo- II iStillnm M'.' G 1911 12 Oil on
canvas, 91.5 s .,„ k
organized by a group of artists whose Futurist style of 1912, typified by ;
'inn,

mission was to declare an

it Morning in the Village after Snowstorm IK' 11 igu l in \r iiu rjan I

independent Russian school to displace (plate 42), recalls Legcr's paintings of

the European dominance in avant-garde the period, which Malevich could have-
art. The association was formed in known from an exhibition of work by
reaction to the Jack of Diamonds the French master held in Moscow in

exhibitions, which first took place in February 1912, or through

1910 (bringing together contemporary reproductions. But the geometricized
works by French, German, and images of peasants, depicted as solid,
Russian artists, such as Gleizes and tubular figures set in the deep landscape
Le Fauconnier, Kandinsky and Alexei space of a Russian village, and the non-
Jawlensky, and Larionov and naturalistic metallic color and light, are
Goncharova) and then in January 1912 not yet completely disassociated from
(featuring works by Erich Heckel, Ernst his Neo-Primitive style.
Ludwig Kirchner, and Max Pechstein, "In 1913, trying desperately to liberate
and a larger contingent of Parisians, art from the ballast of the
including Braque and Leger). Because of representational world, I sought refuge

the prominence and attention given to in the form of the square," 4 Malevich
'

French art, Larionov and Goncharova recalled, referring to his painting of a

withdrew their entries from the second black square on a white ground — the
exhibition, and founded the Donkey's purest and most radically abstract
Tail,whose 1912 exhibition consisted of painting created up to that date. 42 So
307 works by themselves, Chagall, marked the beginnings of the stylistic
Malevich, Tatlin, and minor members of and theoretical development of what
the Moscow avant-garde. Similar to the became known in 1915 as Suprematism,
furious storm of criticism unleashed a pure abstract formal language based
against the Cubists in their first group on geometry, which sought to express a
showing — in Salle 41 of the 1911 Salon universal cosmic order (see, for example,
des independants — the public reaction to plate 67).
this new was one of intense
art In this period, Kandinsky, too, strove
indignation and derision. Many works to reach a point "at which the human
were in fact censured and confiscated. state of being touches the more
Although the Russians assimilated universal cosmic order." 41 It was
the new artistic ideas advanced in Kandinsky 's conviction that art was the
Western Europe by the Cubists and embodiment of the spirit. He believed
Futurists, they also drew on traditional that the purpose of the highest art was
sources such as folk art and icon to express inner truth, and that this
painting in order to create "a native could only be achieved by moving away
modern idiom" to reflect the social, from the representation of the objective
political, and aesthetic preoccupations world. The process that carried
of their age. Larionov's short-lived but Kandinsky into the realm of the non-
important Rayist style of 1912-13 drew objective was a long and thoughtful one
together elements of Impressionist that he began in Murnau in 1908, and
depiction of light, Cubist fracturing, he reached his goal with the completion
and Futurist lines of force. Like of his great Improvisations and
contemporaneous art movements, Compositions between 1910 and the
Rayism called for the depiction of outbreak of World War I.
44

simultaneous motion, of dynamism, and An active time for Kandinsky, this

of the speed of the urban world. Yet in phase was devoted to the preparation
works such as Glass (1912, plate 41) and publication of The Blue Rider
Larionov was especially focused on Almanac and his book On the Spiritual in

1912 1 39
Plate 47. Piet Mondrian, The Sea, 1914. Charcoal and
gouache on paper, mounted on panel; paper: 87.6 x 120.3 cm
(34 'A x 47 */s inches); panel: 90.2 x 123 x 1.3 cm
(35 '/; x 48 V% x 'A inches). Peggy Guggenheim Collection
76.2553 PG38.
 1

Art. In December 1911, after resigning naturalism in Cubist practice. Two

from the NKVM, Kandinsky, Alfred paintings in the Guggenheim's
Kubin, Marc, and Gabriele Miinter collection demonstrate the dramatic
formed the Blue Rider. The group's first impact that Paris in 1912 had on his
exhibition was held that month at the development. In Still Life with Ginger
Moderne Galerie Thannhauser, Pot I (1911—12, plate 45), a work that
including the work of Robert Delaunay, Mondrian began in the Netherlands and
Kandinsky, Macke, Marc, and Rousseau. finished in Paris, objects that relate to
The show traveled to Cologne, Berlin his atelier are still identifiable, and light
(where Herwarth Walden added works and shading are naturalistic. In
by Klee and Jawlensky), Bremen, remaining securely attached to external
Hagen, and Frankfurt. The second reality, the painting is traditional in
exhibition, in 1912, again featured an appearance; indeed, its iconography
international roster, including Braque, relates it to seventeenth-century Dutch
Delaunay, Goncharova, Klee, Larionov, still lifes. However, Mondrian has
Malevich, and Picasso. begun to cautiously organize his
In On the Spiritual in Art, Kandinsky composition in a manner that
describes his Improvisations of 1911— 13 as approaches Cubist practice. In the
"chiefly unconscious, for the most part second version, Still Life with Ginger
suddenly arising expressions of events of Pot II (1911-12, plate 46) —which he
an inner character, hence impressions of painted when he had become firmly
'internal nature.'"
45
Improvisation 28 entrenched in the Parisian scene — the
(second version) (1912, plate 22) contains sense of volume and the realistic scale of
barely discernible references to certain objects, as well as the local functions of
recurrent motifs of the folk-inspired contour and structure seen in the first
Blue Rider period — horses, riders, version, are gone. The focus on the
cannons, and castles —although these linear structure of the composition is

are peripheral to the inner meaning of greatly intensified: around the now
the work, which has frequently been truncated shape of the ginger pot,
interpreted as a diptych with Mondrian has built a schematic network
cataclysmic events on one side and a of predominantly straight lines in
paradise of spiritual salvation on the which the strictly balanced horizontals
other. The year 1913 was for Kandinsky, and verticals dominate.
as itwas for Malevich, a period of Although Mondrian undermined
breakthrough to truly non-objective sculptural tendencies and distilled the
painting, in which his theory of horizontal and vertical components of
correspondences between emotional his subject matter in this important
experience and the formal elements of work of 1912, his first strides in the
colors, forms, lines, and sounds reached development out of Cubism and toward
46
its true fruition. a truly nonrepresentational art were not
A discussion of the emergence of begun until the following year. It is in
abstractionwould not be complete his Pier and Ocean series (for example,
without returning to Mondrian, who we plate 47), begun in 1914 after Mondrian
left in Paris at the threshold of 1912. returned to the Netherlands, that all

Like the artists of the Puteaux circle, objective references have been
Mondrian assimilated the language of obliterated and all curved and diagonal
Cubism and made of it a style that was lines banished. Here, Mondrian's
singularly his own. Mondrian's subject is the internal geometry of
predisposition to the principles of Cubism: the linear grid functions not as
flatness, frontality, and geometric form an analytical tool, butas both motif and
were very much Dutch
a part of his pictorial structure. Using short
heritage.Unique to his engagement fragments of lines spread at fairly
with Cubism, however, was his regular intervals across the canvas,
subversion from the outset of its Mondrian has in essence abstracted the
sculptural qualities — its simultaneous Cubist grid and has made it alone the
oscillation between flatness and subject of the picture.
plasticity —which he saw as a residue of Apollinaire is the only major critic

1912 1 4
 who wrote specifically about Mondrian's
work during this period. In his review
of the 1913 Salon des independants, he
acknowledges the new direction that
Mondrian had taken away from Picasso
and Braque: "Mondrian, an offshoot of
the Cubists, is certainly not their
47
imitator." Apollinaire is prescient in
recognizing the profound scope of these
advances at the moment they were
occurring. What we see even more
clearly now by studying the
simultaneity of artistic phenomena in
this pivotal year of 1912 is that this was
indeed not a period marked by
imitation but rather a moment of
collaboration, interchange, synthesis,
and, above all, radical innovation at
every turn.

142 Art of This Century

 Notes

i. Michel Seuphor, Piet Mondrian: Life and Work Jail of Diamonds (Bubnoryi valet) exhibit ion the simultaneous a< tion of Dublin as .1 whole.
(New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1956), p. 95. opened in Moscow on January 12 and mi hided not .1 history of the 1 icy but a slue of it out of
works by Katulmsky, Braque, Delaunay, time, spatially extended and embodying its

2. Mondrian was invited to Paris by Conrad Leger, Picasso, Marc, Henri Matisse, and entire past in ,1 vast expanded present
Kikkert in December 1911, arrived in January 1 letin Le Fauconnier. Sh.ittiu k, p. 77.

1912, and established his permanent residence

there in May of that year. 11. Roger Sharruck, The Banquet Years: The 26. Robert Delaunay, /•>/< cubismt .1 1'art ah nan.
Origins of tin Aram Gardt /// Prance, i88$to World ed. by Pierre Francastel (Paris S I V I l
J
\
3. Seuphor, p. 96. War I (New York: Vintage Books, Random 1957), translated from the Frew h by the author
House, 1958; rev. ed., 1967), p. 28.

4. The 28 e Socie'te des artistes indipendattti was 27. Robert Delaunay in his notebook, 1912.
held at the Quai d'Orsay from March 20 to 12. Ib.d. quoted by Francois de la Tourette, Robert
May 16. The Salon de la section d'or was held at Delaunay (Pans C. Massin <V Cie 1950), p. . 17.
the Galerie de la Boetie (64 bis, rue La Boetie) 13. Leroy C. Breunig, "Introduction," in

from October 10 to 30. The Salon d'octobre was Breunig, ed., Apollinaire on Art: Essays and 28. Robert Delaunay, Du cubisnu a I'art abstrait,
held from October 1 to November 8. Reviews 1902-1918 by Guillaume Apollinaire p. 98. Quoted in Vriesen and Imdahl, p. 42.
(New York: Viking Press, 1972; Da Capo Press,

5. Les Peintres futuristes italiens {Italian Futurist 1988), p. xvii. 29. Although much has been written about thc
Painters) was held at Galerie Bernheim-Jeune emergence of abstraction in the works of
(15, rue Richepance) from February 5 to 24. It 14. Shattuck, p. 280. Delaunay and the Orphists, Spate is very clear
had an enormous impact on artists such as in making the distinction that "pure painting"
Marcel Duchamp and Fernand Leger. It 15.Stephen Kern, The Culture of Time and did not necessarily mean nonrepresentational
subsequently traveled to the Sackville Gallery, Space 1880- 1918 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard painting. Rather, it signified a type of painting
London, the Galerie Der Sturm, Berlin, and the University Press, 1983), p. 43. that had its own internally coherent structure
Galerie Georges Girous, Brussels. independent of naturalistic structural devices.
16. Christopher Gray, Cubist Aesthetic Theories See Spate, pp. 160—61.
6. This quote appeared in the first and only (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University
issue of the journal entitled La Section d'or, Press, 1953), p. 69. 30. Excerpted in Francis Steegmuller,
which accompanied the exhibition. Apollinaire. Poet among the Painters (New York:
17. Kern, p. 85. Farrar, Straus and Company, 1963), p. 241.
7. Umberto Boccioni, Manifesto tecnico della

scultura futurista, in Poesia, April 11, 1912, 18. Max Kozloff, Cubism/Futurism (New York: 31. In Herschel B. Chipp, Theories of Modern Art:
translated in the Metropolitan Museum Charterhouse, 1973), p. 121. A Source Book by Artists and Critics (Berkeley:
of Art, Umberto Boccioni, exh. cat. (New York: University of California Press, 1968;,
Harry N. Abrams, 1988I, p. 243. 19. Klaus Lankheit, Unteilbares Sein, Aquarelle pp. 295-96. Boccioni s triptych States of Mind
und Zeichnungen von Franz Marc (Cologne: (1911-12), which was shown in the Bernheim-
8. Duchamp recalled: "On the day before the M. DuMont, 1959), p. 19. Quoted in Gustav Jeune show in Paris, synthesizes the principles
opening Gleizes asked my brothers to go and Vriesen and Max Imdahl, Robert Delaunay: Light elucidated in this manifesto.
ask me at least to change the title because he and Color, trans, by Maria Pelikan (New York:
thought, after conferring with Delaunay, Harry N. Abrams, 1969), p. 50. 32. Duchamp's Nude (Study). Sad Young Man on
Le Fauconnier, and Metzinger, that it was not a Train is a complicated picture that raises
Cubistic in their sense. ... nude never A 20. There are three excellent and important manifold art-historical questions, not the least
descends the stairs — a nude
you know. reclines, discussions of simultaneity in this period, to of which is its relationship to Nude Descending a
Even their little revolutionary temple couldn't which many of the ideas here are indebted. They Staircase (No. 2), be it a sketch, study, or a
understand that a nude could be descending the are in Kern, Shattuck, and Virginia Spate, version thereof. Angelica Zander Rudenstine,
So I said nothing. I said all right, all
stairs. ... Orphism: The evolution of non-figurative painting in in Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Venice: The
right,and I took a taxi to the show and took my Paris 1910-1914 (New York: Oxford University Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (New York:
painting and took it away. So it never was Press, 1978; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979). Harry N. Abrams, 1985), accepts William
shown at the Independants of 1912, although it's Rubin's argument that Nude (Study) and
in the catalog." Quoted in William C. Seitz, 21. Spate, p. 20. another work, .\Wt (No. n. are two distinctly
"What's Happened to Art? . .
." (interview with different studies or explorations of the problem
Duchamp), Vogue, Feb. 15, 1963, pp. no— 13, 22. Shattuck, p. 314. of depicting motion. For a more detailed
129-31. Also quoted in Arturo Schwarz, The discussion of this debate, as well as other issues
Complete Works of Marcel Duchamp (New York: 23. Kern, p. 314. raised by this painting, see her analysis on
Harry N. Abrams, 1969), p. 16. pp. 261-68.
24. Ibid., p. 75.
9. Uber das Geistige in der Kunst was first 33. Marcel Duchamp, "Eleven Europeans in

published by Piper of Munich December in 25. James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) has been America," The Museum of Modern Art Bulletin 13,

1911, although it was dated 1912. The second recognized as the work that perhaps best nos. 4-5 (1946), pp. 19-20. Quoted in
edition was published in Munich in April 1912. epitomizes the expression of simultaneity in Rudenstine, p. 263.

(See Kandinsky in Munich: 1896-1914 [New York: literature, particularly as it applies to sequential
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1982], time. In abandoning causal sequence in favor of 34. The year 191 2 was also an important period
p. 30s.) a synchronicity of events in time and space, of travel for Duchamp, who visited Barcelona on
Joyce invites the reader to entertain the occasion of an exhibition of his work there,
10. The Donkey's Tail (Oslinyi khvost) opened in concurrently and without synthesis various and then Munich (where he painted The Passage
March at the Moscow College of Painting, contradictory propositions and events, from the Virgin to the Bride and The Bride), and
Sculpture, and Architecture. Also, the second improvising film "montage techniques to show finally Prague, Vienna, Dresden, and Berlin.

1912 1 43
 35- Schwarz, p. 18. Spirit: The Invention of Non-Object Art,
pp. 149-77 in this book.
36. Recent scholarship has established that
Picasso's papiers colles postdate his cardboard 47. Quoted in Breunig, p. 289.

constructions. For a complete discussion of the

dating of Guitar, see William Rubin, Picasso and
Braque: Pioneering Cubism, exh. cat. (New York:
The Museum of Modern Art, 1989), pp. 30-32.

37. Katherine Janszky Michaelsen, "Early

Mixed Media Constructions," Arts Magazine 50
(Jan. 1976), p. 72.

38. Ibid., p. 72.

39. Quoted in Chipp, p. 300.

40. For instance, Maurice de Vlaminck and

Delaunay exhibited in both the Salon des
independents and the Blue Rider exhibition;
Marc Chagall in the Salon des independents and
The Donkey's Tail; and Natalia Goncharova and
Kazimir Malevich in The Donkey's Tail and the
Blue Rider exhibition.

41. Kasimir [Kazimir] Malevich,

"Suprematism," in The Non-Objective World
(Chicago: Theobald, 1959), pp. 67—100,
paraphrased in Chipp, p. 342. Dmitrii
Sarabianov states: "We do not know exactly
when the first Suprematist paintings were
painted, including the Black Square, although
they were shown at the '0.10' exhibition in 1915.
However, one can hardly assume that all of
these works were painted on the eve of the
exhibition, so the date for Black Square is not
necessarily 1915, just as Malevich's own
designation of the year 1913 cannot be
considered definitive. On the other hand, the
date is not so very important when compared
with the revolution the Black Square brought
about" ("Kazimir Malevich and His Art,
1900-1930," in Kazimir Malevich, exh. cat.
[Leningrad: Russian Museum, 1988], p. 70).

42. Although Malevich here recalls the creation

of this painting as 1913, the dating
is by no

means certain,was definitely

although it

completed by December 1915, when it was

shown in the 0.10 exhibition.

43. Paul Vogt, "The Blaue Reiter," in

Expressionism: A German Intuition 1905- 1920,
(New York: The Solomon R.
exh. cat.
Guggenheim Foundation, 1980), p. 197.

44. Thomas M. Messer, "Introduction," in

Vivian Endicott Barnett, Kandinsky at the
(New York: Solomon R.
Guggenheim
Guggenheim Museum and Abbeville Press,
1983), P- 13-

45. Barnett, p. 26.

46. For a more complete discussion of the

invention of abstract art and the theories that
accompanied it, see "Technology Versus the

1 44 Art of This Century

Following two pages: Vasily Kandinslcy,
Dominant Curie. April 1936 (detail).
Plate 48. Vasily Kandinsky, Black Lines (Schwarze Linien),
December 1913. Oil on canvas, 129.4 x 131.I cm
(51 x 51 V« inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Gift, Solomon R. Guggenheim 37.241.
 )

Technology and the Spirit

The Invention of Non-Objective Art

Michael Govan

"Non-Objectivity will be the religion of treatise On the Spiritual in Art (I A/

the future,'' wrote Hilla Rebay in 1937, das Geisttge in iter Kunst, written 111 191 1

the year the Solomon R. Guggenheim became a guiding light for Rebay.
Foundation was chartered. "Very soon Guggenheim's collection grew to
the nations on earth will turn to it in include over two hundred of
thought and feeling and develop such Kandinsky's works; it also included
intuitive powers which lead them to several hundred example, plate 49)
(for
harmony."' Rebay, the artist and adviser by German painter Rudolf Bauer, a
who assembled Guggenheim's minor follower of Kandinsky who had
Modern art, had a
collection of zealous an intimate and influential relationship
faith in the power of non-objective with Rebay.
painting to transcend the boundaries of The term gegenstandslos (literally
language and experience. She "without object") was used in
encouraged her patron to establish a Kandinsky's writings and Bauer's many
museum unlike any other. In contrast to letters to Rebay. She translated it as
theMuseum of Modern Art, founded "non-objective," and tried to popularize
contemporaneously in New
York under the use of the term.' Purely non-
the direction of the erudite Alfred H. objective painting had a special
Barr, Jr. as an encyclopedic history of distinction for Rebay, as it did for
the Modern movement, Guggenheim's Kandinsky. It was only through the
museum was based on an idea: the rejection of representation — the
spiritually redemptive power of abstract renunciation of any vestiges of the
painting. exterior material world — that painting
With Rebay as its first director, the could at once access the depth of inner
Museum of Non-Objective Painting, as life and the height of the heavenly
the Guggenheim was then called, cosmos, thus inspiring the joy of
opened in 1939 in a former automobile spiritual life. She wrote: "This is what
showroom on East Fifty-fourth Street in these masterpieces in the quiet absolute
Manhattan. To heighten the lofty effect purity can bring to all those who learn Top: Fig. 85. Hilla Rebay in her Connecticut studio.
of the paintings, Rebay placed them in to feel their unearthly donation of rest,
Bottom: Plate 49. Rudolf Bauer, Inumti i ompositim
<
ft).
oversized frames and hung them low to elevation, rhythm, balance, and
1933. Oil on canvas, 130.5 x 130.5 cm (51 Mi x 51 V% inches)
the plush-carpeted floors on velour-
M
beauty.' Rebay dogma was
s pure. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Gift, Solomon R
Guggenheim 41.149.
curtained walls. The music of Bach and Sculpture was excluded from her canon
Beethoven was piped into the galleries because of its weighty and earthly
through a modern sound system, character — however, she granted an
accompanied by the scent of incense. exception to the work of Alexander
Rebay had an even more all- Calder, whose hanging mobiles
enveloping experience of art and eschewed the ground and bases
6
environment in mind when, in 1943, she traditional to that medium.
commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright Rebay 's and Kandinsky's quasi-
permanent building
to design a for religious sensibilities may seem naive to
the museum, one that would be "a the contemporary reader. Yet they
temple to non-objectivity." Wright's
2
capture the ambition of many artists
design — a single cantilevered spiral searching for a visual language that
ramp encircling a one-hundred-foot- could transcend the volatile and
tall atrium beneath a broad skylighted challenging cultural environment they
dome — offered a metaphor for the saw around them. Before abstraction,
abstract mysteries of natureand the photography had threatened to render
cosmos. The building's famous inverted painting altogether obsolete; the
ziggurat structure, which the architect Impressionists had already discarded the
described as "pure optimism,"' has rules of representational perspective for
become emblematic of the Utopian a more direct rendering of natural
ideals espoused by Rebay and phenomena; the Symbolists had
Guggenheim. emphasized the representation of an
Non-objective painting's most internal realm of emotions over that of a
articulateproponent was Russian-born more accessible visible world; and, with
painter Vasily Kandinsky. His seminal their invention of Cubism, Georges

Technology and the Spirit 1 49

 Braque and Pablo Picasso (both of (most notably Malevich), and while
whom never came to embrace the idea non-objectivity could certainly not be
of non-objective painting) had, almost characterized, as Rebay proposed, as
unwittingly, opened a door to a world of "the religion of the future," the idea of
visual imagery that had never before non-objective art did become the most
been seen. dominant and innovative force in
Around 1913, pure abstraction twentieth-century art. During and after
emerged and forever changed the course World War II, many of abstraction's
of art history. To study the moment of European champions, like the German
the invention of abstract painting is to Hans Hofmann, Mondrian, Moholy-
see both the world and the artists' Nagy, and the Russian brothers Antoine
Fig. 86. Vasily Kandinsky, "Diagram Point, 9 points in
Pevsner and Naum Gabo, emigrated to
3,

ascent (emphasis upon the diagonal d-a through weight)," from

Kandinsky 's Pimkt and Linie zu
perception of it undergoing convulsions
Fliiche (Point and Line to Plane). of mind and body. Modern painters the United States, where they
distorted, fractured, rearranged, and influenced a new generation of artists.
recolored the picture surface until it Encouraged by Rebay 's and
reemerged — no longer a Renaissance Guggenheim's crusade, as well as by
window on reality, but a vision unto exhibitions of European painting at the
itself as an object of contemplation and Museum of Modern Art and Peggy
psychological effect. Guggenheim's Art of This Century
Kandinsky 's paintings of 1913 reveal gallery, the Europeans helped create an
a transition from the use of recognizable atmosphere in New York City that
images to pure abstraction. For produced the Abstract Expressionists,
example, in Painting with White Border whose work most directly launched a
(plate 50) of May 1913, a central figure in new chapter in non-objective art (see
a landscape is identifiable, while Black "Art of This Century and the New York
December,
Lines (plate 48), painted in School," pages 221—52).
eludes such decoding. Although Black Yet for all of its influence, little
Lines was long considered the earliest effort has been made by art historians to
non-objective painting, no "first" examine the invention of abstraction
abstract painting can be identified as a through an analysis of the unique
model. The roots of abstraction are as cultural psychology of the twentieth
diverse as its manifestations. Non- century. By the late-nineteenth century,
objective painting emerged the world had been turned upside
simultaneously in Moscow, Paris, and down: the industrial revolution
the Netherlands, in each place with a promised the greatest change in human
different character. At first, abstraction life since the invention of agriculture;
developed among the ranks of the the theories of Engels and Marx
avant-garde. By the 1920s, however, suggested revolutionary social changes
some of its proponents found themselves to follow suit; and Nietzsche had
leading mainstream institutions. pronounced God dead. The dramatic
Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, and invention of abstract art —along with
other leaders of the Russian avant-garde the Utopian, spiritual, philosophical,
were placed in charge of schools and social theories that accompanied
intended to advance the ideals of the it — might be considered the single
October Revolution. In the most revealing insight into the radical
Netherlands, Piet Mondrian's theories changes that shaped twentieth-century
were spread through the publications of culture. Implicit in the leap from
the De Stijl group. And in Germany, at images representing natural appearance
the Bauhaus (founded by Walter to images of a non-objective sort is a
Gropius in 1919), Kandinsky taught his radical change in artists' philosophical
theories of abstraction, as did Swiss understanding of the world around
painter Paul Klee, Hungarian artist them. Why did these artists turn their
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and other major eyes away from visible phenomena?
proponents of the new style. What sparked that revolution in
While some of abstract art's pioneers thinking? And what can be revealed
returned to figurative and representative about the fundamental character of our
styles by the late 1920s and early 1930s century through an examination of the

1 50 Art of This Ct man

 "

invention of non-objective art? modern life. In more cerebral terms

Kandinsky's early writing, like that than Kandinsky, Mondrian des< ribed an
of many of his contemporaries, reveals abstract inner reality of mind:
the Modernists' preoccupation with
the distinction of their era and their Natural (external) things become more and
responsibility as artists to reject models more automatic, and we observe that our
of the past — to invent a new vital attention fastens more and more on
vocabulary of forms to express their internal things. The life of the truly modern
world view. Ironically, the search for man is neither purely materialistic nor

new forms began not with an embrace pi/rely emotional. It manifests itself rather as

of the aesthetic of the new industrial a more autonomous life of the human mind
age, but rather with a kind of becoming conscious itself.

regression:Kandinsky wrote of being Fig. 87. Pic-t Mondrian in medication, 1909.

"in sympathy" spiritually "with the Mondrian, whose own non-objective art
Primitives. "~ Much has been written emerged around 1913, developed a
about the influence around the turn of systematic language of abstraction that
the century of "primitive" forms of art has become, more than any other,
on the advent of Modernism, especially synonymous with the reductivist
in the work of Constantin Brancusi, aesthetic we associate with Modernism.
Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Picasso, Constraining the elements of line and
the German Expressionists, and the color to essential ingredients — black
Russian Primitivists. Brancusi's carved- horizontal and vertical lines on a white
wood sculptures (see fig. 10) provide ground bounding rectangular fields of
compelling testament to the inspiration the primary colors red, yellow, and
"primitive" art played in reshaping the blue —Mondrian sought to represent
visual language of Modern art. "Like the essence of reality rather than its

ourselves," explained Kandinsky, the particular natural appearance. He wrote:

"primitives" "sought to express in their
work only internal truths, renouncing To love things in reality is to love them
in consequence all consideration of profoundly: it is to see them as a microcosmos
8
external form." in the macrocosmos. Only in this way can
Kandinsky's turn inward was an one achieve a universal expression of reality.
essential step in the development of his Precisely on account of its profound love for
non-objective painting; this direction things, nonfigurative art does not aim at
was anticipated in the work of the rendering them in their particular
"
Symbolist painters, like Gauguin, who appearance.
separated fields of color from descriptive
function to express an emotional Mondrian 's search for pure essential
presence beyond the representation of forms might be likened to Plato's
nature. According to Symbolist poet parable of the cave, in which cave
Gustave Kahn, writing in 1886, "the dwellers see only shadows of the real
essential aim of our art is to objectify forms of the world outside, as in our
the subjective (the externalization of the world we see only particular
Idea) instead of subjectifying the manifestations projected from the realm
objective (nature seen through the eyes of universal forms beyond. Plato's
of a temperament). Thus we carry the philosophy of universal forms was also
analysis of the Self to the extreme, we an important source for artists of the
let the multiplicity and intertwining of Renaissance, who (not unlike Mondrian)
rhythm harmonize with the measure of were trying to reconcile in an aesthetic
1

the Idea." As Gauguin had sought

'
theory the particular imperfections of
refuge in Tahiti from a dehumanized our earthly existence with their faith in
material world, Kandinsky sought inner a perfect universal truth. Mondrian
life as an alternative to the "nightmare revised Renaissance aesthetics that were
of materialism"
10
of themodern world. "Neoplatonic" with his own theory of
Mondrian, the Dutch pioneer of non- the "Neo-Plastic," in which he also
objective painting, shared Kandinsky's tried to give visible form to the
concern for an inner, and abstract, invisible ideal structures of nature.

Technology and the Spirit 151

Plate 50. Vasily Kandinsky, Painting with White Border
(Bild mit weissem Rand), May 1913. Oil on canvas, 140.3 x
200.3 cm (55^4 x 78% inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum, Gift, Solomon R. Guggenheim 37.245.
Plate 5 1 . Vasily Kandinsky, Dominant Curie {Courbe
Jommante), April 1936. Oil on canvas, 129.4 x 194.2 cm
(50% x 76/2 inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
45.989.
ooo
Plate 52. Vasily Kandinsky, Several Circles (Eimge Krase),
January-February 1926. Oil on canvas, 140.3 x 140.7 cm
(55/4 x 55 Y% inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Gift, Solomon R. Guggenheim 41.283.
 —

Mondrian cried to synthesize the modern technology.

cultures and
microcosmos and the macrocosmos, the Mimicking Rutherford's atomic science,
inner and the beyond, in one universal, Leaclbeater's occult science explained
plastic language. that substances known as elements, like-

oxygen or hydrogen, are not truly

The synthesis of inner feeling with the elemental but ultimately can be broken
cosmos beyond was the primary down "to a set of units which arc-
ambition of the religious/philosophical identical, except that some of them are
movement known as theosophy, of positive and some negative."
1

'
These
which both Mondrian and Kandinsky units of matter exist on several planes of
were students. Popularized by its co- nature, which ascend from the lowest
founder, the Russian Helena Petrovna plane, that of the physical world, to the
Blavatsky (fig. 88), in such tomes as astral and mental planes and beyond,
The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of Science, progressively refined as they become
Religion, and Philosophy (1888), theosophy more spiritual. Similarly, Leadbeater's
deeply influenced, and perfectly experimentation in "thought-induced
reflected, the sensibility that sparked photography of astro-mental images,"
Mondrian's and Kandinsky 's invention described in Thought-Forms (1901), a
of non-objective painting. Mondrian book he co-authored with his
joined the Theosophical Society in 1909, theosophical colleague Annie Besant,
knew and read Blavatsky 's texts, and echoes Wilhelm Roentgen's 1895
practiced theosophical meditation experiments with the exposure of
(fig. 87). Rebay developed an interest in photographic plates to invisible
theosophy as early as age fourteen, when X rays as a means to visually capture
she attended classes held by Rudolf phenomena beyond the visible world.
Steiner, theosophy's most accessible Leadbeater's and Besant's intriguing
teacher and theorist. books were particularly important to
Loosely translated from the Greek, the development of Kandinsky's
"theosophy" means "divine wisdom," its abstract painting, as art historian Sixten Top: Fig. 88. Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.
Courtesy Theosophical University Press, Pasadena.
central concern being the understanding Ringbom has documented." Their
California.
and health of the human spirit in an theosophical books deal with "the
individual and collective sense. The general subject of the aura," the Bottom: Fig. 89. Thought-form 28, "Selfish Greed." from
Annie Besant and Charles W. Leadbeater, Thou%ht-Fornu
doctrine of theosophy (related to Georg cloudlike substance that emanates from (19CI).

Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's more man's body and extends beyond its

complex speculative universalism) is physical confines into the mental and

especially interesting in the context of astral planes. Thus:
the development of non-objective
painting as a kind of modern mysticism Every thought gives rise to a set of correlated
in the midst of the onslaught of vibrations in the matter of this body,
nineteenth-century science, from accompanied with a marvellous play of color,
Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to like that in the spray of a waterfall as the
h
Ernest Rutherford's theory of atomic sunlight strikes it, raised to the n' degree of
structure. color and vivid delicacy. The body under this
The visual metaphor of clairvoyance impulse throws off a vibrating portion of
was central to theosophical teaching. itself, shaped by the nature of the
"The first point which must be clearly vibrations — as figures are made by sand on a
comprehended," remarked clairvoyant disk vibrating to a musical note —and this

theosophist Charles W. Leadbeater in gathers from the surrounding atmosphere

the first chapter of Man Visible and matter like itself in the fineness from the
wonderful
Invisible (1902), "is the elemental essence of the mental world. We
complexity of the world around us have then a thought-form pure and simple,
the fact that it includes enormously and it is a living entity of intense activity
'6
more than comes within the range of animated by the one idea that generated it.

ordinary vision.""
Theosophy described a synthesis of Not only thoughts can be seen with
science and the spirit in terms theosophical clairvoyance, but also
appropriated equally from ancient music:

Technology and the Spirit 157

Plate 53. Paul Klee, In the Current Six Thresholds {In der
Strbmung sechs Schwellen), 1929. Oil and cempera on canvas,
43.5 x 43.5 cm (17/8 x 17/8 inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum 67.1842.
Many people are aware that sound is always around Kandinsky 's lyrical abstract

associated with color — that when, for shapes (for example, in Several Circles

example, a musical note is sounded. a flash of [1926, plate 52] and Dominant (.urn
color corresponding to it may be seen by those [1936, plate 51]). Each book also
whose finer senses are already to some extent includes an illustrated "Key to the
developed. . . . Every piece of music leaves Meanings of Colours," which certainly
behind it an impression of this nature, which must have influenced Kandinsky's color
persists for some considerable time, and is theory and Mondrian's early Symbolist-
clearly visible and intelligible to those who inspired pictures. A passage in
''
have eyes to see. Leadbeater's text reads almost like a
play for Mondrian's triptych Evolution
As a basis for his art, Kandinsky in the collection of the Haags
(1910— 11,
constructed an analogy to classical Gemeentemuseum): "Light blue marks
music, titling many of his works devotion to a noble spiritual ideal, and
Improvisations (for example, plate 22) or gradually rises to a luminous lilac-blue,

Compositions (for example, plate 2). "A which typifies the higher spirituality,
painter who no satisfaction in
finds and is usually accompanied by sparkling
mere representation," wrote Kandinsky, golden stars, representing elevated
"naturally seeks to apply the methods of spiritual aspirations."'
music to his own art. And from this Blavatsky placed the motto "There is
results that modern desire for rhythm in no religion higher than Truth" at the
painting, for mathematical, abstract beginning of The Secret Doctrine.
construction, for repeated notes of color, Theosophy seeks to uncover the
for setting color in motion."'* universal through a process that reveals
Kandinsky was not alone in his the truth of structures — the sacred
interest in the relationship between codes — beneath all visible reality. In
music and abstract painting. Mondrian theosophy, the traditional separation of
loved jazz and its relation to painting, the secular and the religious dissolves
as evidenced in late works such as into manifestations of the same
Broadway Boogie Woogie (1942-43, in the universal. The large crossed arms of
collection of the Museum of Modern the windmill Mondrian depicted in
Art, New York). Klee also employed Windmill at Night (1907, in the
musical structures, even marks of Haags
collection of the
musical notation, as compositional Gemeentemuseum), an early painting
devices in his non-objective paintings, with a secular theme, is related to the
such as In the Current Six Thresholds cross in Church at Domburg (1914, in the
(1929, plate 53) and New Harmony (1936, collection of the Haags
plate 56). Gemeentemuseum), which is further
What is relevant about Kandinsky 's related to the abstract "plus" and
analogy to music Top: Plate 54. Man Ray, I 'ntitled, 1923. Rayograph.
is its relation, or lack "minus" marks of later, non-objective
gelatin-silver print, 28.8 x 23.5 cm (11 H x 9'/, inches).
thereof, to sight in the traditional sense. pictures. Mondrian worked through Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 P&69a.
That is not to suggest that Kandinsky many of his ideas on the dissolution of
Bottom: Plate 55. Man Ray, Untitled, 192- Rayograph.
meant his paintings less for the eyes forms in his sketchbooks of 1912— 14 gelatin-silver print. 30.4 x 25.4 cm (II 'Vis x 10 inches).

than other paintings, but perhaps he ( plates 57—58); he also articulated them Peggy Guggenheim Collection "6.2553 Pt>69b.

was implying that the visual sensation in his writing, for, like Kandinsky, he
itself has other components that are not was a prolific theorist. He began to
entirely visual. As smell is a major "discern the perpendicular in
component of taste, could not hearing everything," he wrote. "The arms of the
be part of seeing? Theosophically windmill are not more beautiful to me
speaking, "sight" was not limited to the than anything else. Seen plastically, they
visible world. actually have a disadvantage. To the
Both Alan Visible and Invisible and shape of the cross, particularly when in
Thought-Forms contain illustrations of the upright position, we readily attach a
"thought-forms" and images emanating particular, rather literary idea. The cross
from music, which, with their form, however, is constantly destroyed
accompanying explanations, are in the New Plastic."
20
In other words,
obviously sources for the clouds of color Mondrian erases the literary/religious

Technology and the Spirit 159

Plate 56. Paul Klee,New Harmony (Neite Harmonie), 1936.
cm (36/8 x 26/8 inches). Solomon
Oil on canvas, 93.6 x 66.3
R. Guggenheim Museum 71.1960.
 a

reference of the cross, incorporating it and therefore challenged the Chun lis ^-V% *<*-'
into a more universal visual system of and man's place
oiiler of the universe _ >

binary marks. The progression of within it. Yet, as Rebay wrote in I:

Monclrian's work, from early still explaining non-objective painting,
lifes to abstractions, is demonstrated "Placing his vision outside the earth,
with dramatic clarity in the {Copernicus} opened enormous vistas
Guggenheim's rich collection (for and brought to light new viewpoints
example, plates 59—65). with far-reaching consequences. The
The age-old dichotomies between discovery of the possibility of placing
body and spirit, secular and sacred, oneself outside all former viewpoints
science and religion, are at the heart of concerning art is of equal importance to
Kandinsky's and Monclrian's humanity."" Rebay rightly pointed out
development of non-objective painting, that the Copernican revolution is

as they are to the general psychology of important not simply in terms of its

the twentieth century. Yet the dynamic factual results, but in terms of the
between science and the spirit reflected mind-set that produced it. Copernicus's
in non-objective art is ambiguous. On hypothesis (1543) was made possible by a
the one hand, technology posed a visual system embodied in the ••v..
MmV
material challenge to artists: for Renaissance discovery of linear
example, the widespread use of perspective. With perspectival means to
photography, which demystified, map space and visual experience with •
simplified, andmechanized the illusionistic precision, artists developed
production of images of things, may the potential for a systematic, objective
have challenged artists to seek a higher, frame of reference, which is a
more mystical, and uniquely human prerequisite for any scientific thinking.
vision. On the other hand, science and Even in the Renaissance, artists had
invention yielded new visual metaphors an uncertain relationship to science,
for artists: in his Rayographs (for especially as it intersected with matters
example, plates 54—55), Man Ray of the spirit. Leone Battista Alberti's
capitalized on X-ray photography, rules of perspective, set out in On
which recorded images beneath the Painting (1436) with scientific precision,
skin. Like the theosophical clairvoyance were at first rarely employed by artists
that inspired Kandinsky, X-ray with scientific rigor or results. More
photography suggested a new sense of often, the rules of perspective were bent
vision beyond the images received by in the creation of compositions to stress
the eye. Similarly, Rutherford's 1911 spiritual rather than material content.
description of the structure of atoms — Furthermore, linear perspective,
collection of positively charged protons stemming it was from mathematical
as
orbited by negatively charged order, took on symbolic value as a
electrons —suggested an irreducible reflection of God's spiritual perfection"
binary reality, paralleling Mondrian's (not unlike M. H. J. Schoenmaeker's
painterly conception of the universe treatise, Plastic Mathematics [1916},
expressed in horizontal and vertical which described a Platonic universal
__
lines. Both Rutherford's and Mondrian's order and inspired fellow Dutchman
:;
models reduced the particularity of the Mondrian's Neo-Plasticism ).
Top: Plate 57. Piet Mondrian, Page from Sketch/m>i I
visible world to a reality of binary poles Copernicus's hypothesis concerning
1912-14. Pencil on paper, 16 x 11.5 cm (6 !/
< x 4'/; inches).
that could not be seen by the eye but the movements of visible heavenly Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. New York. Gift.
David Finn and Maurice Kaplan 81.2824.
could only be represented through bodies might be compared to
abstract models and diagrams or — Rutherford's theories about the Bottom: Plate 58. Piet Mondrian, Page from
I. 1912-14. Pencil and charcoal on paper.
paintings. structure of invisible atoms. To the Sketchbook
16 x 11. 5 cm (6'A x 4': inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim
While science has always shaken extent that linear perspective in the Museum. New York, Gift, David Finn and Maurice Kaplan
religious dogma, it has also inspired a fifteenth century defined a relation 81.2824.

further mystical interest in the systems
of nature. In the sixteenth century,
Copernicus was excommunicated
because his new astronomy suggested
that the earth revolved around the sun,
between the artist and the visible world,
the advent of non-objective art in the
twentieth century defined a relation
between the artist and the invisible
world. In both cases, advances in science

Technology and the Spirit 161

 -S

h-

T
Plate 60. Piet Mondrian, Still Life with Ginger Pot 11
(Stilleven Met Gemberpot on canvas,
11), 1911— 12. Oil
Plate 59. Piet Mondrian, Still Life with Ginger Pot I 91.5 x 120 cm (37/1 x 47/4
Solomon R.
inches).
Met Gemberpot I) 1911-12. Oil on canvas, 65.5 x
(Stilleven Guggenheim Museum, Loan, Haags Gemeentemuseum,
cmVt x 29 'A inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Plate 61. Piet Mondrian, Composition VII, 1913. Oil on
75 (25 The Hague, The Netherlands 294.76.
Museum, Loan, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, canvas, 104.4 x 113.6 cm (41 '/» x 44^ inches). Solomon
The Netherlands 295.76. R. Guggenheim Museum 49.1228.
 ^

I—
-L. n
t-;
IF
xy
•"'

lT —
.
Plate 64. Piet Mondrian, Composition 2, 1922. Oil
cm (zi 7« x 21 ft inches). Solomon
canvas, 55.6 x 53.4
on
R.
Guggenheim Museum 51.1309.

— r

Plate 63. Piet Mondrian, Composition 1016, 1916. Oil on

canvas with wood strip at bottom edge, 119 x 75.1 cm
(46 78 x 29 Vb inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Plate 62. Piet Mondrian, Composition No. S, 1914. Oil on
cm (37 x 21 7s
canvas, 94.4 x 55.6 '/% inches). Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum 49.1227.
u
Left: Plate 65. Piet Mondrian, Composition iA, 1930. Oil on
canvas (lozenge), 75.2 x 75.2 cm (29 H x 29 Kg inches).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Hilla Rebay Collection
71.1936&96.

Above: Plate 66. Theo van Doesburg, Counter-

Composition XIII (Contra-Compositie XIII), 1925-26. Oil on
canvas, 50 x 50 cm (19 Y» x 19 H inches). Peggy Guggenheim
Collection 76.2553 PG41.

Technology and the Spirit 1 65

 and art had radical implications for the faith, in crisis as it was challenged by
way which the structure of the world
in the new industrial, technological world,
was understood and represented. and a guardian of the human spirit in
Modernism, embodied in the the face of such change.
development of non-objective art, El Lissitzky, Gabo, and Pevsner took
responded most directly to intertwined the relationship between science,
phenomena in the Western world at technology, and art even further.
around the turn of the century, all of Perhaps more than any other artists of
which might be considered outgrowths the Russian avant-garde, they fully
of overwhelming advancements in embraced the new industrial age.
science and technology: the crisis in Lissitzky 's early non-objective paintings
religious belief, Marxist revolutions, (for example, Untitled, 1919—20,
and the emergence of theosophy. plate 68) are indebted to Suprematism.
Technology, according to twentieth- Only a few years after the October
century philosopher Martin Heidegger, Revolution, however, he expanded his
is both a means to an end and a human artisticoutput to include sculpture,
activity- — in both the instruments, architecture, photography, and
procedures, and methods that define it, industrial, poster, and theater design,
and the attitude it reflects. Its essence attempting to harness the power of
lies in the process of classification and abstract art to further the goals of the
the development of models new Communist society. Sculptors
(representations) by which humanity Pevsner and Gabo also subscribed for a
achieves mastery over the substance of time to the tenet that art should be
the world. It is the ability through placed in service of the Revolution, and,
scientific thinking to form a "world like Lissitzky, were important members
picture" as an objective model (a of the Constructivist group. Pevsner's
fundamentally subjective process) that Anchored Cross (1933, plate 73), in which
coincides with the loss of belief he combined industrial materials and
embedded in Nietzche's decree, "God is shapes with the image of the Russian
dead." Orthodox cross, exemplifies the meeting
Malevich's introduction of of science, religion, and art in
Suprematism in 1915 perfectly embodied abstraction. Gabo's Column (ca. 1923,

the complex psychological condition plate 74) derives its architectural form
within which non-objective art was from mathematical and scientific
born. Black Square (1915, in the compositional devices. It is one of the
collection of the State Tretiakov Gallery, first sculptures to utilize plastic — at the
Moscow), the first Suprematist painting, time, one of the newest material
was hung in the upper corner of a room, inventions of advancing technology.
the place in a Russian home Moholy-Nagy's earliest experiments
traditionally reserved for a religious in plastic influenced his use of
icon. With it, Malevich presented, as he perspective and transparency in oil

called it, a "single bare, frameless, icon
of our times." 24 Malevich's Suprematism
was, like Kandinsky's and Mondrian's
art, a search for a universal language
that resolved the conflict between a
technological and a spiritual existence.
In works such as Untitled (ca. 1916,
plate 67), Malevich fashioned his
geometric constructions (inspired, like
his colleague Vladimir Tatlin's
Constructivist sculptures, by modern
images of airplanes and factories)
deliberate, painterly marks, expressing
the intuitive and spiritual aspects of his
science. Malevich's square icon was both
a substitute for traditional religious
paintings such as Ti(i^i6, plate 69)
and AXL II (1927, plate 70). The
invention of Plexiglas in 1936 provided
Moholy-Nagy with the ideal medium to
realize his quasi-scientific exploration of
the formal properties of light and space.
He found that the malleable material
could be bent, incised, and painted to
form a hybrid of painting and sculpture
that the artist called "space
modulators." Ever-changing effects of
with transparency and the shadows cast by
plastic forms in real space (for example,
in B-10 Space Modulator, 1942, plate 71,
and Dual Form with Chromium Rods,
1946, plate 72) introduced new elements

1 66 Art of This Century

Plate 67. Kazimir Malevich Untitled, ca. 1916. Oil on
canvas, 53 x 53 cm (20 "A x 20 'A inches). Peggy Guggenheim
Collection 76.2553 PG42.
Plate 68. El Lissitiky, Untitled, ca. 1919-20. Oil on canvas,
79.6 x 49.6 cm (31 Y-Lt, x 19 J4 inches). Peggy Guggenheim
Collection 76.2553 PG43.
into his exploration of a human avoid ilu- art i st s natural mastery over
perception of the universe. Moholy- substance or the escapism of an for art's

Nagy also carried his concerns about sake, writing, "The

must have
art isi

light and space into the realm of something to say, for mastery over form
photography, capturing light, Space, is not his goal but rather the adapting

and time on the chemical surface of his of form to its inner meaning." The '

"photograms." process is an investigation rather than

an exposition. And, as I leidegger states,
Kandinsky inscribed the limits of the "the more cjuestioningly we ponder the
power of science and technology at the essence of technology, the more-
2
edge of matter, noting that no
'

mysterious the essence of art becomes."

"principle can be laid down for those The "subject" of Kandinsky's non-
things which lie beyond, in the realm of objective art is the inner being made-
the immaterial. That which has no manifest in the mysterious process of
material existence cannot be subjected subjective inspiration by means of an
to a material classification."" Instead, a intimate knowledge of pure color and
"non-matter" related to the spirit can form in painting. In developing his
only be reached "by the way of inner non-objective art, Kandinsky was
2
knowledge." ''
For Kandinsky, attempting to retrieve the spirit
theosophy's synthesis of scientific means without turning his back on the modern
and primitive religion provided a base technological age.
from which to challenge materialistic
science.
Heidegger, in confronting the
"danger" of technology, quotes the
German Romantic poet Friedrich
Holderlin: "But where danger is,
grows / The saving power also."
Heidegger implies that the "saving
power" may be pursued through the
philosopher's thought, and through art:

Because the essence of technology is nothing

technological, essential reflection upon
technology and decisive confrontation with it

must happen in a realm that is, on the one

hand, akin to the essence of technology and,
on the other hand, fundamentally different
from it. Such a realm is art. But certainly
only if reflection on art for its part, does not
shut its eyes to the constellation of truth after
2
"
which we are questioning.

By delineating the edge of matter

and materialistic science and exploring
its counterpart, found in thought and

emotion (and in the cosmos beyond),

Kandinsky s and Mondrian's non-
objective painting touched the essence
of technology and science: its vision.
The essence of technology is, like
theosophical clairvoyance, a kind of
divine wisdom.
Any systematic theory or world view,
including theosophy, may fall prey to
the danger of mastery over materials. In
his theories, Kandinsky was careful to

Technology and the Spin; 1 69

Left: Plate 69. Ldszlo Moholy-Nagy, 77, 1926. Oil on
Trolican, 139.8 x 6Z.9 cm (55 x 24 K, inches). Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, Gift, Solomon R. Guggenheim
37-354-

Above: Plate 70. Ldsilo Moholy-Nagy, AXL II, 1927.

Oil on canvas, 94.1 x 73.9 cm (37 x 29/8 inches). Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, Gift, Mrs. Andrew P. Fuller

64.1754.
Left: Plate 71. Ldszlo Moholy-Nagy, B-io Space
Modulator, 1942. Oil on incised molded Plexiglas, mounted
with chromium clamps 5.1 cm (2 inches) from white
plywood backing; Plexiglas: 45.1 x 30.5 cm (17 Yt x
12 inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 47.1063.

Above: Plate 72. Ldszlo Moholy-Nagy, Dual Form with

Chromium Rods, 1946. Plexiglas and chrome-plated steel
rods, 92.7 x 121. 6 x 55.9 cm (36/: x 47/11 x 22 inches).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 48.1149.
 —

Notes

1. Hilla Rebay, "The Beauty of Non- Abstract or non -figurative or non-objective art (which Abstract Reality," in Harry Holtzman and
Objectivity," in Second Enlarged Catalogue of the I myself most prefer to call concrete) differs from older Martin S. James, The New Art-The New Life: The
Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection of Non-Objective forms of expression and from Surrealism today by Collected Writings of Piet Mondrian (Boston:
Paintings (New York: The Solomon R. reason of the fact that it does not set out from an G. K. Hall & Co., 1986), p. 99.
Guggenheim Foundation, 1937), p. 13. object, but itself "invents" its forms of expression in
very different ways. 21. Hilla Rebay, "Definition of Non-Objective
2. Quoted in Joan M. Lukach, Hilla Rebay: In Painting," in Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection
Search of the Spirit in Art (New York: George For the purposes of this essay, the of Non-Objective Paintings (Charleston, S.C.:
Braziller, 1983), p. 62. distinction between a distortion or abstraction Carolina Art Association, 1936), p. 8.

of reality, and pure non-objectivity is critical.

3. Wright's discussion of his conception of the However, because "non-objective" remains 22. See Samuel Y. Edgerton, Jr., The Renaissance
museum, as well as Rebay's responses, can be cumbersome the terms "non-objective" and Rediscovery of Linear Perspective (New York: Basic
found in Frank Lloyd Wright: The Guggenheim "abstraction" are used interchangeably. Books, 1975).
Correspondence, selected by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer
(Fresno: The Press at California State 5. Rebay, "The Beauty of Non-Objectivity," 23. For a description of the relationship between
University; Carbondale: Southern Illinois p. 13. the theories of Schoenmaeker and Mondrian,
University Press, 1986). see H. L. C. Jaffe, De Stijl 1917-1951. The Dutch
6. Rebay, however, did not collect Calder. Contribution to Modern Art (Amsterdam:
4. Rebay rigorously used the term "non- While work of Calder, as well as of
the Meulenhoff, 1956), p. 57.
objective" as opposed to "abstract" painting to Brancusi, has become closely identified with the
refer to the art she espoused, thereby stressing Guggenheim, these sculptures were added to 24. Quoted in Jane Sharp, "The Critical
the subtle but critical difference between the the collection by the museum's second director, Reception of the 0.10 Exhibition: Malevich and
two. Abstraction, to Rebay and others, is James Johnson Sweeney. Benua," in The Great Utopia: The Russian and
derived from reality — a reduction of its content, Soviet Avant-Garde. ipi$-ip32 (New York:
but in the final analysis still a reference to 7. Wassily Kandinsky, Concerning the Spiritual in Guggenheim Museum Publications, 1992),
specific things. On the other hand, non- Art, trans, by M. T. H. Sadler (New York: P-44-
objective painting has no real referent and Dover Publications, 1977), p. 1. Reprint of The
therefore is pure and simple. Rebay did acquire Art of Spiritual Harmony (London: Constable and 25. Kandinsky, p. 12.
abstractions, such as works by Picasso, but only Company, 1914).
as precursors to non-objective painting. 26. Ibid., p. 13.

The term "non-objective" never became 8. Ibid.

commonplace in the vocabulary of art 27. Martin Heidegger, "The Question
historians and critics, who have preferred the 9. Quoted Herschel B. Chipp, Theories of
in Concerning Technology," in The Question
term "abstraction" to refer both to abstractions Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics Concerning Technology and Other Essays
and compositions-without-object. Conceptually, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968), (New York: Harper and Row, 1977), pp. 34-35.
the difference between the two terms is great, p. 50
but in practice the line between abstraction 28. Kandinsky, p. 54.
and non-objectivity is thin defined perhaps — 10. Kandinsky, p. 2.
by an artist's intent rather than the visual 29. Heidegger, p. 35.
impression. 11. Quoted in Chipp, p. 321.
I once asked art historian Ernst Gombrich
what he perceived as the fundamental difference 12. Quoted in Chipp, p. 359.
between representational and purely non-
objective painting. His one-word answer 13. C. W Leadbeater, Man Visible and Invisible
"Scale" —
was at first disappointing but then (Wheaton, 111.: The Theosophical Publishing
seemed suggestive of the viewer's response to House, 1987), p. 6.
such art. Any time the viewer identifies a real
referent in an image, his or her senses place that 14. Ibid., p. 7.
image in a context and assign to it an estimated
scale. Modernist representational painting 15. See Sixten Ringbom, The Sounding Cosmos: A
(works by Marc Chagall or the Surrealists, for Study in the Spiritualism of Kandinsky and the
example) often relies on plays of scale. Perhaps Genesis of Abstract Painting (Abo, Finland: Abo
Gombrich intended to suggest the unique Akademi, 1970).
quality of an image without any scale.
In his art and writings, Kandinsky made 16. Annie Besant and C. W Leadbeater,
an analogy between music and painting, Thought-Forms (Wheaton, The Theosophical 111.:

suggesting the possibility of interpreting Publishing House, 1969), p. 8. Reprint (Adyar,

images without the usual frame of reference India: The Theosophical Publishing House,
that suggests scale. Rebay's defining of non- I92.5)-

objective painting is important primarily

because of the metaphorical potential of an 17. Ibid., p. 67.
image without scale. Kandinsky himself tried
to use the term "concrete" to refer to his 18. Kandinsky, p. 19.
purely pictorial compositions (in Kandinsky:
Complete Writings on Art, ed. by Kenneth C. 19. Leadbeater, p. 69.
Lindsay and Peter Vergo, vol. 2 [Boston:
G. K. Hall & Co., 1982], p. 830): 20. Piet Mondrian, "Natural Reality and

174 Art 0/ This Century

Plate 73. Antoine Pevsner, Anchored Cross (La Croix
ancre'e), 1933. Marble, brass painted black, and crystal,
84.6 cm (33 V16 inches) long (diagonally), 25. 2 cm
(9'Vi6 inches) deep. Peggy Guggenheim Collection
76.2553 pg6o.
Plate 74. Naum Gabo, Column, ca. 1923. Perspex, wood,
metal, and glass, 104.5 (41 '/» inches) high, 75 cm
(29 '/l inches) in diameter. Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum 55.1429.
Following two pages: Joan Miro, Seated Woman II,

February 12, 1939 (detail I

\TiJJ
Plate 75. Max Ernst, The Antipope, December 1941-
March 1942. Oil on canvas, 160.8 x 127. 1 cm (63 'A x
50 inches). Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG80.
 s

Peggy's Surreal Playground

Jennifer Blessing

Peggy Goes to London, caused tremendous consternation for

Guggenheim Jeune Gallery
Surrealism was the perfect playground
for Peggy Guggenheim. Hemmed in by
the proprieties of the New York Jewish
aristocracy in which she was raised,
Guggenheim escaped to Europe in 1920
and was in Paris to witness the birth of
Surrealism. Her engagement with the
movement in the 1920s was limited to
social contacts with predominantly
literary figures; it was not until she
decided to open a gallery in London in
1938 that she became actively involved
with the artistic community.
The name of the gallery,
Guggenheim Jeune, made punning
reference to the established Galerie
Bernheim-Jeune in Paris, while
fostering the mistaken assumption that
Peggy Guggenheim was the daughter
of Solomon R. Guggenheim, an
important collector of non-objective
Solomon Guggenheim's and Rebay
French envoy, Yvanhoe Rambosson,
who in July 1939 had begun to organize
the Centre d'Etudes Artistiques
Solomon R. Guggenheim to advance
the study and exhibition of non-
objective painting in Europe. In January
1940, Rambosson informed Rebay of
Peggy Guggenheim's plans and urged a
counteroffensive. On March 9, he wrote
in distress to his patron, arguing that
Solomon must take action to secure
their position in the face of the
oncoming enemy, Solomon's
troublesome niece: "It must be so in the
interest of the Art we are defending,
because I would awfully fear that if Mrs.
Peggy G. were alone to act, she might
partly deviate the movement on a
—
wrong way it is almost certain, if one
considers the artists she is encouraging
till now." 5

painting in New York, though in

fact he was her uncle.' This joke was Peggy and the
not at all appreciated by Solomon's very Personality of Surrealism
serious adviser, Baroness Hilla Rebay While Guggenheim insisted that her
von Ehrenwiesen, who chided Peggy in collection was to be "historical and
6
the opening salvo of what was to be a unprejudiced," and that she personally
long-running antagonism between preferred no particular style, her heart
the two women. "It is extremely belonged to Surrealism, which was
distasteful at this moment, when the exactly what frightened the Rebay
name of Guggenheim stands for an contingent. From Andre Breton's initial
ideal in art, to see it used for codification of the movement in 1924,
1
commerce," she wrote. when he published his notorious
Guggenheim Jeune becamea model Manifesto of Surrealism (Manifeste du
forPeggy Guggenheim's history- surrealisme), one of Surrealism's main
making gallery venture in New York goals was liberation from repression of
City during World War II, Art of This all kinds: social, political, psychological,
Century. Many of her exhibitions in and sexual. Surrealism's transgression of
England became prototypes for established bourgeois norms, which was
American shows: at both galleries she derived from Dada practices that
favored Surrealists, showed the work of resulted from post-World War I
sculptors and emerging artists, and disillusionment, allowed for, in theory,
made no attempt to censor potentially the spontaneous expression of any
controversial art, perhaps even seeking repressed desire or whim. Guggenheim
to promote it.' came of age in the adventurous
In March 1939, Guggenheim decided atmosphere of 1920s Paris and took full
to found a museum of twentieth- advantage of the license that her wealth
century art in London. When London afforded her. She told an interviewer in
became an untenable site, Guggenheim 1976, "I was the original liberated
moved to Paris, intending to open her woman. ... I did everything, was
museum in a townhouse there. With a everything; I was totally free financially,
list of must-haves in hand, she went on emotionally, intellectually, sexually.""
a shopping spree, determined to "buy In the early 1920s, she attempted a
a picture a day" as the rest of Europe modicum of conventional marriage and
prepared for war. 4 Her intentions motherhood, but in 1928 she left her

Peggy 's Surreal Playground 181

Right: Fig. 90. Peggy Guggenheim in a gold lame dress husband and children, eventually friends, and "gorgeous women":
with oriental top by Paul Poiret and a headdress by Vera
Stravinsky, photographed in Paris around 1924 by Man Ray.
alighting in London. She shocked her "... the solitude is vast, we don't often
Courtesy Karole Vail. mother, among others, when she lived run into one another. And anyway, isn't
with a succession of lovers and indulged what matters that we be the masters of
in affairs with Surrealist artists such as ourselves, the masters of women, and of
E. L. T. Mesens and Yves Tanguy, and love too?"
11
Though characterized as a
artist/art historian Roland Penrose. In fantasy, the castle is also Breton's model
England, Guggenheim obtained her community of like-minded souls,
reputation as a "voracious consumer of clearly one in which men create and
8
men," which was not a particular women provoke creation.
liability in Surrealist circles because Among the Surrealists' practical
many of their investigations focused on concerns were free love and women's
Woman and her sexual desire. liberation from domestic responsibility.
In 1928, Breton —
an avid student of Both were advocated as refutations of
Sigmund Freud's teachings and during bourgeois restrictions, although
World War I an intern at a organized protests of existing day-to-
neuropsychiatric center — published day conditions were frowned upon. The
"Research on Sexuality," transcripts of Surrealists focused instead on the
informal discussions he conducted mythopoeic concept of the marvelous
among Surrealist poets and artists about woman. As art historian Whitney
their sexual practices.
9
Couching prying Chadwick has explained, they conceived
questions in the guise of scientific of woman as femme-enfant (naif, fairy
inquiry, Breton foreshadowed Masters princess, unconscious medium) or femme
and Johnson by bringing quotidian fatale (seductress, deceptive performer,
12
sexual customs and opinions into the sorceress). Despite the limitations of
detached domain of the printed page. Breton's theoretical model of a mythical
Breton asked the men what age they muse, many women actively
preferred their female partners to be, participated in the Surrealist movement
their favorite positions, and what they as writers and artists, especially in the
thought of women who engaged in 1930s. The gamut of the roles for
"coquetry." The merits and demerits of women that appealed to the Surrealists
women simulating orgasm were is illustrated by the sign for Breton's
discussed, as were various fantasies such short-lived gallery, Gradiva, which he
as watching two women making love, opened in 1937 and named for the
participating in a menage a trois, and protagonist — a sculpture that came to
having sex with nuns. One poet asked life — of a story analyzed by Freud.' 3

what excited the men most, which Below each letter of Gradiva was the
elicited a litany of female body parts name of a female mascot. For example,
10
from the participants. This inquiry, as "G comme Gisele" stood for Gisele
well as the Surrealists' notorious Prassinos, a fourteen-year-old poet
enthusiasm Marquis de Sade,
for the femme-enfant; A for artist Alice Paalen;
was scandalously provocative and D for photographer Dora Maar;
contributed to their popular reputation and V for Violette Nozieres, a
as sexually licentious. condemned patricide whom the
14
Based on this evidence alone, the role Surrealists defended.
of women in Surrealism would seem to The Surrealists were also sympathetic
be limited to a position as mute object to the Papin sisters, who gouged out the
The situation, however, was
of desire. eyes of their employer, as well as a
somewhat more complicated. Breton, as number of other criminally insane
self-appointed mouthpiece for the women. Although in many ways the
movement, took the lead in articulating about the insane
Surrealists' attitude
the poetic concept of Woman, which was enlightened, they maintained a
suggested the individual woman's role romantic notion of madness, which they
as muse and inspiration for the male saw as a privileged state that accessed
artist. In his first manifesto of the unrepressed operations of the
Surrealism, he describes a marvelous unconscious and hence as a model of
castle inhabited by his guests, poet creativity. Their conjunction of insanity

182 Art of This Century

 "••
• •

.*
*'*
* ..t

*^
Jh.
->-,

.t

t
&* s\
is
&
jr n
<
>

-,
 and femininity —through their on the marvelous, a mode of behavior
exaltation of the madwoman — came outside bourgeois boundaries in terms
out of a cultural trope pervasive of her boldness and sexual libertinage,
beyond the realm of Surrealism. (The and a history of insanity in her family,
conceptualization of hysteria, for which she herself emphasized,
example, was founded upon the female Guggenheim participated in this
patient. ") Perhaps because women were spectacular masquerade, predisposing
believed to be more emotional and herself to the Surrealists and their art.
2'

disposed to psychological disorders, Although she also collected abstract

they —along with "primitive" peoples, work, she was not inclined to its
children, and the insane —were spiritual program or its self-proclaimed
considered to have more integrated spokesperson, Rebay. This
psyches, untouched by the rationality became outright conflict
disinclination
that society demanded of "civilized" when Guggenheim came to New York
16
adult males. Thus, the Surrealists were City in 1942.
fascinated by both the art made by these
"outsiders" and the people themselves. Peggy's Collection of Surrealist Art
The movement's journals contain In the last months before Paris fell,
photographic essays about their art Guggenheim combed artists' studios
production, ethnological and and received picture dealers in her hotel
psychological articles, and images of the bedroom, working assiduously to amass
individuals themselves presented as if a collection of important works
they were more documents to be exemplifying the period since 1910. An
17
studied. examination of Guggenheim's signal
The Surrealists delighted in the Surrealist works gives voice to the
marvelous — the exotic and erotic that central concerns of the movement and
stunned the senses through its perhaps also to the taste of its patron.
unusualness, shocking the viewer into a The Surrealist collection that
new outlook or expanding the Guggenheim created, in toto, outlines a
8
boundaries of his imagination.' Their vast explosion of cultivated sexual
desire for unique experiences led to obsession. A landscape of desire emerges
innovation in all realms of expression, in which the female body takes center
from theater and cinema, to painting stage, whether directly in a realistic
techniques, to clothing and food. rendition or obliquely through abstract
Seeking to integrate oppositions — the references. Oscillating from the vaguely
waking and dreaming states as well as feminine biomorphic curves of a relief
the worlds of art and life — they by Jean Arp to the anatomically
proposed a new kind of existence, a new complete depictions of women in
reality in surreality, which they paintings by Ernst or Dali, Surrealism
visualized as a multifarious was grounded in the body, most often
gesamtkunstwerk. While some male the female body. Underlying the
artists, such as Salvador Dali, extended movement's notions of the working of
by conceiving of
their art into life the unconscious and its machinations in
themselves as a kind of living the realm of sexual desire were the ideas
performance spectacle, it was more often of Freud, which were disseminated
women who invented themselves as through various Surrealist journals and
marvelous, dramatic extravagances. 19 more popular media. Some artists were
Surrealist women artists frequently intimately familiar with Freud's original
presented themselves as works of art, writings; for example, the work of
whether in self-portraits or for someone Ernst, who had studied psychoanalytic
else's camera, suggesting that the texts, reflects an advanced
22
creation of dramatis personae became a understanding of Freudian concepts.
vehicle for women's expression (it The crude sexual symbolism that
continues to be manifested today in the pervades Freud's The Interpretation of
work of artists such as Laurie Anderson, Dreams (1900) is one of the hallmarks of
20
Eleanor Antin, and Cindy Sherman). Surrealist compositions. By 1929,
With a manner of dress that verged oppositional Surrealist writer Georges

1 84 Art of This Century

Plate 76. Salvador Dali, Birth of Liquid Desires
(La Naissance des desirs liquides), 1931-32. Oil and collage
on canvas, 96.1 x 112. 3 cm (37 7i x 44 % inches).
Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 pgioo.
 Bataille could write, on the symbolism sexual metaphors. Frequently, they
of flowers, that "the value given to visualized the unconscious mind as a
pointed or hollowed-out objects is fairly landscape in which desires and traumas
2
well-known." Surrealists canonized the
'
are metaphorically embodied in the
Comte de Lautreamont's famous late- figures and objects inhabiting the Active
nineteenth-century literary image, "He space. In Paul Delvaux's The Break of
is as handsome ... as the fortuitous Day (1937, plate 81) 29 and Dali's Untitled
encounter on a dissecting table of a (1931, plate 79), an uncanny sense of
sewing machine and an umbrella," 24 the real is maintained through
making it the motto for their practice of conventional recession into space and
using provocative and absurd the presence of familiar forms, which
juxtapositions that usually bore sexual are unfamiliarly juxtaposed. In both
connotations. In a 1926 film, Marcel canvases, the object of desire is a woman
Duchamp hybridized Lautreamont and who is equated with nature: Delvaux
Freud in his question, "Have you ever repeats the same femme-arbre (tree-
put the marrow of your sword into the woman) four times, and Dali's head of a
frying pan of your beloved?"
25
woman is composed of a pile of
Dada artists had used sexual seashells, her hair seeming to ooze into
innuendo in their absurd a molten mass. Dali's desolate landscape
mechanomorphic constructions, dryly echoes Tanguy's lunar terrain in
equating the structure of a human body The Sun in Its Jewel Case (1937, plate 80),
or the act of intercourse with tools and but Tanguy departs from recognizable
instruments, or engine parts. Francis imagery, creating anthropomorphoid
Picabia's The Child Carburetor (1919, bodies that suggest individual beings.
26
Plate 77. Max Ernst, Little Machine Constructed by Minimax plate 78) and Ernst's Little Machine Tanguy preserves a sense of corporeality
Dadamax in Person (Von minimax dadamax selbst konstruiertes

maschinchen), 1919-20. Hand printing (?), pencil and ink

Constructed by Minimax Dadamax in by the modeling of the abstract
frottage. watercolor, and gouache on paper, 49.4 x 31.5 cm works that
Person (1919—20, plate 77), forms and the shadows they cast; the
x 12 inches). Peggy Guggenheim Collection
(19 '/= '/s
Guggenheim acquired, employ the bone and antennae shapes ground the
76.2553 PG70.
obvious symbolism of Duchamp's bodies in an organic environment. Balls
riddle: in Picabia's construction, are couched in sockets; nodules make
piercing needle and spindle forms create physical contact with corpuses,
the analogy; in the Ernst, a faucet is suggesting a primeval sexuality. The
equated with a penis. Both of the works shadow-casting ray emanations of the
exemplify the Dadaists' delight in puns figure in the right middleground
and word games. Picabia's vaguely are reminiscent of Joan Miro's
scientific phrases ("dissolution de symbology of sexual evanescences, as
prolongation'' and "flux et reflux des well as of Duchamp's.
resolutions") have sexual connotations. Woman
Ernst's inscription
— "Little machine
In Seated
Miro eschews the conventional
II (1939, plate 83),

constructed by minimax dadamax in perspective and modeling employed by

person for fearless pollination of female Delvaux, Dali, and Tanguy, yet his
suckers at the beginning of the change imagery is still tied to the female form.
of life and for other such fearless The ferocity of this woman is

functions"
2
— ambiguous yet still
is less articulated in her toothy grin, jutting
absurd. "
In these and other works, the jaw, angular breasts, and streaming hair.
artists wittily underline the subliminal Her sexual vitality bound up with
is

meanings of technical language — for this ferocity: despite her nominally

example, the suggestiveness of the seated position she appears to be in an
distinctions "male" and "female" used ecstatic frenzy, waving her arms, her
for plumbing apparatuses or electrical kaleidoscopic eye reeling. Her sexuality
devices. is stressed through her prominently
The ironic sexual play in Dada art revealed breasts,body hair, and the
was taken up by the Surrealists, along vaginal emblem on her collar. Gone is
with its inherent ambivalence toward the static muse of Dali and Delvaux,
28
the machine and women. The replaced by the voracious femme fa tale,
Surrealists, however, added a the flip side of Surrealism's conception
psychoanalytic dimension to the use of of Woman.

1 86 Art of This Century

Plate 78. Francis Picabia, The Child Carburetor (L 'Enfant
carburateur), 1919. Oil, enamel, metallic paint, gold leaf,

pencil, and crayon on stained plywood, 126.3 x 101.3 cm

(49 '/4 x 39 "A inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
55.1426.
Left: Plate 79. Salvador Dali, Untitled, 1931. Oil on
canvas, 27.2 x 35 cm (10 "At, x 13 '/4 inches).
Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG99.

Above: Plate 80. Yves Tanguy, The Sun in Its Jewel Case
(Le Soleil dans son e'crin), 1937. Oil on canvas, 115. 4 x 88.1 cm
(45 7i« x 34 '/.6 inches). Peggy Guggenheim Collection
76.2553 PG95.
Plate 81. Paul Delvaux, The Break of Day (L'Aurore),
July 1937. Oil on canvas, 120 x 150.5 cm (47 '4 x 59 'A inches).
Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG103.
Plate 82. Pablo Picasso, On the Beach (La Baignade),
February 12, 1937. Oil, conte crayon, and chalk on canvas,
129. 1 x 194 cm (50 'Ms x y6V« inches). Peggy Guggenheim
Collection 76.2553 PG5.
vt-
,
\1'

IK

7>.' '
f
7V -
Plate 83. Joan Miro, Seated Woman II (Femme assise II),

February 27, 1939. Oil on canvas, 162 x 130 cm (63 '4 x

51 '/>6 inches). Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG93.
 Pablo Picasso's On the Beach (1937, which pieces of paper or other materials
plate 82) schematically maintains the are layered onto a support, can arouse
fictive space of "realistic" works by curiosity by raising the question of what
Surrealists such as Dalf, although here it is hidden beneath the layers, for The
is occupied by fantastic monster- Postman Cheval, Ernst cut holes in a

women, their sculptural construction sheet of marbleized paper, behind which

determined by erotic zones. These the tantalizing suggestions of a young
bodies are a mass of parts: projectile woman can be seen. Also attached to the
breasts, giant buttocks, looming wombs surface is an envelope from which a
and vulvas. Despite the arcadian theme, lascivious postcard pokes out, and
their innocent visages, and their through its window female bodies are
childlike play with a toy boat, the discernible. Joseph Cornell's Swiss Shoot-
women's apparently gargantuan size, the-Chutes (1941, plate 85), though not
strange insectoid craning necks, blatantly sexual, also elicits the viewer's
fragmentation, and vestigial hands are desire to look, requiring his or her
vaguely threatening. The voyeur on the active participation to achieve this goal.
horizon, who embodies the viewer's fear, Object-toys like this one illuminate two
brings to mind the spectral man central Surrealist preoccupations: the
peaking from behind a rock in Dali's grounding of the work in material
Untitled.- The image of the male voyeur reality, exemplified by the use of the

spying the abundant gifts of a nude found object, and the focus on the body,
female is a traditional theme, typically not only as object of representation, but
represented in morality tales such as as a living, responsive subject, from
Diana spied upon by Actaeon, or whom physical participation is sought.
Susanna and the Elders. The peeker in Swiss Shoot-the-Chutes is activated by
these images is a stand-in for the male removing a ball from the lower door on
viewer of the picture; both have the the side panel and inserting it into the
exquisite delight of watching without upper one, initiating its rolling descent
being seen, which puts them in a along slats in the box and ringing the
position of power." Freud's entire bells hidden in the case. The front panel
account of the genesis of sexuality in the of the construction is riddled with holes
individual is predicated on sight, like those in Ernst's collage, some
specifically on the male child's discovery permitting the viewer to see the interior
that the mother does not have a penis, of the box, where there is an image of a
thus introducing the fear of castration woman's head and a mirror, others
(his might be removed like mommy's blocked by clippings of cows, skiers,
was). Voyeurism yields the pleasure of and more women. Regulated by
reliving that moment of discovery, Cornell's Swiss-cheeselike membrane,
which is both frightening in its implicit the viewer-voyeur strains to see into the
threat and delightful in its reassertion holes. An insert of the Wolf, eyes
that the male spectator is not himself bulging, and Little Red Riding Hood
"castrated" as the female subject appears suggests a predator's sight of a little
2
to be.' The theoretical complexity of girl, with its ominous foreshadowing of
the issue of the voyeur in Surrealist art violence, in this construction in which
isbeyond the scope of this essay. modalities of vision are emphasized.
However, the acknowledgment that Because it exists as a three-
vision has a sexual component and is dimensional object, a sculpture
interrelated with issues of power is broadens the participation of the viewer,
requisite to an examination of such who can move around it, thereby
works On the Beach."
as experiencing a relationship between its

While Picasso and Dalf literally mass and the viewer's own body.
represent the scopophiliac in their Guggenheim demonstrated the
paintings, Ernst, in his collage The sensuality of the physical response to
Postman Cheval (1932, plate 84), creates a sculpture when she explained why she
voyeuristic experience that requires the bought her first piece, Arp's Head and
viewer to consciously act as a Peeping Shell (ca. 1933, plate 86): "I fell so in
Tom. The structure of collage itself, in love with it that I asked to take it in my

Peggy's Surreal Playground 195

Left: Plate 84. Max Ernst, The Postman Cbeval (Le Facteur
Cheval), 1932. Paper and fabric collage with pencil, ink,
and gouache on paper, 64.3 x 48.9 cm (25 Vs x 19 '/, inches).
Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG74.

Above: Plate 85. Joseph Cornell, Swiss Shoot-the-Chutes,

1941. Box construction, 53.8 x 35.2 x 10.5 cm (21 V,6 x 13 ''/!« x
4/8 inches). Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG127.
 hands. The instant I felt it, I wanted to on Freud, whose story of the genesis of
own it."'
4
sexuality was filled with images of
Since the creation of the first brutality — the horror of castration, and
Western sculptures-in-the-round, stone its symbolization in the blinding of
and bronze idols were equated with the Oedipus, for example — that wound the
human body. While this equation is thread of violence so tightly to
obvious in naturalistic sculpture, sexuality. This climate promoted the
abstract work maintains the correlation femme fatale represented by the ultimate
not only when it incorporates the castrating figure, the female praying
suggestion of body parts, such as the mantis, who eats her mate after
multiple breast forms of Arp 's pink copulation. Giacometti depicted the
limestone Crown of Buds I (1936, aftermath of a preventative annihilation
plate 88), but simply by the fact of its of the mantis-woman in his Woman with
physical mass. Metaphors of presence Her Throat Cut (1932 {cast 1940],
and absence classically denote the male plate 90), a headless insectoid that rests
and female genitalia, as Freud's study of on the floor like a squashed bug. 39 The
sexual symbolism sustains. And threat of castration also pervades much
traditional sculpture, including many of Dalfs work. In Birth of Liquid Desires
Surrealist objects, emphasizes the (1931-32, plate 76), a painting rife with
language of presence by its Freudian implications, the central
preoccupation with phallus forms that couple makes clear a motif repeated in
seem to serve as fetish objects the artist's work — a father figure
warding against the fear of castration sexually united with a muse who can be
also described by Freud. Alberto identified as both Gradiva and Gala,
40
Giacometti's Model for a Square (1931—32, Dalfs lover.
plate 89), which Guggenheim bought
in Paris in 1940, was a kind of game Peggy Goes to New York,
board in which the various "male" and Art of This Century Gallery
"female" components resting on pegs When Paris fell, Guggenheim was
could be moved, suggesting a chesslike forced to flee to the south of France,
diversion as a metaphor for human where she arranged for the transfer of
relations. This work was a model for a
,s
her collection and the move of her
much larger outdoor installation in family to New York as the conflict was
stone, dominated by the central glyph escalating. In addition, Breton,
that epitomizes a phallic fetish (the Jacqueline Lamba, and their daughter,
pieces were executed in plaster, as as well as Ernst were able to leave
shown in fig. 91, but the installation Europe through her assistance. Ernst
remained unrealized). 36 Constantin was a particularly difficult case since he
Brancusi's Bird in Space (1932—40, plate had been interned in France as an
87), which the artist arrived at through enemy alien. It was at this time that
working with images of a magic bird, Guggenheim and the artist began a
also operates as a phallic emblem. 37 liaison that eventually resulted in their

Top: Plate 86. Jean Arp, Head and Shell (Tete et coquille),
Transgression against bourgeois short-lived marriage in New York,
ca. 1933. Polished brass, 19.7 cm (7 '/, inches) high. Peggy norms of propriety and expected where they arrived on July 14, 1941.
Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG54.
behavior was a central strategy of According to Guggenheim, Ernst's
Bottom: Plate 87. Constantin Brancusi, Bird in Space Surrealist practice that is grounded in painting The Antipope (1941—42, plate 75)
{L'Oiseau dans I'espace), 1932-40. Brass, 134.7 cm (53 inches) Breton's Freudian-derived mandate to is a manifestation of their complicated
high. Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG51.
dredge up repressed traumas, dreams, relationship. 4 '
Her identification of
and desires and expose them in art. In figures representing Ernst, herself, and
Surrealism, the transgressive act was her daughter Pegeen has been
most frequently literalized in the image supplemented by the suggestion of the
of the nude female body, perhaps presence of a representation of Leonora
because of a socially constructed notion Carrington, with whom Ernst was
of its sacrosanctity that would heighten romantically involved. The artist's
the shock and titillation of axiomatic themes in this work have
38
representations of its violation. been described by Angelica Rudenstine
Moreover, the Surrealists relied heavily as "the universal issues of power,

1 98 Art ofThll Century

Plate 88. Jean Arp, Crown of Buds I (Couronne de
I), 1936. Limestone, 49.1 cm (19 Vi inches) high.
bourgeons
Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG56.
 1

'M^v&lJtfiZA
Left: Fig. 91. Alberto Giacometti's studio, photographed by
Brassai in 1932, with plaster pieces for Model for a Square and
Woman with Her Throat Cut. ©Gilberte Brassai.

Above: Plate 89. Alberto Giacometti, Model for a Square

(Projet pour une place), 1931-32. Wood, 17. 1 x 31. 4 x 22.5 cm
(6*4 x 12 V% x 8 7/8 inches). Peggy Guggenheim Collection
76.2553 PG130.
Plate 90. Alberto Giacometti, Woman with Her Throat Cut
(Femme e'gorge'e), 1932 (cast 1940). Bronze, 23.2 (9 'A inches)
high. Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG131.

1
Top: Fig. 92. The Surrealist Gallery in Art of This
Century, Peggy Guggenheim's New York gallery designed
by Frederick Kiesler. Photo of 1942 by Berenice Abbott.

Bottom: Fig. 93. The Abstract Gallery in Art of This

Century, photographed in 1942 by Berenice Abbott.
In the background toward the left is Kandinsky's
Dominant Curve (1936).
 —

manipulation, and potential meei either the floor or ceiling

destructiveness in sexual relations."'"' (figs. 93, IOO). Paintings, mounted on
Settling in New York for the tripods suspended by cord, seemed to
duration of the war, Guggenheim hover in space, adding to the gallery's
continued editing her collection gravity-defying atmosphere. For an
catalogue, which she had begun in automatic-display or kinetic gallery,
Europe. Determined to finally open the Kiesler designed various mechanisms
museum she had been planning, she that incorporated dynamic movement
hired the visionary architect Frederick and allowed the viewing of art in

Kiesler to design an environment limited space: an automatically

appropriate to her collection, "a place activated, enclosed conveyor belt
where people who are doing something spotlighting individual Klee paintings
really new can show their work."
41
On at prescribed intervals, which the viewer
October 20, 1942, her Art of This could override by pushing a button; a
Century museum-gallery opened in the giant wheel controlling the rotation of
space that two tailors had occupied at works from Duchamp's Box in a Valise,
30 West Fifty-seventh Street, garnering visiblethrough a peephole (fig. 95); and
national attention. a box with a viewer-controlled
By hiring Kiesler —whom she called diaphragm that opened to reveal
"the most advanced architect of the Breton's poem-object Portrait of the Actor
century" 44 —Guggenheim faced off A. B. This corridor area became
against her uncle and his adviser Rebay, notorious as the "penny-arcade peep
who had opened their Museum
in 1939 show" section of the gallery, 47 an
of Non-Objective Painting in a former appropriate appellation since all of these
car showroom at 24 East Fifty-fourth devices involved the spectator in the act
Street. In fact, in the 1930s Rebay had of voyeurism that is embodied in
herself considered hiring Kiesler to Surrealist works like those of Ernst and
design an exhibition space in Cornell discussed above.
Rockefeller Center. Perhaps Solomon's Considered the most unconventional
and Rebay 's engagement in June 1943 of of the spaces, the Surrealist Gallery
the world-famous architect Frank Lloyd (figs. 92, 94) exhibited frameless
Wright, whom they commissioned to paintings mounted on baseball bats
build a freestanding edifice to replace Kiesler likened them to outstretched
the Fifty-fourth Street venue, was arms 48 — that protruded from the
precipitated by Peggy Guggenheim's curving gumwood walls. A mind-
Top: Fig. 94. Max Ernst and Peggy Guggenheim in the
museum-gallery success. By calling altering experience was created by a
October 1942.
Surrealist Gallery of Art of This Century,
her space a museum (she charged tape recording of a roaring train; lights
admission timed to alternately illuminate different Bottom: Fig. 95. Peggy Guggenheim in the kinetic gallery
for a while), enlisting the
of Art of This Century in 1942. The visitor turned the large
known for his set
services of an architect sides of the black room further wooden wheel while looking through a small hole; fourteen
design and theatrical window displays, dislocated the visitor. Kiesler's reproductions from Marcel Duchamp's Box in a Value (Boiu-
en-ialise) appeared sequentially Photo by Berenice Abbott.
and challenging him to devise a new sympathy for Surrealism's bodily
method of exhibiting art, Guggenheim metaphors is manifested in his rationale
created a sensational splash that for the lighting, which he installed
seemed to deliberately challenge her because "it's dynamic, it pulsates like
uncle and Rebay. 4
'
your blood." 49 The Surrealists created
Kiesler designed four galleries for this kind of disorienting environmental
Art of This Century. 46 The most installation, an all-encompassing
conventional — illuminated by physical experience of surreality, for
daylight — served as the painting various exhibitions including the 1938
library, astudy center for Guggenheim's International Surrealist Exhibition
"permanent collection," and the space (Exposition Internationaledu surrealisme) in
for changing exhibitions. Kiesler felt Paris and First Papers of Surrealism,
that walls were repressive; thus, the which opened in New York less than a
partitions of the Abstract Gallery, week before Art of This Century did.
consisting of ultramarine stretched- Surrealist art's shocking juxtapositions,
canvas sheets battened down with cord, which could be suggested through
appeared to float since they did not automatism, trances, or drugs, were

Peggy's Surreal Playground 205

 I —

— '
'^SVNIHIIISMj kj -**S
magnified in these environments in the two Guggenheim collections were
.„
EO „.,
IMPtESSlONlSM
which the visitor walked down a lane of formed, the contemporary art
macabre street-walking mannequins, community — artists, collectors, critics,
trudged through leaves and twigs, used —
and curators were struggling to name,
flashlights to see the art in the dark, categorize, and champion new
became entangled in a web of string, or developments. Rebay 's and
was surrounded by children playing Guggenheim's rivalry fueled by their —
ball. At Art of This Century, the desire to disseminate the art of their
viewer's physical experience was time in a particular package —mirrored
enhanced by a number of devices the concerns of their constituencies. In
Kiesler created to respond to the "new 1936, the founding director of the
aspect of correlating the visitor to the Museum of Modern Art, Alfred H. Barr,
painting,"' among them specially Jr., had presented the young history of
designed movable chairs and display twentieth-century art as an inexorable
stands adjustable to eighteen positions. drive to abstraction, which was divided
Although Guggenheim may have into two different paths, "non-
1535 NOMOfOMETCCAL. ASSTRAQ AST

attempted to maintain impartiality by geometric abstract art," resulting from

having both an abstract and Surrealist the strands of Expressionism,
gallery in her "museum," most Surrealism, and Brancusi, versus
Tie DEVELOPMENT of ABSTRACT ART
attention was given to Kiesler's surreal "geometric abstract art," devolving from
effects. Indeed, the gallery became De Stijl and Neo-Plasticism, the
known as "that madhouse of Bauhaus, and Constructivism." This
Fig. 96. Chart prepared by Alfred H. Barr, Jr. for the jacket surrealism."" scheme of categorization and
of the exhibition catalogue Cubism and Abstract Art ,
Art of This Century apparently nomination remains to this day rather
published by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1936.
Courtesy The Museum of Modern Art, New York. caused a ripple of anxiety among inelegant and controversial, yet it
Solomon Guggenheim's contingent, an illuminates the nascent dialectical
indication of which may be "The paradigm for thinking about Modern
Violent Art of Hanging Pictures," an art, which was at the core of the rivalry

article written by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., between Guggenheim and Rebay.

2
a Wright acolyte.' Ostensibly a review The distinction between their two
of a number of innovative art-exhibition positions started at the etymological
facilities, including the yet-to-be-built level, as evident in their descriptions of
Wright museum, the article critiques their respective collections. Hilla Rebay
Art of
Kiesler's system, arguing that in used the term "non-objective" to
This Century's moving exhibits and distinguish art that is generated directly
gravity-denying design "display rather from the artist's imagination, yet is not
than art is on view," while Wright's abstract in that it is not derived from
plan "respects the essentials of picture the observable world. Surrealism was
viewing." Kaufmann concluded that his defined by Breton as "the future
hero's scheme promised to be better: resolution of these two states, dream
"If the Museum of Non-Objective Art and reality, which
seemingly so
are
is built, one of the sanest and most contradictory, into a kind of absolute
."
ingenuous efforts to find a better way to reality, & surreality
sb
Guggenheim
show pictures will be at hand for refused to use the term "non-objective"
53
comparison." even to describe the non-Surrealistic
The antagonism between the two portion of her collection, preferring to
Guggenheim camps went beyond mere call those works "nonrealistic" or,

competition for preeminence in the occasionally, "abstract."'

New York art world. What for Peggy The lines of division between these
was an effort "to establish her place in two camps — Rebay and non-objectivity
the history of modern art" seems to have versus Guggenheim and Surrealism
been, for Rebay, a holy war.' 4 Their are as murky and difficult to untangle as
distinct visions of the significance of the web of Barr 's chart (fig. 96). Some
this artdetermined the form that their artists could be claimed by both
collections and exhibition spaces took contingents, and Guggenheim
and reflect larger differences within the attempted a modicum of equanimity in
art world. During the period in which her support. There is evidence, however,

206 Art of This Century

that the competition between the two were (o be taken with dead seriousness, HOW TO LOOK AT MODERN

collectors (and their supporters) was whereas Surrealism was often whimsical ART IN AMERICA Z VEr.^

perceived as a battle for supremacy and and humorous. As Rebay wrote, "The t^V^.
the continuation of the species. pictures of non-objectivity are the key
Apollonian non-objectivity, the force of to a world of unmaterialistic elevation.
light, seemed to counter Surrealism's Educating humanity to respect and
8
powers of Dionysian darkness/ appreciate spiritual worth will unite
Whereas non-objective artists rejected nations more firmly than any league of
62
the representation of the material world nations." She saw her museum as "the
in striving to depict the immaterial and Temple of Non-objectivity," while
to describe the essence of enlightened Guggenheim called hers "a research
6
principles like harmony and goodness laboratory." '
The Museum of Non-
through the spiritual intensity of forms Objective Painting presented Rebay's
and colors, " Surrealists focused on idea of unequivocably pure paintings in
material reality by rendering oneiric soothing surroundings — gray-velour-
worlds grounded in skewed yet familiar covered walls, plush carpeting, incense,
terrain, or by examining objects and piped-in Bach. Guggenheim, on
60
themselves and their properties. the contrary, mounted exhibitions such
Apollonian non-objectivity was as Natural, Insane, Surrealist Art, in
intended to illuminate, synthesizing which she displayed driftwood, roots,
through reason, using music as a model and jawbone fragments (with teeth) in
Fig. 97. Ad Reinhardt, "How to Look at Modern Art in
and attempting to represent
for clarity, her cacophonous gallery, with its America," published in P.M., June 2, 1946.

truth; Dionysian Surrealism was recorded train noise and flashing lights.
obsessed with the irrational and Rebay refused to include sculpture in
explored nocturnal fantasies and the the collection of the Museum of Non-
most debased aspects of culture, Objective Painting, while the subtitle
whether that meant hunting at a flea of Guggenheim's catalogue reads
market for objects to be "found" or Objects-Drawings-Photographs-Paintings-
64
representing excrement in a painting. Sculpture-Collages ipio to 1942.
Non-objective artists strove for Sculpture was too corporeal for Rebay's
integration and synthesis in their work, brand of non-objectivity. It could never
while Surrealists used violent transcend its material limitations and
fragmentation to force a shock of guilty privilege the sublime realm of the
6'
recognition upon the viewer. Vasily higher faculties.
Kandinsky, whose ideas influenced In 1946, the young artist Ad
Rebay's articulation of non-objectivity, Reinhardt (who showed at Art of This
wrote that paintings should appeal to Century) visualized a variation of
the soul, their colors causing a "spiritual Barr's flowchart in the form of a tree in
vibration"
61
; Breton, from whom Peggy which the upright, living branches are
Guggenheim commissioned an filled with leaves labeled with the
introduction to her collection catalogue, names of artists, many of whom
66
argued that Surrealism should liberate exhibited with Guggenheim (fig. 97).

the unconscious and unleash the The leaves on a branch that is breaking
repressed. off the tree are marked with artists
Non-objective philosophy focused that Reinhardt, and presumably his
on the lofty life of the mind in order to colleagues, felt were retrograde.
transcend corporeality and commune Although Guggenheim (not being an
with the cosmos, seemingly conceiving not mentioned by name, Rebay
artist) is
of the body as an impediment. is depicted as a bird pecking on the

Surrealist art was grounded in the tree. Instead of being a vital member of
human form, through representing the the growing branches, she is almost a
figure as well as through the viewer's scavenger. Reinhardt's cartoon
experience of the work of art in relation represents another volley in the partisan
to his or her own body, which was battle forprimacy and indicates that
especially emphasized in movable Guggenheim was perceived as an
sculpture and participatory advocate of the art of the future through
installations. Non-objective intentions her support of young artists.

Peggy's Surreal Playground 207

 —

Peggy's Contributions were devoted to women. Many of these

70
to American Art artists, however, are unknown today,

Just as she had done in London, although most rated leaves on the living
Guggenheim brought a number of firsts section of Reinhardt's tree.
7
'
Among
to New York: she held the premier those Guggenheim exhibited who
exhibition of Arp's work and the first remain familiar are Louise Bourgeois,
international collage show, just as she Leonora Carrington, Leonor Fini, Frida
had mounted the first Kandinsky Kahlo, Louise Nevelson, Meret
exhibition in London, among others. Oppenheim, and Dorothea Tanning.
But she is perhaps best known for her Despite well-known uncharitable
financial subsidization and exhibition of statements about women, Guggenheim
the nascent New York School of had long supported their artistic
Abstract Expressionists, giving solo endeavors. She gave novelist Djuna
shows to William Baziotes, David Hare, Barnes a monthly stipend throughout
Hans Hofmann, Robert Motherwell, her life and provided for her in her will;
Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and she helped poet and artist Mina Loy
Clyfford Still, many of whom came of with a number of ventures; and she lent
age as artists under Surrealism's Berenice Abbott the money to open her
influence. In fact, Guggenheim felt that first photography studio.

her promotion of Pollock was her "most Guggenheim held two exhibitions at
honorable achievement." 67 In 1981, Lee Art of This Century devoted exclusively
Krasner summarized Guggenheim's to the work of female artists. The juried
accomplishment: Exhibition by 31 Women, the third show at
the newly opened gallery, caused one
Art of This Century was of the utmost journalist to remark, "Already this
importance as the first place where the New gallery is living up to its promise of
York School could be seen. . . . Her Gallery uncovering troublesome new talents." 72
was the foundation, it's where it all started The second exhibition, The Women, took
to happen. There was nowhere else in New place at the end of the gallery's third
York where one could expect an open-minded season. A
sampling of the reviews
reaction. Peggy was invaluable in founding indicates the climate withinwhich both
and creating what she did. shows were received. One journalist
condescendingly suggested that "other
In a 1977 interview, Hare remarked: all-female organizations should look-in"
on the exhibition; while another used
There were only three places in New York cooking metaphors to describe the
during the early 1940s: Julien Levy, Pierre "giggly" endeavors of the group."' Much
Matisse, and Peggy. She was the only one attention was given to the inclusion of
who showed contemporary Americans: of Gypsy Rose Lee's surrealistic collage box
course she was important. She gave people a construction, and many snipes
chance to show, to see, to be seen . . . she connecting striptease, Eros, and art were
66
supported you. and it was vital. made. 74 The typical reviewer used the
occasion to disparage women artists
Guggenheim envisioned "serving the such as referring to the participants as

future instead of recording the past,"

6
the wives of famous artists —and to
and with this mandate she exhibited the criticize Surrealism. One critic wrote:
work of many young, undiscovered
artists. While a number of these Surrealism is about 70 per cent hysterics,

painters and sculptors gained lasting 20 per cent literature, $per cent good
prominence, others have been forgotten painting and j per cent is just saying "boo"
or lost to history. Guggenheim set a to the innocent public. There are . . . plenty
precedent for showing the work of of men among the New York neurotics
women in her gallery in London, which but . . . still more women among them.
she continued in New York: almost Considering the statistics the doctors hand
40 percent of the artists who exhibited out, and considering the percentages listed
at Art of This Century were female, and above . . . it is obvious the women ought to

more than one-quarter of the solo shows excel at surrealism. At all events, they do.
7S

208 A rt of This Century

Plate 91 . Marino Marini, The Angel of the City (L'Angelo
delta citta), 1948 (cast 1950'). Bronze, 172 cm (67 "At, inches)
high. Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG183.
Right: Fig. 98. Peggy Guggenheim on her bed with Although Guggenheim's and her not pernicious, influence" on American
Alexander Calder's Silver Bedhead (1945-46 ), photographed 80
by Roloff Beny in 1956.
advisers' intentions may have been art ; and in Italy, local officials rejected
admirable, the ghettoization of women what they deemed her "arte degenerata"
into exhibitions designated by the the day before her collection was slated
8'
artists' sex rather than the nature of to travel to Turin for an exhibition.
their art may have facilitated the In Venice, Guggenheim raised
journalists' focus on gender, rather than eyebrows, as usual, for her profligate
production. Georgia O'Keeffe, for one, behavior. She bought a palazzo with an
sensed the disadvantages of a women's infamous past to house her collection,
when she icily informed
exhibition held court with an endless parade of
Peggy Guggenheim, "I am not a celebrities, and generally behaved with
woman painter." -6 Guggenheim her trademark wanton abandon. She
participated in the Surrealist's separatist continued to collect art, supporting
categories in mounting the shows just local emerging artists as she had in
discussed, as well as Exhibition of London and New York. One of her most
Paintings and Drawings by Children, prized acquisitions was a sculpture of an
The Negro American Life (an exhibition
in ecstatic man on horseback, Marino
of photographs of, not by, black Marini's The Angel of the City (1948
Americans), and Natural, Insane, [cast 1950?}, plate 91), which she placed
Surrealist Art, which perpetuated the prominently at the canal entrance to the
axiomatic position of sane white adult house. The conspicuous, erect phallus of
males —who were not themselves the rider was detachable —Guggenheim
categorized — standard from
as the removed it on holy days in deference to
which the "others" diverged. 77 the nuns who passed before the palazzo
Nevertheless, Guggenheim regularly in floating processions, initiating
integrated the work of women into the rumors that she had replacement parts
82
group exhibitions at Art of This of various sizes. The sculpture became
Century, and devoted solo shows to a mascot for Guggenheim and her
female artists, some of whom were collection: at her 1976 exhibition at the
important figures in the New York art Galleria Civica d'ArteModerna in Turin
world, among them Irene Rice Pereira, a photo blow-up of the sculpture was
Janet Sobel, and Hedda Sterne. She also juxtaposed with Man Ray's photograph
collected the work of women artists, of Guggenheim (fig. 90); and the
though much of this art was given away collector standing next to the sculpture
78
or sold over the years. was a prized snapshot for tourists.
The stories about the Marini sculpture
Peggy Goes to Venice, were repeated with delight by
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection Guggenheim, who loved to be
As World War II drew to a close, considered a Casanova as much as the
Guggenheim yearned to return to public loved to make her one.
Europe, which she had always preferred In Venice, she finally established the
to the United States. Eventually museum that had been her goal since
settling in Venice, she brought to the 1939 — the Peggy Guggenheim
city a wealth of art barely known in Collection — entertaining the hoards
Italy, just as she had enlivened London's who came to look both at her Surrealist
cultural backwater, and then New art and the marvelous woman who
York's. In all of these places, she was had brought it together. One of her
subjected to the uncomprehending favorite poses for photographs
criticism of local guardians of epitomizes Peggy Guggenheim's self-
conservative standards: in London, the presentation as a fabulous, surreal
director of the Tate Gallery denied that woman: in it the collector is captured
the sculptures arriving for one of her wearing a slinky Fortuny sheath in
exhibitions were art, permitting British her boudoir, surrounded by her
customs officials to tax them as raw Alexander Calder marine headboard
materiaL 9 in New York, supporters of
; and her numerous earrings mounted on
domestic realist painting considered the wall as trophies of a modern
8j
Surrealism to have "an unwholesome, if fetishist (fig. 98).

210 Art of This Century

Fig. 99. The Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Venice, which houses
the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Photo by Attilio
Maranzano.
 1

Notes

1 would like co gratefully acknowledge the Prevert, Raymond Queneau, Georges Sadoul, wh« h appeared in the same issui of La
assistance of Ward Jackson, Archivist of the Yves Tanguy, and Pierre Unik. Revolution \urrtaliste.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Lisa
Panzera, Curatorial Assistant. would also like
I 10. The i loscsi tins group came u> woman's
,1 16 ( )ne example of this thinking is Allred 1

to thank interns Chrystine de la Vernerc and voice in the proceedings was when one Barr, Jr s com men t in his exhibition catalo

Madhavi Menon, and volunteer Sergio Borges admitted that he asked Ins partner
parti* ipant Cubism and Abstract Art (New York: The
Allan. what she desired. "Talk about complications!" Museum ol Modern Art, 19-56. p. V}$) thai the
exclaimed Breton. Quoted in Whitney Surrealist artists "turned, rather, CO primitive .irt

i.Melvin P. Lader, "Peggy Guggenheim's Art Chadwick, Women Artists and the Surrealist as a revel.it ion ol unspoiled group expression
of This Century: The Surrealist Milieu and the Movement (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, and CO the art of the insane and ol hildren as <

American Avant-Garde, 1942-1947," Ph.D. 1985), p. 103. The discussion that follows is the uninhibited expression ol the individual.''
dissertation. University of Delaware (available indebted to Dr. Chadwick's work.
from University Microfilms International, Ann 17. The Surrealists supported the incipient
Arbor, Mich.), 1981, pp. 23-24; Joan M. Lukach, 11. Andre Breton, Manifesto of Surrealism, in designation "art" lor ritual objc< CS used in tribal

Hilla Rebay: In Search of the Spirit in Art Manifestoes of Surrealism, trans, by Richard cultures. See James Clifford, "On Collecting Art
(New York: George Braziller, 1983), p. 132. Seaver and Helen R. Lane (Ann Arbor, Mich.: and Culture," in The Predicament of Culture:
The University of Michigan Press, 1969), p. 17. Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and
2. Peggy Guggenheim, Out of This Century: Art (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Confessions of an Art Addict (London: Andre 12. In Women Artists (pp. 13-65), Chadwick Press, 1988), pp. 215-51, especially the section
Deutsch Limited, 1979), p. 171. discusses the contradictions and discrepancies entitled "A Chronotrope for Collecting,'' pp.
between Breton's stated goals and real actions 236-46. Note that Guggenheim and Ernst both
3. Lader, p. 31. For descriptions of vis-a-vis women. For an example of Breton's amassed extensive collections of "primitive

Guggenheim's exhibitions, see the appendix of symptomatic attitude toward the female artist, objects,which they greatly augmented in New
Angelica Zander Rudenstine, Peggy Guggenheim note his characterization of Frida Kahlo as "a York City during World War II. Guggenheim's
The Solomon R. Guggenheim
Collection, Venice: young woman endowed with all the gifts of collection of "primitive" art has not been
Foundation (New York: Harry N. Abrams and seduction, one accustomed to the company of adequately studied.
the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1985), men of genius" (quoted in Chadwick, Women The Surrealists' support of the production of

pp. 746-801. Artists, p. 87). Breton's goal was not so much traditionally excluded populations ascribed to it

women's daily lives, but rather

the bettering of a measure of legitimacy denied in conservative,
4. Guggenheim, Out of This Century, p. 209. reducing competing demands so as to foster establishment circles, and, by extension,
their undistracted concentration on the male allowed the "outsider" artists some access to

5. Quoted in Lukach, p. 131. genius. See also Tyler Stovall, "Paris in the Age dominant culture. Yet their art was often
of Anxiety," in Sidra Stich, Anxious Visions: categorized as exotic and naive, which, though
6. Guggenheim, Out of This Century, p. 214. Surrealist Art, exh. cat. (Berkeley: University intended as a compliment of sorts, still

Art Museum; New York: Abbeville Press, perpetuated an idea of inferiority. For the
7. QuotedJohn H. Davis, The Guggenheims:
in 1990), p. 214. Surrealists' complex position vis-a-vis

An (New York: William Morrow

American Epic "primitive" art and culture, see Clifford, "On
and Company, 1978), p. 434. 13. Sigmund Freud, "Delusions and Dreams in Ethnographic Surrealism," in The Predicament oj

Jensen's Gradiva," in The Standard Edition of the Culture, pp. 117-51.

8. Davis, p. 408. He also mentions that Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud,
Guggenheim claimed she slept with one vol. 9, ed. and trans, by James Strachey 18. In a whimsical chronology of his youth that
thousand men before her younger sister Hazel (London: The Hogarth Press, 1959), pp. 3—93. exemplifies the Surrealist imaginary, Ernst
reached that number only because she had listed some of his fantastical investigations:
"started earlier." When her autobiography Out of 14.Chadwick, Women Artists, pp. 50—55. "(1906-1914) Excursions in the world of marvels,
This Century was published in 1946, reviewers See also Chadwick, "Masson's Gradiva: The chimeras, phantoms, poets, monsters,
called Guggenheim "nymphomaniacal" and '"an Metamorphosis of a Surrealist Myth," Art philosophers, birds, women, lunatics, magi,
urge on wheels' in quest of an 'orgasm a day.'" Bulletin 52 (Dec. 1970), pp. 415-22. trees, eroticism, stones, insects, mountains,
In addition, Herbert Read compared her to poisons, mathematics and so on" (Ernst, "Some
Casanova (all in Jacqueline Bograd Weld, Peggy: 15. For a discussion of the relationship between Data on the Youth of M. E.," Beyond Painting
The Wayward Guggenheim [New York: E. P. Surrealism and psychoanalysis, including [New York: Wittenborn, Schultz, 1948], p. 29).
Dutton, 1986], pp. 346-48 [note the adjective of conceptions of the madwoman, see Elisabeth
the title]). Aline B. Saarinen called her "the Roudinesco, "Surrealism in the Service of 19.Another masculine example is Marcel
appasionata of the avant-garde" in The Proud Psychoanalysis," in Jacques Lacan and Co.: Duchamp's alter ego Rrose Selavy. I would

Possessors (New York: Random House, 1958), A History of Psychoanalysis in France. 1925- 198$, argue that the male artist's persona has been
pp. 326-43. trans, by Jeffrey Mehlman (Chicago: The perceived as separate from his costume or
University of Chicago Press), 1990, pp. 3—34. disguise, while the female artist's identity has
9. "Recherches sur la sexualite: Part The Surrealists' interest in the science of been derived from, or presumed to be
d'objectivite, determinations individuelles, mental disorders is shown in their equivalent to, the costume. In support of this
degre de conscience," La Revolution surrealiste, commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of assumption, note references to women's
no. 11 (March 15, 1928), pp. 32-40; translated in Jean-Martin Charcot's 1878 "discovery" of appearances in Surrealist histories, for example,
Jose Pierre, ed., Investigating Sex: Surrealist hysteria. In La Revolution surrealiste (no. 11 Marcel Jean, with Arpad Mezei, The History of
Research 1928-1932, trans, by Malcolm Imrie, [March 15, 1928], pp. 20-22), they republished by Simon Watson
Surrealist Painting, trans,

afterword by Dawn Ades (London: Verso, 1992), photographs of one of Charcot's female patients Taylor (New York: Grove Press, i960), p. 280;

pp. 1—34. The group consisted of Louis Aragon, in various "attitudes passionelles," poses as well asreproductions of photographs of
Jacques Baron, J. -A. Boiffard, Andre Breton, representing the different stages of the disease. female artists rather than works by them (see,
Marcel Duhamel, Man Ray, Max Morise, Pierre The same phrase was used to mean sexual for example, the entries on artists in Erika
Naville, Marcel Noll, Benjamin Peret, Jacques positions in Breton's "Research on Sexuality," Billeter and Jose Pierre, La Femtne et le

Peggy's Surreal Playground 213

 surre'alisme, exh. cat. {Lausanne: Musee Cantonal Schwarz, The Complete Works of Marcel Duchamp
des Beaux-Arts, 1987]; and La Femme surrealiste, (New York: Harry N. Abrams [1969]), fig. 140,
special issue of Obliques [Paris], nos. 14—15 p. 322, cat. no. 289, p. 495.
[Oct.-Dec. 1977}). The female artist also takes

on costume or disguise as a conscious artistic

a 26. Peggy Guggenheim owned The Child
gesture. A theoretical model for this reading can Carburetor in the early 1940s. It is now in the
be found in Mary Ann Doane, "Film and the collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Masquerade: Theorizing the Female Spectator," Museum. For its provenance, see Angelica
in Femme Fatales: Feminism, Film Theory, Zander Rudenstine, The Guggenheim Museum
Psychoanalysis (New York: Routledge, 1991), Collection Paintings 1880-194$, vol. 2 (New York:
pp. 17-32. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation,
1976), p. 591.
20. Kahlo and Leonor Fini are just two of the
Surrealists whose self-portraits and self- 27. Translation from Handbook: Peggy
presentation suggest consciously created Guggenheim by Lucy Flint and
Collection, texts
personas. Guggenheim respected both artists' Elizabeth C. Childs (New York: The Solomon
work, if not Fini's "vedette manner." See R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1986), p. 120.
Guggenheim, Out of This Century, pp. 235, 359.
Fini's The Shepherdess of the Sphinxes (1941, 28. Harold Foss Foster mentions this
plate 92) was exhibited at Peggy Guggenheim's ambivalence in his discussion of the machinistic
Art of This Century gallery. work of Duchamp, Ernst, and Picabia in
"Surrealism in the Service of Psychoanalysis:
21. Weld (p. 158) writes, "Peggy stood out in the A Reading of the Surreal as the Uncanny,"
Plate 92. Leonor Fini, The Shepherdess of the Sphinxes, 1941.
crowd, gotten up in wild, extravagant, and unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, City University
Oil on canvas, 46.2 x 38.2 cm (18 Vie x 15 '/i6 inches).
Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PGI18.
often grotesque jewelry and dramatic, if not of New York, 1990, p. 169.
flattering, outfits." See also the description of
Guggenheim and her party guests on p. 255. 29. This painting had a special significance for
The first chapter of Guggenheim's Guggenheim. In Out of This Century (p. 191), she
autobiography is devoted to a review of her recalled sleeping with Penrose under the
forebears' eccentricities. She begins (p. 2) with a Delvaux: "I was so thrilled; I felt as though I

comment about her grandfather, "Most of his were one of the women." She bought the
children were peculiar, if not mad." She then painting from Mesens in London in 1938 (see
outlines various strange behaviors: her aunt was Rudenstine, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice,

a compulsive consumer of Lysol; an uncle p. 215).

chewed charcoal; another attempted to murder
his family. Crimes of passion always fascinated 30. That the voyeur is male is known from two
the Surrealists. Two of the infant children of preparatory drawings. See Rudenstine, Peggy
Guggenheim's sister Hazel apparently died Guggenheim Collection, Venice, pp. 624—25.
under such circumstances (Weld, "Medea,"
pp. 78-81). According to Guggenheim, Tanguy 31. While in the fables mentioned the
called her sister "La Noisette" (Guggenheim, perpetrators are punished, the pictures usually
Out of This Century, p. 181). downplay or ignore that episode of the stories.

22. See Elizabeth M. Legge, Max Ernst: The 32. See Sigmund Freud, "Medusa's Head," in
Psychoanalytic Sources (Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological
Research Press, 1989). Works of Sigmund Freud, vol. 18, pp. 273-74, an d
"Fetishism," in vol. 21, pp. 152—57.
23. Georges Bataille, "The Language of
Flowers," reprinted in Bataille, Visions of Excess: 33. Film theorists have pioneered the
and trans, by
Selected Writings, 1927—1939, ed. development of psychoanalytical interpretations
Allan Stoekl, with Carl R. Lovitt and Donald of representation. For an overview of critical
M. Leslie, Jr. (Minneapolis: University of texts, starting with Laura Mulvey's
Minnesota Freud
Press, 1985), pp. 10-14. groundbreaking "Visual Pleasure and Narrative
outlined a dream he called "The Language of Cinema," see Screen, The Sexual Subject: A Screen
Flowers" in The Interpretation of Dreams, with Reader in Sexuality (London: Routledge, 1992).
which Bataille was undoubtedly familiar.
34. Quoted in Lader, p. 26.
24. Quoted Maurice Nadeau, The History of
in
Surrealism, trans, by Richard Howard, 35. Rudenstine, Peggy Guggenheim Collection,

introduction by Roger Shattuck (Cambridge, Venice, pp. 329—35.The wooden model was made
Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University by Jean Ipousteguy, who worked from
Press, 1989), p. 25. Giacometti's plaster version. Some of the pieces
that should rest on pegs are now nailed down,
25. The sentence was inscribed in French ("Avez and the two stele forms are angled incorrectly.
vous deja mis la moe'lle de l'epee dans le poele
de l'aimee?") on a disc that appeared in 36. Michael F. Brenson sees this figure as a
Duchamp's film Anemic Cinema. See Arturo woman in his "The Early Work of Giacometti:

214 Art of This Century

1925-35. unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Johns 44. Guggenheim, Out nj This Century, p. 270. early wentu •th-ieniury an
t It extended this I

1 lopkins University, 1974; cited by Rudensi ine, paradigm through the face-off of two important
Pegg) Guggenheim Collection, Venice, p. 335. 45. Lukach (p. s s1nous thai Guggenheim's
>. [936 exhibitions, the aforementioned Cubism and
Psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, who
uted assoi gallery name implied "a direct challenge to Abstract Art and us antipode Fantastit Art.
with the Surrealists both professionally and Untie Solomon's 'Art ot Tomorrow"' (pan oi IhitLi. Surrealism. In the catalogue Fantastit An,
personally, argued that woman herself Solomon Guggenheim's collection was Dada, Surrealism (Alfred H. Barr, Jr., ed., exh.
represents the phallus (see Lacan, "The Meaning exhibited in the 1939 show Art 0/ Tomorrow at .11 New York: The Museum of Modern Art,
.

of the Phallus," in Feminine Sexuality: Jacques his Fifty-fourth Street museum). In A Not-So- [936, p. 9), Barr wrote, "Cubism and Abstract Art,
Lacan and by Juliet
the ecole freudienne, ed. Still Life (New York: St. Martin's/Marek, 1984, was, happens, diametric ally opposed in
.is it

Mitchell and Jacqueline Rose, trans, by Rose pp. 224-25), Jimmy Ernst, Max's son, claims both spirit and esthetn prmc iples" to Fantastit
[New York: W. W. Norton & Company and that, through artists employed at "the 'Rebay' Art, Dada. Surrealism, In Barr's framework,
Pantheon Books, 1985], pp. 74-85). Thus, a museum," he learned that Hilla Rebay was Surrealism, a secondary phenomenon, was
reading of the form as woman or phallus is not "interfering with Peggy's New York plans by subsumed under abstract art, nor vice versa
exclusive but rather, mutually supportive. threatening likely real estate firms if they Within Surrealism he made the formal
cooperated with us in the search for a gallery distinction between automatic and dream
37. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection's location anywhere in midtown Manhattan." painting, privileging the former.
Maiastra (191Z [?}) is an example of Brancusi's
magic bird. The various versions of his 46. For descriptions, see Cynthia Goodman, 56. Breton, Manifesto of Surrealism, p. 14. Rebay
Princess X
and Torso of a Young Alan are "Frederick Kiesler: Designs for Peggy objected to Breton's conceptualization of reality
archetypal examples of fetishistic sculpture, Guggenheim's Art of This Century Gallery," when she stated, "Surrealism came in only
which were considered obscene representations Arts (June 1977), pp. 90-95; Lader,
51 recently, through such painters who invented
of penises when first shown. They both present pp. 115-25; Rudenstine, Peggy Guggenheim this senseless' title to stupefy the public.
the female form as phallic, supporting a Collection, Venice, pp. 762—70; and Goodman, (Realism cannot be unearthly)." See Rebay,
Lacanian reading (see note 36, above). "The Art of Revolutionary Display "The Beauty of Non-Objectivity," in Second
Techniques," in Lisa Phillips, Frederick Kiesler, Enlarged Catalogue of the Solomon R. Guggenheim
38. See Susan Rubin Suleiman's analysis of exh. cat. (New York: Whitney Museum of Collection of Non-Objective Paintings (New York:
transgression as a modernist literary device in American Art in association with W. W. Norton The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation,
her Subversive Intent: Gender, Politics, and the & Company, 1989), pp. 57-83. 1937), p. 8.

Avant-Garde (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard

University Press, 1990), pp. 72-87. 47. "Isms Rampant: Peggy Guggenheim's 57. See, for example, Peggy Guggenheim, ed.,
Dream World Goes Abstract, Cubist, and Art of This Century (New York: Art of This
39. See Rosalind Krauss's interpretation in Generally Non-Real," Neusweek, November 2, Century, 1942), p. 9; and Guggenheim, Out of
"Giacometti," in "Primitivism" in 20th Century 1942, p. 66. Goodman, "Frederick Kiesler," This Century, p. 276.
Art, vol. 2, ed. by William Rubin, exh. cat. p. 94, notes the aptness of the peep-show
(New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1984), analogy since Kiesler had been explicitly 58. In Cubism and Abstract Art (p. 19), Barr
PP- 503-33- incorporating aspects of this mode of identified Apollo with the lineage of abstraction
presentation in his work since the 1920s. and Dionysus with the trends resulting in
40. Rudenstine, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Surrealism.
Venice, pp. 198-205, identifies the various figures 48. Goodman, "Frederick Kiesler," p. 93.
in the painting and their relationship to Dalfs 59. A possible exception to non-objective artists'
obsession with the Freudian conceptualization 49. Quoted in "Isms Rampant," p. 66. rejection of the real is their employment of
of castration and impotence. biological metaphors or planetary, astronomic
50. Goodman, "Frederick Kiesler," p. 93. ones. Yet in each case a spiritual aspiration lies
41. Guggenheim, Out of This Century, beneath the micro- or macrocosmic world that
pp. 261-62. 51. Gallery notice in Cue, January 16, 1943. is evoked.

Goodman, "Frederick Kiesler," p. 92, states that

42. See Rudenstine, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, "Kiesler's design for Art of This Century was 60. In "Genesis and Perspective oi Surrealism,"
Venice, pp. 312-18, for the quote as well as an the major Surrealist architectural project built in Guggenheim, ed., Art of This Century, p. 26,
interpretation of the painting. On in the United States." Breton refers to "the great physico-mental
Guggenheim's first visit to Ernst's studio, in the stream of Surrealism." "What is admirable
winter of 1938— 39, she purchased a work by 52. Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., "The Violent Art of about the fantastic," he also wrote, "is that there
Carrington, The Horses of Lord Candlestick, rather Hanging Pictures," Magazine of Art 39 (March is no longer anything fantastic: there is only the
than one by Ernst (Guggenheim, Out of This 1946), pp. 108-13. Kaufmann had convinced his real" {Manifesto of Surrealism, p. 15). Rebay
Century, p. 216; this painting is no longer in the parents to hire Wright, resulting in the disapproved of what she saw as a frantic
collection). In Ernst's Attirement of the Bride architect's 1936 masterpiece Falling Water. emphasis on objective reality: "The sensation of
(1940, Peggy Guggenheim Collection), the the object has outlived itself. The minds are
bride (who has been associated with Carrington) 53. Kaufmann, pp. 109, 112-13. Wright's model tired of too much reality, brought to us
wears a red-orange feathered cape reminiscent of for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum was confusingly and without effort. There is no rest
Ernst's costume in Carrington's Portrait of Max unveiled in August 1945. unless we lift our eyes to the sky whose purity
Ernst (ca. 1939; reproduced in Chadwick, and endlessness demands no meaning from our
colorplate 20). 54.Guggenheim, Out of This Century, p. 324. harassed intellect" (see Rebay, "The Beauty of
Rebay often referred to her museum as a Non-Objectivity," p. 9).

43. Guggenheim, quoted in Adelaide Kerr, religious temple.

"In House That Peggy Built, Paintings 61. Wassily Kandinsky, Concerning the Spiritual
Dangle From the Ceiling, and the Walls Often 55. Barr's influential catalogue Cubism and in Art (1911), trans, by M. T. H. Sadler (New
Curve," Times Dispatch (Richmond, Va.), Abstract Art included on its jacket an esoteric York: Dover Publications, 1977), p. 24. The
November 2, 1942. chart diagramming the diffusion of influence in Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation published

Peggy 's Surreal Playground 215

its own translations of Concerning the Spiritual in important artists: "Her departure is in my 82. Guggenheim, Out of This Century,
Art and Kandinsky's Point and Line to Plane opinion a serious loss to living American pp. 334-35. Weld, p. 375, notes that eventually a
(1926) in 1946 and 1947, respectively. The latter art. ... In the three or four years of her career as phallus was permanently attached after the
publication was the first translation into a New York gallery director she gave first removable one was stolen.
English. showings to more serious new artists than
anyone else in the country (Pollock, Hare, 83. Her presentation of earrings in a manner
62. Hilla Rebay, "Definition of Non-Objective Baziotes, Motherwell, Rothko, [Rudolph] Ray, similar to her collection of art has a Surrealist
Painting," in Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection of De Niro, [Virginia] Admiral, [Marjorie] precedent in the "photocomplex" of jewelry that
Non-Objective Paintings (Charleston, S.C.: McKee, and others). I am convinced that Peggy appeared in the October 15, 1929 issue of
Carolina Art Association, 1936), p. 8. Guggenheim's place in the history of American Varietes, with the caption "Fetichisme
Conversely, she had the gravest doubts about art will grow larger as time passes and as the aujourd'hui." Foster (p. 173) discusses this
the Surrealists' aspirations: "They effectively put artists she encouraged mature" (in The Nation, reproduction in the context of his
together sensational attractions which are May 31, 1947, quoted in Rudenstine, Peggy conceptualization of modernist fetishism.
usually of decidedly bad taste" (Rebay, "The Guggenheim Collection, Venice, p. 798). It is

Beauty of Non-Objectivity," p. 8). interesting to note that both women on this list
are not well-known. Chadwick's book acts as a
63. Quoted in Lukach, p. 62, and Lader, p. 126, corrective to the lack of notoriety of many of the
respectively. female Surrealist artists.

64. Guggenheim, ed., Art of This Century, title 72. R. F. [Rosamund Frost], "Thirty-Odd
page. Women," Art News 41 (Jan. 15-31, 1943), p. 20.

65. The ethereal work of Alexander Calder was 73.Art News 44 (July 1-31, 1945), p. 26; and
an exception to this injunction. Robert M. Coates, "The Art Galleries," The New
Yorker 18 (Jan. 15, 1943), p. 56: "Thirty-one
66. Ad Reinhardt, "How to Look at Modern Art ladies . . . have got together and cooked up a
in America," P.M. June 2, 1946; reprinted in
,
mess of paintings, collages, constructions, and
Ad Reinhardt, with text by Yve-Alain Bois, exh. so on, all highly spiced with surrealism. The . . .

cat.(New York: Rizzoli, 1991), p. no. main attraction for many visitors will be the
Guggenheim preserved this cartoon in a contribution of Gypsy Rose Lee, a sort of collage
scrapbook, now in the Peggy Guggenheim en coquille ..."
Archives, the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Foundation. 74. For example, Ben Wolf, "Bless Them," The
Art Digest 19 (July 1, 1945), p. 13: "Gypsy Rose
67. Guggenheim, Out of This Century, p. 347. Lee, versatile daughter of Eros, originally
She wrote, p. 303, that Pollock was the scheduled to strip her soul in the above
Johnson Sweeney
"spiritual offspring" of James company ..."
(who became the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum's director in 1952) and herself. 75. Henry McBride, "Women Surrealists: They,
Too, Know How to Make Your Hair Stand on
68. The gallery was also significant to young End," New York Sun, January 8, 1943, p. 28.
American artists because it provided them with
unusual access to European works. Motherwell 76. Quoted in Jimmy Ernst, p. 236.
said in 1982:

77. At Guggenheim Jeune in 1939, she had also

Peggy's place was unique in several ways. It could be held Andre Breton Presents Mexican Art, cited by
treated as a place and it was designed to be
to browse, Weld, p. 446.
treated that way. You were invited to take the
—
.

—
. .

pictures in your hands like a print or a book and 78. Guggenheim notes in Out of This Century,
move them back and forth so that you could see a line pp. 344-45, that in 1950 her "basement
or a surface more clearly in different kinds of light. It was stacked with the overflow of" her collection.
was a small place, intimate, and everything was She mentions Virginia Admiral and Janet
meant to be used, and she felt strongly about that. Sobel in the list of artists whose work she
bought at Art of This Century shows, thus
All three quotes cited in Rudenstine, Peggy filling her cellar.
Guggenheim Collection, Venice, p. 799.
79. See Guggenheim, Out of This Century,
69. October 1942 press release for the opening of pp. 172, 174; and Rudenstine, Peggy Guggenheim
Art of This Century, quoted in Lader, p. 126. Collection, Venice, p. 750. The decision was
eventually overturned after significant protest
70. Only a small portion of this discrepancy can was voiced.
be ascribed to Guggenheim's inclusion of
certain artists due to personal rather than 80. Painter George Biddle, quoted in Lader,
professional reasons. pp. 78-79.

71. In mourning the closing of Peggy's gallery 81. See Weld, p. 368; and Guggenheim, Out of
in 1947, Clement Greenberg included a list of This Century, pp. 330, 374.

216 Art of This Century

Following two pages: Willem de Kooning,
Composition, 1955 (detail).
 ^^l^

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 — 1

Art of This Century and

the New York School

/)/.///t Waldman

InMarch 1939, a year and a half after gallery, said (hat it was he who
she opened the Guggenheim Jeune introduced her to William Baziotes.
gallery in London, Peggy Guggenheim They and their colleague Jackson
decided to found a museum of Pollock were invited by Guggenheim to
Modern art. She persuaded I lerbert participate in her Exhibition of Collage,
Read, a prominent critic and art which was held at the gallery from
historian, to give up his job as editor of April 16 to May 15, 1943, although none-
Burlington Magazine and become the had worked in the medium before.
museum's director. Plans for an autumn Baziotes made The
a collage entitled
opening were well under way when Drugged Balloonist (now in the collection
World War II erupted. Concerned about of the Baltimore Museum of Art) for the
her collection, which included works by show, but the work remains an
Robert Delaunay, Vasily Kandinsky, exception in his oeuvre. Motherwell
Paul Klee, Andre Masson, Joan Miro, recalled that he and Pollock worked
and Pablo Picasso, among others, together on collage in Pollock's studio
Guggenheim stored it for a brief period and that "Pollock became more and
inGrenoble, France; in July 1941, she more tense and vehement as he tore up
brought it to New York, where it papers, pasted them down, even burned
became the foundation of a new their edges, splashed paint over
enterprise —Art of This Century, which everything, quite literally like
was to serve as a museum to display her something in a state of trance."' While
collection and as a gallery dedicated to Pollock incorporated elements of collage
introducing artists to the public. Art of in his drawings and paintings that
This Century opened in October 1942 to postdate the exhibition, he produced
great fanfare and was an instantaneous, relatively few independent works in
if controversial, success. It featured that medium. Motherwell, however,
sensational spaces designed by the went on to develop a substantial body of
Romanian-born architect and designer collages that, like his paintings, are
Frederick Kiesler, a participant in the poetic, sensual, and passionate. Many of
De Stijl movement, who had been the great themes that he developed in
brought to her attention by Howard his paintings first began to take shape
Putzel. Putzel, a West Coast art dealer, in the collages, such as Personage
was one of several people who advised (Autoportrait) (1943, plate 94), that he
her on her collection (the others being produced beginning in 1943. Collage
Andre Breton, Marcel Duchamp, Max became an integral part of Motherwell's
Ernst, and Nellie van Doesburg, the oeuvre, separate in intent and meaning
widow of Theo van Doesburg). Kiesler from his equally formidable paintings. Top: Fig. 101. Peggy Guggenheim and Jackson Pollock,
standing in front of the mural Peggy commissioned in 1943
installed the collection in two main In London before the war, Read had
for her New York apartment. Photo by Mirko Lion
galleries, one for Surrealism, the other planned to hold a "Spring Salon" to
for abstract and Cubist art. Unframed encourage new talent. Peggy revived the Bottom: Fig. 102. Herbert Read. Photo courtesy Karole
Vail.
Surrealist paintings jutted out on concept for her New York gallery and
baseball bats from curved walls, while selected a jury of such notable figures as Left: Fig. 100. Abstract Gallery at Art of This Century.
with Theo van Doesburg Composition in Gray (Rag-ltme)
the abstract and Cubist works were Duchamp and Piet Mondrian;
artists
(1919) in the foreground.
s

suspended on cords (fig. 100). In each
gallery, sculpture was placed on
biomorphic-shaped wooden pedestals.
The opening of Peggy Guggenheim's
gallery and the presence in New York of
many of Europe's legendary painters and
who had fled due to the war
poets
among them Breton, Ernst, and
—
Masson gave young, unrecognized
American artists a taste of the heady
international scene that prevailed in
Paris before the war. Robert
Motherwell, who met Guggenheim
shortly after she opened her New
museum directors Alfred H. Barr, Jr.,
James Thrall Soby, and James Johnson
Sweeney; Putzel; and herself. The first
Spring Salon for Young Artists was held
from May 18 to June 26, 1943, and
included Baziotes, Matta, Motherwell,
and Ad Reinhardt, among others.
Persuaded by Mondrian that the young
Pollock showed talent, and encouraged
by Matta and Putzel, she offered him a
one-year contract with the gallery; he
would receive a modest stipend in
exchange for work. Guggenheim also
York commissioned Pollock to paint a mural

Art of This Century and the Seu York School 22

Plate 93. Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Grand Hotel de
I'Observatoire), 1954. Box construction and collage,

46.5 x 33 x 9.8 cm (18 Vi6 x I2' s/i6 x 3 Vi inches).

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Partial gift,

C. and B. Foundation, by exchange 80.2734.


for her home, and thus provided him
and his artist wife, Lee Krasner,
vital financial support during a difficult
period in their lives. Guggenheim
considered Baziotes, Motherwell, and
Pollock the outstanding artists in the
first Spring Salon. Between 1943 and
1946, she gave solo exhibitions to them
as well as to other important
Americans, including Mark Rothko and
ClyffordStill. Guggenheim purchased
work from these exhibitions and added
an impressive collection of younger
American painters and sculptors
already substantial collection of
European Modern art. Her reputation
for acquiring vast amounts of art in a
short period of time was infamous. In
her autobiography, Out of This Century
(the first version of which was
published in 1946), Guggenheim stated
that when she lived in Paris in 1940, she
deliberately set out to acquire a
painting a day. Her appetite for art
continued unabated in New York,
did her proclivity for moving in the fast
2 Guggenheim
lanes of the avant-garde. Although she
closed her gallery in May 1947 to return
to Europe, Art of This Century filled a
void at a critical time in the history of
American art.
Prior toPeggy Guggenheim's arrival,
the NewYork art scene was in flux.
Many of the younger Americans
working in New York during the
Depression years practiced a form of
figuration known as Social Realism.
Others were members of the American
Abstract Artists, an association founded
in New York in 1936 and dedicated
the principles of European geometric
abstraction, in particular the work of
Mondrian and the De Stijl movement;
the association gained added prestige
from Mondrian's presence in New York
from 1940 until his death in 1944.
Neither the politically and socially
oriented Depression-era American-scene
painting, which depicted the
downtrodden urban masses and glorified
rural life, nor the programmatic non-
objective painting of the American
Abstract Artists proved to have a lasting
effect on the young American avant-
garde working for the most part in
York City. Instead, they were
.
increasingly impressed by two of this
with century'smost important European
movements, Cubism and Surrealism.
The Cubist innovations of Picasso and
Georges Braque were a particular source
of inspiration. The Cubists'
fragmentation of the figure and their
emphasis on compressing volume into
two-dimensional space had a great
impact on the Americans, who were
historically predisposed to flatness and
frontality. However, it was the
Surrealistswho gained in importance,
to her when many of the movement's leading
figures, among them Breton, Ernst,
Masson, and Matta took up residence in
New York. Their active involvement in
the New York art scene, their zealous
commitment to the subconscious, and
their belief in automatism (the
suspension of the conscious mind in
order to release subconscious imagery)
influenced virtually every major painter
and sculptor of the New York School.
Plate 94. Robert Motherwell, Personam < Autopurtrait i
as For the fledgling Americans it was an
December 9, 1943. Paper collage, gouache, and ink on
exhilarating time, which gave them the board, 103.8 x 65.9 cm (40'A x 2.5 ''/i« inches). Peggy
Collection 76.2553 PG155.
freedom and challenge they needed to
invent a brilliant new American art.
The Surrealist influence on the
young American artists began to emerge
in the early 1930s and grew in
importance throughout the decade. As
early as November 1931, the first
significant Surrealist exhibition, Newer
Super-Realism, was organized by
{Arthur Everett] Chick Austin at the
Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford,
Connecticut. The dealer Julien Levy
showed some of the same works as the
Wadsworth had in an exhibition
to entitled Surrealisme at his New York
gallery in January 1932. Levy played a
major role in establishing the
movement in New York, presenting its
leading figures throughout the 1930s
and publishing the anthology Surrealism
in 1936. That same year, Alfred H. Barr,
Jr. presented the historic exhibition
Fantastic Art. Dada. Surrealism at the
Museum of Modern Art in New York.
For Joseph Cornell and Arshile
Gorky, Americans who were influenced
by Surrealism in the early 1930s, the
presence of the Surrealist artists and
poets in exile inNew York during the
New war years was particularly significant:
the personal encouragement of Breton
Art of This Century and the Seu York School 223
 ,

and others was invaluable to them Automatism made it possible for them
at a critical time in their careers. to transcend representational subject
Cornell's Untitled (Grand Hotel de matter, consolidate process and end
I'Observatoire) (1954, plate 93) and Swiss product, and fuse inner vision and
Shoot-the-Chutes (1941, plate 85), among external phenomena.
other of his box constructions, combine Gorky, too, made effective use of the
the Surrealists' fondness for chance Surrealist idiom, often linking sexually
with strange and unexpected symbolic imagery with automatic
juxtapositions of objects. Of all of the drawing or painting. Untitled (1944
Americans, it was Cornell who most plate 96) is in many ways different from
faithfully subscribed to the writings of his more painterly canvases. Here,
a major Surrealist precursor, the Gorky adapted his leanest style to
Comte de Lautreamont. "Beautiful as canvas, using a sort of rude drawing and
the fortuitous meeting, on a dissection giving scant attention to detail or
table, of a sewing machine and an exquisite effects. Line is urgent and
umbrella,"' the celebrated passage from abrupt in Untitled, while in many
his fantasy novel Les Chants de Maldoror drawings and paintings of the period it
(1874), was interpreted by Cornell in his is full of liquid grace; there is anger and

collages and box constructions. Yet defiance in the work, while in others
while utilizing the Surrealist technique there is harmony. Of this and related
of disorientation in time and space, paintings of the same year, Gorky said,
suggested by the random juxtaposition "Any time was ready to make a line
I

of objects and images, Cornell's box somewhere, I put it somewhere else.

constructions of this period also reveal a And it was always better." 4 Untitled is a
disarming naivete entirely at odds tough and demanding work in which
Plate 95. Mark Rothko, Sacrifice, April 1946. Watercolor,
gouache, and india ink on paper, 100.2 x 65.8 cm (39% x with the black humor and disturbing, Gorky begins to explore line in a
25 78 inches). Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG154. often grotesque effects deliberately manner that anticipates by several years
cultivated by many of the Surrealist Pollock's allover imagery.
painters and poets. Moreover, his Pollock's paintings of 1938— 41 are
appreciation of other European filled with images of snakes, skulls, and
Modernists like Mondrian and his plant and animal forms. One of the
fondness for the trompe-l'oeil still lifes most important images favored by
of the nineteenth-century American Pollock was the eye, which figures
painter William Harnett helped give prominently in The Moon Woman (1942,
his work its distinctive quality and plate 98); its usage indicates his
separated him from mainstream familiarity with its role in Surrealist
Surrealism. iconography and Jungian philosophy
Although Surrealist imagery, with its (Pollock was in Jungian analysis for
sexually charged subject matter and eighteen months beginning in 1939 and
ambiguous thematic content, figured continued therapy until 1943) as a
prominently in the work of Willem de symbol of the union between inner and
Kooning, Motherwell, Pollock, and external states of being. Pollock
others, it was the Surrealists' concept continued to use archetypal symbols in
of automatism that radically altered the the 1940s, as in such major paintings as
course of American art. Automatism, Eyes in the Heat (1946, plate 99), one of
linked with Freudian notions of seven paintings from the Sounds in the
the subconscious, liberated the Abstract Grass series. {Croaking Movement {1946,
Expressionists from the external world plate 100} is also part of the series.)
of objective reality and freed them to Sounds in the Grass signaled an
explore in their own work the irrational, important transition in Pollock's
chance, and accident. Unlike the oeuvre. During the winter of 1946—47,
Surrealists, who remained committed to Pollock began to drip and pour enamel
representation, narrative, and and aluminum paint onto large
illusionism, many of the Abstract unprimed canvases laid out on the floor
Expressionists used automatism as their of his studio. Pollock's drip technique
point of departure in the formation of a involved his entire body as he circled
radical new abstract imagery. his canvases, pouring and splashing

224 Art of 7his Century

Plate 96. Arshile Gorky, Untitled, summer 1944. Oil on
canvas, 167 x 178.2 cm (65 V
t x 70 'At inches). Peggy
Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG152.
Plate 97. Clyfford Still, Jamais, May 1944. Oil on canvas,
165.2 x 82 cm (65^6 x 32/4 inches). Peggy Guggenheim
Collection 76.2553 PG153.
paint from every direction. His methods
eventually led him to favor mural-sized
canvases over easel pictures.
In his classic drip paintings of
1947-50, such as Enchanted Forest (1947,
plate 101) and Alchemy (1947, plate 103),
Pollock created a sense of continuous
movement and an illusion of shallow
space that extends behind the picture
plane and often laterally beyond the
edges of the composition. At the same
time, he called attention to the flatness
of the field. As in Eyes in the Heat, there
is implicit in many later canvases,
as Ocean Greyness (1953, plate 102), a
vortex motion that may derive from the
way in which he worked. This whirling
or circular motion occurs despite
Pollock's emphasis on flatness, and sets
up a tension in many of his best drip
paintings that relieves them of the stasis
that would otherwise occur as the result
of his allover imagery. Pollock used his
revolutionary drip technique to
capitalize to theutmost on chance and
spontaneous His allover drip
effects.
paintings are remarkable for their
powerful, dynamic abstract imagery and
large scale.
During the early 1940s, Rothko and
Adolph Gottlieb also developed a body
of archetypal images based upon the
Jungian theory of the collective
unconscious. Like many of their fellow
New York artists, both subscribed to
the Surrealist belief in dream imagery
and the power of the subconscious to
reveal hidden truths. In keeping with
these beliefs, Rothko created a series
of images that, like Sacrifice (1946,
plate 95), indicate his interest in myth.
In 1941, Gottlieb began a series of
pictographs in which he used a grid
pattern derived from Cubist scaffolding,
combined with a highly charged
vocabulary of signs and symbols. Images
of the human anatomy such as eyes, a
hand, and teeth, as well as other body
partsform the vocabulary of his image-
symbols, which Gottlieb believed had
universal significance in the human
collective unconscious. While Rothko
was emphasis from the
later to shift his
visible world and mythic imagery to the
inner world of the imagination,
Gottlieb continued to employ the grid
with its compartments of recognizable
motifs throughout the 1930s. During
the late 1940s and early 1950s, Gottlieb's
work took on an increasingly abstract
quality, but he never relinquished his
interest in nature and organic
phenomena. 1^(1954, plate 104) and
other paintings that indicate his
development of abstract shapes from
pictographic imagery retain an aura of
the mythic and the archaic, while Mist
(1961, plate 105) contains a palpable
physical dimension that links his work
to the Impressionists and the world of
such the senses.
Certain of Still's works of the 1940s,
such as Jamais (1944, plate 97) are
classic examples of Surrealist-inspired
painting. Although Still ultimately
rejected European tradition, the shape,
color, and space evident in this canvas
became the primary features of his later
work. For artists like Motherwell, the
Surrealist concept of automatism
translated easily into painterly gesture
and symbolism. Motherwell's Elegy to the
Spanish Republic No. no (1971, plate 111)
is one of a series of nearly two hundred
paintings that the artist began in 1948
to celebrate freedom and pay tribute to
the Spanish people. Generally, the ovoid
forms balanced by linear brushstrokes
suggest the male and female. Their bold
yet pliable shapes are a manifestation of
human life and fragility.
In 1946, the critic Robert Coates,
writing for the New Yorker, used the
term "abstract expressionism" to
work of some of the New
describe the
York-based painters. The term stuck
but was amplified by others. In 1952,
the critic Harold Rosenberg invented
the term "action painting" to emphasize
the importance of the act of painting.
Rosenberg described the canvas as an
arena and the image that resulted from
the act of painting as an event.
Rosenberg wrote that the "new painting
has broken down every distinction
between art and life." He furthermore
s
believed that action painting was part of
an existential experience that led to a
struggle for self-creation and a crisis in
painting. Self-creation could be
achieved by capturing the primary
experience, the moment of inspiration.
Painting was to be direct, immediate,
spontaneous.
Art of This Century and the Neu York School 117
 |I
\T^
1 J J.

1^

^ W * 1

'\>
m

\ A

JT \
1)
w.
Plate 1 00. Jackson Pollock, Croaking Movement, 1946.

1 fO Plate 99. Jackson Pollock, Eyes in the Heat, 1946.

Oil (and enamel?) on canvas, 137.2 x 109.2 cm
Oil on canvas, 137.2 x 112 cm (54 x 44 V* inches). Peggy
Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG148.
(54 x 43 inches). Peggy Guggenheim Collection
76.2553 PG149.

SK.W
7-«i*A

Plate 98. Jackson Pollock, The Moon Woman, 1942.

Oilon canvas, 175.2 x 109.3 cm (69 x 43 'At inches).

Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG141.

'
 * ^j

7J1* *!Utfn%^. ,

Plate 102. Jackson Pollock, Ocean Greyness, 1953.

Oilon canvas, 146.7 x 229 cm (57 '/^ x 90 '/» inches).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 54.1408.

vJw ^ar^fft-'Way^ ^af^

Plate 101. Jackson Pollock, Enchanted Forest, 1947.

cm (45 '/* x 87 '/« inches).
Oil cin canvas, 114.6 x 121.3
Peggy Guggenheim Collection 76.2553 PG151.
Plate 103. Jackson Pollock, Alchemy, 1947.
Oil,aluminum (and enamel?) paint, and string on canvas,
114.6 x 221.3 cm (45 '/« x 87 '/s inches). Peggy Guggenheim
Collection 76.2553 PG150.
Above: Plate 104. Adolph Gottlieb, tt", 1954. Oil with
sand on canvas, 182.9 x 9'-5 cm (7 2 * 36 inches). Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum 54.1401.

Left: Plate 105. Adolph Gottlieb, Mist, 1961. Oil on

canvas, 182.9 x 121-9 crn (7 2 x 48 inches). Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, Gift, Susan Morse Hilles 78.2401.
Left: Plate 1 06. Mark Rothko, Number 18 (Black, Orange on
Maroon), 1963. Oil on canvas, 175.6 x 163.5 cm (69 '/» x
64 '/» Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
inches). Gift,
The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc. 86.3421.

Above: Plate 107. Mark Rothko, Untitled (Black on Grey),

1970. Acrylic on canvas, 203.3 x 175-5 cm (80 /s x
69 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
V% inches). Gift.
The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc. 86.3422.
Left: Plate 1 08. Willem de Kooning, Composition, 1955.
Oil, enamel, and charcoal on canvas, 201 x 175.6 cm (79 V% x
69/* inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 55.1419.

Above: Plate 109. Willem de Kooning, Whose Name

. . .

Was Writ in Water, 1975. Oil on canvas, 195 x 223 cm

(76 VA x 87 'A inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
By exchange 80.2738.
Plate 1 10. Franz Kline, Painting No. 7, 1952. Oil on
cm
canvas, 146 x 207.6 (57 'A x 81 '4 inches). Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum 54.1403.
Plate 111. Robert Motherwell, Elegy to the Spanish Republic
No. no, Easter Day 1971. Acrylic with pencil and charcoal on
canvas, 208.5 x 2.89.8 cm (82 x 114 inches). Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, Gift, Agnes Gund 84.3223.
 — —

Although the term action painting later works of the 1940s, he was never
became too unwieldy to describe artists committed to that movement. Nor was
as diverse in sensibility and method as his work ever totally abstract, because
Cornell and Gorky, de Kooning and his subject matter remained wedded to
Rothko, it is a valid measure of the the real world from which, for him, all
belief in the creative act born at the imagery stemmed.
moment of inspiration and the Shortly after he completed his Women
unfolding drama that takes place in the series, de Kooning began to search for a

arena of painting. It is an outgrowth of new theme. Composition (1955, plate 108)

the belief in the subconscious and in the contains only marginal references to the
vehicle of automatism first proposed by female figure. Here, as before, she is

the Surrealists and central to the art of torn apart and rearranged as part of an
each of the artists of the New York abstract image. Color and brushstroke
School. The Abstract Expressionist arenewly independent and all but freed
movement constitutes the first truly from form. Composition is a highly
international American style. The original painting in that it signals the
artists who emerged during this period unique direction de Kooning's work was
were challenged by the possibility of taking. In abandoning, if temporarily,
forging a new and heroic American art. the subject of the figure, he embraced
Their work exemplifies a spirit of the subject of abstraction without
adventure and a grandeur of vision relinquishing his commitment to the
unparalleled in earlier twentieth- visible world. By 1955, the image of the
century American art. woman had virtually disappeared,
two groups
In general terms, replaced by landscape images based on
emerged whose work defines the period: urban and suburban themes.
the first, the action painters like de In 1961, de Kooning moved from his
Kooning, Franz Kline, and Pollock, to studio in New York to The Springs in
whom gesture was essential; the second, East Hampton. There, he began a series
the painters Barnett Newman, Rothko, of bold new paintings that differed
and Still, who used color as metaphor. dramatically from their predecessors.
The painters in the latter group purified The beaches, marshes, scrub oaks, and
their art by rejecting the seductive potato fields of The Springs were the
qualities of paint and by ridding their basis for these new paintings. In works
canvases of complex relationships of like . . . Whose Name Was Writ in Water
color, form, and structure. Two works (1975, plate 109),atmosphere fuses with
by Rothko Number 18 (Black, Orange on and transfigures form. In these
Maroon) (1963, plate 106) and Untitled paintings, de Kooning's preoccupation
(Black on Grey) (1970, plate 107) with the sensations and reflections of
exemplify the tendency among the color and light may be compared to that
group to reduce color to its essence and of Claude Monet late in his life. Yet
make it become volume, form, space, even in such landscape-oriented
and light. Having emptied their paintings as these, fragments of the
paintings of the superfluous, they were figure or of objects in the landscape are
able to express both the material reality evident. Color may or may not suggest a
of abstract painting and the incorporeal figure, the grass, or the sky; freed from
reality of the sublime. depiction, liberated from shape and
De Kooning is primarily known for contour, these paintings reveal a new
his Women series of paintings, but they dimension in de Kooning's oeuvre.
are bracketed by two series of works, Exuberant, free, and innovative, they are
comprised of abstract images, that a late great flowering of his art.
complement his interest in the figure. In canvases such as Painting No. 7
Around 1946, he began a series of black (1952, plate no), de Kooning's friend
paintings that incorporated symbolic Kline produced a body of work in
forms with abstract shapes and which he balanced a series of muscular
silhouettes of subjects taken from black shapes against white grounds.
everyday life. While de Kooning used Kline's fierce forms have often been
Surrealist-inspired imagery in these and compared to architectural structures,

242 Art of This Century

Plate 1 1 2. Hans Hofmann, The Gate, 1959-60. Oil on
cm (75 Vt x 48 'A
canvas, 190.7 x 123.2 inches). Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum 62.1620.
Plate 113. Morris Louis, Saraband, 1959. Acrylic resin on
canvas, 257 x 378.5 cm (101 '/« x 149 inches). Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum 64.1685.
 V*

Plate 1 14. David Smith, Cubi XXVII, March 1965.

Stainless steel, 282.9 x M.2-9 x 86.4 cm (in'/s x 87 '^ x
34 inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
By exchange 67.1862.
while his bold brushwork has been seen example) are among the- finest he
as a modern enactment of the drama of produced. Smith assembled and welded
the New York skyline, with its starkly the works in this scries with methods
silhouetted skyscrapers, massive steel similar to those he had employed earlier
girders, and strong contrasts of black in his career. Preparatory drawings and
and white. Kline and many of his collages were created before the final
colleagues, de Kooning, Motherwell, assembly and welding. As soon as each
and Pollock among them, experimented element was joined, the constructions
with black and white because it afforded were roughly buffed to produce
them a new opportunity to explore vital variegated surfaces and an iridescent
form relationships that were different in sheen. For the first time, Smith was able
intent and in effect from the form to incorporate light into his work, as it

relationships in the work of Newman, played off the surface of each sculpture
Rothko, and Still. Because gesture was to create a resplendent luster. Powerful
either paramount or a coefficient of and individualized, Smith's sculpture
color for the former painters, they captures the heroic vision evidenced
retained the element of line and contour throughout the work of the New York
in their work. The latter group, on the School.
other hand, downplayed or eliminated Isamu Noguchi was also drawn to
line altogether in order to free color to Surrealism and to what he called "the
act on its own. sublime rationality of the irrational,""
Hans Hofmann, an influential a trait that is also common to Eastern
and theorist, came to
painter, teacher, aesthetics, as noted by the critic Shuzo
the United States from Germany in 1932 Takiguchi. Noguchi's use of archetypal
and worked and taught in New York motifs and sensual materials, as in
and Provincetown, Massachusetts. In Lunar (1959—60, plate 116), are the result
The Gate (1959-60, plate 112), richly of Western and Eastern influences; his
textured brushstrokes, crisp geometric successful marriage of both traditions
forms, and brilliant color demonstrate resulted in a body of sculpture that has
the artist's belief in the "push and pull" a unique place among the art of the
of the canvas. Hofmann created tension New York School.
and depth within the space of the Subsequent generations of artists
canvas by establishing a dialogue amplified the vision of the Abstract
between his active painterly Expressionists. Artists as diverse as
brushstrokes and his equally dominant Morris Louis, Robert Rauschenberg,
rectangles. He resolved the potential and John Chamberlain extended the
conflictbetween his vigorous color forms of Still and the painterly
brushstrokes and his vivid color by gestures of de Kooning. Louis was
aligning his rectangles to the edges of among a group known as Color-field
the picture plane. Hofmann thus painters, who began to experiment with
created a vital dialogue between two pouring and staining paint directly onto
seeming opposites, that of painterly unprimed canvas. Among Louis's most
expressionism and bold geometry. In successful paintings are his Veils, such as
this respect, his paintings stand Saraband (1959, plate 113), a series in
somewhat apart from either of the two which expansive areas of translucent
main tendencies of Abstract color were poured in successive layers
Expressionism, but in so doing they add onto the canvas and overlapped to fill

another dimension to the painting of most of the painting field. Whereas

the New York School. Louis and the other Color-field painters
Although the New York School emphasized the primacy of abstract
produced fewer important sculptors painting, its color, shape, and size,
than it did painters, the sculptors of the Rauschenberg and Chamberlain
group exemplify the spirit of adventure, expanded the two-dimensional
lyricism, austerity, and, as Motherwell possibilities of the painted surface into
noted, a "spontaneity and lack of self- the three-dimensional reality of forms
6
consciousness." The sculptures in assembled from the real world.
David Smith's Cubi series (plate 114, for Chamberlain's monumental sculpture

Art of This Century and the Seu York School 247

Plate 1 1 5. John Chamberlain, Dolores James, 1962.
Welded and painted automobile parts, 193 x 246.4 x 99.1 cm
(76 x 97 x 39 inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
70.1925.

L
>
Plate 1 16. Isamu Noguchi, Lunar, 1959-60. Anodized
aluminum with wood, 189.2 x 61 x 29.5 cm (74/2 x 24 x
II Vs inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 61.1596.
Dolores Janus (1962, plate 115), faithful to

the painterly, gestural aesthetic of the

New York School, capitalizes on the
—
readymade the automobile to make —
a pithy statement on the nature of
American society and on the automobile
as an emblem of the American dream.
The vital dialogue begun by these
and other artists of the New York
School in the 1940s continues unabated
today. Many of the New
York School
artists were first shown by Peggy
Guggenheim, and became aware of
Surrealism through Art of This Century.
Their lasting importance is a tribute to
her patronage and vision.

Art of This Century and the Scu York School 251

Notes

1. Quoted in Herta Wescher, Collage, trans, by

Robert E. Wolf (New York: Harry N. Abrams,
1968), pp. 299-300.

2. Peggy Guggenheim, Out of This Century:

Confessions of an Art Addict (London: Andre
Deutsch Limited, 1979), p. 209.

3. Translated in Anna Balakian, Surrealism: The

Road to the Absolute (Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 1986), p. 191.

4. Quoted in Jerry Tallmer, "Watch That

Paint," New York Post, June 7, 1980, p. 13.

5. Harold Rosenberg, "The American Action

Painters," Art News 51, no. 8 (December 1952),
p. 23.

6. Quoted in The School of New York, exh. cat.

(Beverly Hills: Frank Perls Gallery, 1951), p. 3.

7.Quoted in Shuzo Takiguchi, Saburo

Hasegawa, and Isamu Noguchi, Noguchi (Tokyo,
1953), p. 28.

252 Art of This Century

Following two pages: Joseph Kosuth,
Titled I Art as Idea as Idea)' {Water), 1966 (d
 more
rivers
 wave

nimit ^flK^ pyj i(j^**

PiMrS iBoTi mV8

 Against the Grain
A History oj Contemporary Art
at the Guggenheim

Nancy Spa tor

Since its inception in 1937, the Solomon describe the all-too-briel historical
R. Guggenheim Foundation lias moments when the avant-garde truly
made it a priority to acquire art of the broke with tradition —
before it was
immediate present, amassing an subsumed into the mainstream culture
extensive collection that reflects the that it initially assailed.

avant-garde tendencies of the twentieth

century. From the 1960s, when The Institutionalization of
Modernist monuments began to be Contemporary Art
viewed as historical artifacts, the As with any museum, the history of the
Guggenheim's approach to the Guggenheim is, ultimately, a history of
presentation and preservation of art its directors and curators — their visions,
evolved into a two-part program, one their values, their perspectives. The
aspect of which commemorates, museum's initial premise was based on
resuscitates, and often revises elements Hilla Rebay's passion for the potential
of the recent art-historical past; the spiritual dimension of non-objective
other focuses on the immediate present painting. While the predilection for
with an eye toward future abstract art has not diminished
developments. Hence, exhibitions of the throughout the institution's history, an
last thirty years have included surveys of appreciation for alternate modes of
historical movements such as German expression has evolved as each successive
Expressionism, retrospectives devoted to administration sets its own policy.
artists such as Constantin Brancusi and James Johnson Sweeney, Rebay's
Oskar Kokoschka, as well as radical successor as director, expanded on her
explorations of contemporary trends. rather narrow and idiosyncratic program Left: Fig. 103. Daniel Buren, I nude (Center of Guggenheim),
1971. Acrylic on cloth, 20 x 9.1 m (65 feet J'A inches x
The Guggenheim's relationship to to include sculpture and 29 feet 9 Va inches). Collection of the artist. Installed at the
contemporary art has, however, been representational art. In 1962, during Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum for one day before the
opening of the Guggenheim International Exhibition. 19JI.
tempestuous; the history of its Thomas M. Messer's tenure as director,
contemporary programming is one of the Guggenheim hired as its curator Top: Fig. 104. Former Guggenheim Director Thomas

conflict and controversy that Lawrence Alloway, a young British art M Mcsser.

constitutes, ultimately, a map of the critic and historian who had served as Bottom: Fig. 105. Lawrence Alloway (right) during
most progressive and polemical deputy director of London's Institute of installation of the 1966 exhibition Systemic Painting
Photo bv Paul Katz.
developments in postwar art. In the Contemporary Art from 1954 to 1957. In
course of the museum's efforts to engage 1952, as a member of the Independent
and exhibit important new work, it has Group — a consortium of architects,
encountered serious difficulties in artists, historians, and designers created
interpretation and presentation; this is to analyze and utilize the myriad facets
not surprising given the radical nature of contemporary culture —Alloway
of the new art forms, many of which fostered an appreciation for the diverse
were devised to subvert existing cultural phenomena that fall outside the
conventions and value systems. realm of fine art: product design, glossy
Aspects of these art forms, in magazines, advertising, technology,
particular Pop
Minimalism, and
art, cinema, comic books, and the like.'

Post-Minimalism, were explored in "The missile and the toaster," wrote

several significant exhibitions organized
by the Guggenheim during the 1960s
and early 1970s. By focusing on the
critical and curatorial issues raised in
conjunction with these shows, it is
possible to construct a history of
postwar art that encompasses
than chronology and description.
the slippages of meaning, the clashes
over content, the dissensions of artists,
and the disputes over aesthetic decisions
Alloway in 1959, "the push-button and
the repeating revolver, military and
kitchen technologies, are the natural
possession of the media — a treasury of
orientation, amanual of one's occupancy
of the twentieth century."' Alloway is
far more credited with having originated the
It is in term "Pop art" in reference to visual
material that is "industrialized {and]
mass produced," as opposed to that
which is "unique [and] luxurious." 1

that the critical implications of avant- Though he initially adopted this

garde activity come to light. When appellation in order to differentiate
examined in retrospect, these conflicts "high" from "low" culture in defense of

Against the Grain 257

Plate 1 1 Robert Rauschenberg, Untitled, 1963.
7.

Oil, silkscreen, ink, metal, and plastic on canvas, 208.3 x

121. 9 cm (82 x 48 inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim

Museum, Purchased with funds contributed by Elaine and

Werner Dannheisser and The Dannheisser Foundation
82.2912.
 —

the hitter's creative potential, the term an international affinity for commodity TI I T I I I I I U
come
has since to define an aesthetic culture was recognized, that
movement of the late 1950s and 1960s nationalistic biases arose and Pop art

with roots England, America, France,

in was segregated along geographic
and Germany. 4 Premised on the boundaries.'
SIX ftllTHS
appropriation of commercial imagery The artists selected for Six Painters
and the imitation of industrial and the Object were solely Americans — in

fabrication, Pop art evoked, celebrated, fact, Jim Dine, Jasper Johns, Roy

and in more provocative cases ironically Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg,

criticized the mercantile dimension of
culture and its perpetuation of mass
consumption.
Given Alloway's innovative approach
and display of art,
to the interpretation
his appointment to the Guggenheim
an institution dedicated almost
exclusively to high Modernism —seems
an unexpected and fortuitous gesture.
His liberal and broadly inclusive
aesthetic orientation could not have
been more dissimilar from Rebay's
quest for the metaphysical essence of
painting, yet his belief in the far-
ranging communicative aspects of art
was in some ways analogous to her faith
in its redemptive possibilities. The key
similarity between Alloway and Rebay,
however, is that both were motivated by
their intimate acquaintances with
contemporary artists and well
conversant in — if not catalysts for
theoretical justifications for specific
James Rosenquist, and Andy Warhol
were all based in New York even —
though Alloway initially intended a
comprehensive national survey. A
preliminary prospectus of the exhibition
included sculptural works by Claes
Oldenburg, Ed Ruscha's oversized word
paintings, and figurative cutouts by
Fig. 106. (over
and I hi Object,
of the iy6i exhibition catalogue Six Painters
designed by Herbert Matter
Alex Katz.~ Perhaps in response to the
rambling, multimedia nature of the
Janis Gallery exhibition or to curatorial
restrictions at the Guggenheim,
Alloway ultimately created a narrow
framework through which to examine
Pop art, one that seems strangely at
odds with his prior affiliations and
convictions. After conceiving an
exhibition that would consist of both
two- and three-dimensional works, he
limited his choices to painters who
represented — instead of actually
— the presented — the object as a sign, a
visual code for the culture of which it is

aesthetic manifestations. intrinsically a part. "What these six

With his introductory exhibition at artists have in common," he wrote in
the Guggenheim, Six Painters and the the catalogue, "is the use of objects
Object, Alloway addressed the area with drawn from the communications
which he is most closely associated, network and the physical environment
8
popular imagery as it is illustrated in of the city." Although each of these
fine art. Initially conceived in August artists was also known for his sculptures
1962 as a comprehensive survey of this and three-dimensional assemblages,
burgeoning trend in American art, the all of the thirty-three works in

show was held in March 1963, the the show were paintings, some with
earliest full-scale museum exhibition to "moderate collage elements." 9 "The
investigate the phenomenon.' Haifa painter committed to the surface of his
year earlier the Sidney Janis Gallery had canvas and to the process of translating
mounted The New Realists, considered to objects into signs," Alloway explained,
be the first American show to deal "does not have a wide-ranging freedom
explicitly with Pop imagery. Named in which everything becomes art and art
after the French movement Nouveau becomes anything."' What Alloway
Realisme, which was founded in i960 seems to have been implying with this
by group of artists including
a diverse statement was that the limitations of
Arman, Yves Klein, Daniel Spoerri, and the technique guaranteed aesthetic
Jean Tinguely, whose works incorporate quality. In other words, the translation
the quotidian object and the flotsam of of popular culture into a mimetic
everyday life, the exhibition featured reflection of itself manifest in oil on
both European and American artists. It canvas brought the realm of the "low"
was at this point of convergence, when into that of the fine arts, and thus

Against the Grain 259

L
Plate 118. Roy Lichtenstein, Preparedness, 1968. Oil and
Magna on cm (120 x
canvas, three panels; 304.8 x 183
cm (120 x 216 inches) overall.
72 inches) each; 304.8 x 548.7
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 69,l885.a-.c.
 " — —

worthy for display in a museum. A unfamiliar within an art-historical

letter sent by Messer to other potential context."Pop art's unabashed flirtation
museum venues describing the basic with commercial vocabulary, its flippant
tenor of the exhibition corroborates such repetitiveness, and its disregard for
a view: previous aesthetic precedent raised
issues that major cultural institutions
"Six Painters and the Object "... is to were not prepared to analyze, let alone
include the best in the general area of what interpret for the general public. It will
has been described variously as New realism, never be conclusively determined
Pop Art, etc. Not to mislead you by the whether Pop art was reactionary in its
terminology, let me explain further that the seeming complicity with the market
exhibition is envisaged quite unlike others of with its assertion of itself as a
this kind. It would not be too much to say commodity not unlike the Campbell's
that it will attempt to set right the mixed Soup cans and comic books it usurped
presentations that have occurred in many for its subject matter — or truly
places by stressing the pure painting forms subversive in its parodic, parasitical
in separation from the crowded assemblages engagement with the politics of
of objects and other tendencies with which consumption. It is more likely that Pop
these have often been associated. art will be perceived as a dialectical
phenomenon — as a critical enterprise
This redemptive attitude is that exploited the cultural drift into late
substantiated in Alloway's catalogue capitalism and an artistic stance that
text, a portion of which traces the was, at times, seduced by its own
artistic practice of quotation from charms. Warhol's career provides the
popular sources to the eighteenth consummate paradigm for the Pop
century in an attempt to validate and As voyeur, antiartist,
generation.
contextualize current practices. Alloway cultural scavenger, celebrity,and ironic
even quotes Joshua Reynolds on the
Sir commentator, Warhol reflected the best
subject of excerpting from the past: "It and worst of postwar American culture.
is generally allowed, that no man need "Andy Warhol," claimed Carl Andre,
be ashamed of copying the ancients: "was the perfect mirror of his age and
their works are considered as a magazine certainly the artist we deserved."
14
The
" ,2
of common property. In documenting veritable canonization of Warhol after
the dissemination of mass-produced his premature death in 1987
imagery and its importance for the embodied in the Museum of Modern
development of Modern art, Alloway Art's massive, posthumous retrospective
admitted that the notion of uniqueness of the artist and the adulatory
was no longer imperative to aesthetic reviews it —
evoked demonstrates how
theory. However, from his vantage point endorsement can
institutional
in 1963, he did not fully comprehend determine the manner in which a body
the implications of this realization, the of work is interpreted. Warhol's flagrant
significance of which would be played homosexuality, the camp aesthetic
out more fully in the 1980s with the of his early drawings of shoes, perfumes,
emergence of a Postmodernist and female movie stars, the homoerotic
"appropriation" art that categorically content of his depictions of young boys
denied the existence of "originality." and transvestites, and the quasi-
The Guggenheim's formalist pornographic quality of his films were
approach to Pop art, which was played down, if not omitted, from
elaborated upon and enhanced by Diane MoMA's supposedly definitive analysis
Waldman in her large-scale Lichtenstein of the Using the Guggenheim's
artist.
,s

exhibition in 1969, circumscribed the important early presentations of Pop

way in which the aesthetic was and MoMA's reassessment of the
understood, processed, and presented. movement as brackets around a twenty-
This underscores just how much the five year period, it becomes apparent
museum was a product of its time, that institutionalized Pop art was and
caught between the desire to embrace continues to function on a relatively
the new and the need to legitimize the benign level.

262 Art of This Century

Plate 1 19. Andy Warhol, Orange Disaster, 1963. Acrylic
and silkscreen enamel on canvas, 269.2 x 207 cm
(106 x Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
81'/; inches).

Gift, Harry N. Abrams Family Collection 74.2118.

 —

of the I hree principal Substances, Sal, Sulphur, nnd Mcrcui The manner in which Pop art Systemic Painting and Alloway 's tenure at
System (si*stim). Also 7-8 syeteme,
8istem(e. [ad. late L. syitenta musical interva were recuperated by artists
strategies the Guggenheim, the museum's
in med. or mod.L., the universe, body of tl
articles of faith, a. Cr. avarrjfAa organized whol working in the late 1970s and 1980s to exhibition programming shifted to
government, constitution, abodyof men or animal
investigate the mechanisms of the reflect the insights of its new curators,

culture industry resuscitated the critical Waldman and Edward Fry, as well as
dimensions of the movement. Artists the increasing predominance of a
L An organized or connected group of objects
1. A set or assemblage of things connecte< such as Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Barbara Minimalist aesthetic in American art.
associated, or interdependent, so as to form
complex unity; a whole composed of parts i
Kruger, Jenny Holzer, and Haim Between 1970 and 1975, the
Steinbach —all of whom are represented Guggenheim presented four
in the Guggenheim Museum's comprehensive solo exhibitions devoted
Til
.istemik), a. [irreg. f. Svstem
-ic7 used for differentiation of meaning instead
collection — techniques
incorporate the to young artists —
Andre, Mangold,
the regular systematic]
1. Physiol, and Path. Belonging to, supplyin
of mass-media transmission into their Robert Ryman, and Brice Marden
in every sentence. 1865 Tvlor Ea'ty Hist. Matt, L a
systematic treatise on the subject.
works in order to expose and undermine whose radical abbreviations of form and
3. gen. Arranged or conducted according to
system, plan, or organized method ; involving the coercive elements of representation, content (for example, plates 120 and 122)
observing a system ; (of a person) acting accordu
to system, regular and methodical. the way it is disseminated, and the way distinguished them from the generation
1790 Bviki liev. France 84 These gentlemen value tfiei
selve* on K.inu *vfttemafuv i->o6 —
Rreir. PrnreW Wl it constructs and perpetuates desire. of gestural Abstract Expressionists that
8
preceded them.' Though disparate in
107. Cover of the 1966 exhibition catalogue Systemic
Fig.
Contemporary Art and the Institution intent, the work of these artists shares a
Painting, designed by Herbert Matter.
In addition to Six Painters and the Object, reductivist sensibility — traceable to
Alloway organized relatively small Malevich's White on White series of 1918
thematic exhibitions that traced specific and revived in Rauschenberg's all-white
currents in contemporary art: The Shaped paintings of 1951 — that pushes art to the
Canvas (December 1964), Eleven from the zero degree.' 9 Andre's austere carpets of
Reuben Gallery (January 1965), Word and metal tiles, Mangold's subtly rendered
Image (December 1965—January 1966), geometric distortions, Marden's
and The Photographic Image (January- sequential panels of color and texture,
February 1966). Guided by an instinct and Ryman's painterly meditations in
for the topical and a predilection for white were not, however, conceived as
narrative closure, Alloway submitted nihilistic propositions. As extreme, and
various aesthetic tendencies to analytical insome cases insurgent, extensions of
categorization. In 1966, for instance, he Clement Greenberg's critical doctrine of
mounted an exhibition, Systemic —
Modernist art which requires absolute
Painting, devoted to a form of American formal specificity within each aesthetic
abstract painting premised on a new discipline — these works exist as
20
conception of planar space, the use of and sculpture.
distillations of painting
monochromatic color fields or structural They are not, however, simply exercises
modules, which often utilized in self-reflexivity. The sparseness of
predetermined systems. "In all these detail in each artist's work does not
works," explained Alloway, "the end- preclude the presence of subjectively
state of the painting is known prior to determined content or poetic
completion (unlike the theory of associations.
6
Abstract Expressionism)."' Dubbed The question of what, in essence, was
"systemic painting" by Alloway, the required for a work of art to be
reductive, early work by artists such as considered "Minimal" during the late
Al Held, Ellsworth Kelly (for example, 1960s and early 1970s is relevant when
Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange,Red {1966, reviewing what the Guggenheim
plate 121}), Robert Mangold, Agnes selected as its representative exhibitions.
Martin, Kenneth Noland, and Frank The term "Minimal art" came into
Stella has also become known as Color- common usage in 1965 after the
field painting, Hard-edge painting, aesthetician Richard Wollheim
Post-painterly abstraction, and Cool- discussed the polemic posed by works of
Art. Although not discussed by Alloway art that required little effort in their
as such, the rigorous economy of formal creation, such as Marcel Duchamp's
means found in such painting served as Ready-mades or Ad Reinhardt's highly
2
the counterpart to Minimalist sculpture, muted "black" paintings. Responding '

then a burgeoning movement receiving to the oft-voiced complaint that art

precursory critical attention. 17 Following created in a Minimal mode does not

264 Art of This Century

Plate 120. Robert Ryman, C/assico 4, 1968. Acrylic on
paper, mounted on foamcore; 12 sections of paper,

76.2 x 56.5 cm (30 x 22 '4 inches) each, 228.6 x 226 cm

(90 x 89 inches) overall. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Panza Collection 91.3845.a-.!.
Plate 121. Ellsworth Kelly, Blue. Green. Yellou. Orange.
Red, 1966. Oil on canvas, five panels, 152.3 x 121. 9 cm (60 x
48 inches) each. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 67.1833.
 reveal the artist's hand, let alone talent, theoretical texts explicating current
Wollheim argued that a work of art can cultural phenomena — indicated the
2'
be determined merely by an artist's advent of a Postmodernist sensibility.
decision, thereby establishing the Brian Wallis has also offered a
conceptual basis of much contemporary Postmodernist, quasi-political reading
reductivist work. Known variously as of Minimalism, noting that
ABC art, Primary Structures, and Minimalism "constitutes a significant
Literalist art, the painting and sculpture cultural and epistemological shift
most frequently labeled Minimalist which continues to be explored in
encompasses the phenomenological contemporary art practice ... a shift
"presence" of Robert Morris's geometric, from a visual to a semiotic, linguistic or
26
plywood sculptures and Richard verbal field." He construes
Serra's metal barriers (for example, Minimalism to have been "a response to
plate 124), the "specificity" of Donald the socio-political conditions of the
Judd's serial containers, the analytic Sixties —
the Vietnam War and the civil-
nature of Sol Le Witt's three- rightsmovement," while linking its
dimensional grids, the lattice patterns formal characteristics —
seriality and
of Martin's canvases (for example, industrial appearance — to "late
plate 123), the luminosity of Dan capitalist mass-production."
27
Hal Foster
Flavin's fluorescent installations, the concurs with these notions, arguing that
slick lacquered fiberglass surfaces of within Minimalism are contained the
John McCracken's planks, and so on. In early rumblings of discontent that led
other words, the category is broad and to the critical rupture with Modernism
ill-defined. The classification that has defined much of today's most
"Minimalist" was employed primarily radical art. Discussing the "crux" of
during the 1960s and 1970s to describe a Minimalism, Foster claims that, Janus-
style — and often
a clean, rational, like, the movement simultaneously
industrial look that relied on functioned as the culmination of
mathematical formulas, predetermined Modernist, purist aesthetics and the
progressions, and rigid, geometric commencement of Postmodernist self-

configurations. Revisionist efforts have reflexive criticism that involvedan

been made to understand the critical examination of the institutional and
28
implications of the genre as manifest in discursive conditions of art itself.

the work of its principal protagonists: "Now as an analysis of perception,"

Andre, Judd, LeWitt, Morris, and Foster argues, "Minimalism is also an
22
Serra. For example, Rosalind Krauss analysis of the conditions of
has posited a phenomenological reading perception." 29 This ultimately led, he
of Minimalism, making the claim that claims, to a critique of the very spaces
the new sculpture did not engage the in which art is exhibited and the
viewer on a private, psychological level, conventional modes of aesthetic display
nor did it affect instantaneously, but as well as a denunciation of art's
rather,through time, activated the inextricable links to the market. Citing
viewer's perceptual capabilities to such Benjamin H. D. Buchloh's study of the
an extent that one became aware of one's Ready-made paradigm in contemporary
own body as a perceiving being in art, Foster sees Minimalism as one

relation to the work of art. Anna Chave

2
'
interval in the "genealogy of
has questioned the supposedly neutral presentational strategies" that extends
content of Minimalism in her from Duchamp.'
investigation of the authoritative While the retrospective reading of
rhetoric surrounding the art, its Minimalism as a critique (or at least a
abundant references to male sexuality, catalyst for the critique) of the
and its rapid assimilation into the institutions and discourses that frame it

American corporate landscape. 24 For is, in essence, correct, the initial

Craig Owens, the dialectic between the transition from Modernist abstraction to
aesthetic object and the critical writing self-conscious critical intervention was
that emerged during the 1960s Judd, — not always a smooth one. The various
Morris, and Robert Smithson all wrote factions within the group of artists

268 A rt of This Century

 k

Plate 1 22. Robert Mangold, Circle In and Out of a

Polygon 2, 1973. Acrylic and black pencil on canvas, 183.4 *
184 cm (72 V,6 x 72716 inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum, Panza Collection 91.3771.
Plate 1 23. Agnes Martin, White Stone, 1965. Oil and
graphite on canvas, 182.6 x 182.6 cm (71% x 71% inches).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Gift, Mr. Robert Elkon
69.1911.
 labeled Minimalist, their In works such as 'Titled ( Art </\ Ida/ </i

transmutations of style and technique, Idea)' {Water} (1966, plate 127), Kosuth
and their discrete theoretical approaches beganto employ language itself as his

precluded the emergence of any one medium. What resulted was a

decisive consensus. Additionally, the rigorously conceptual art devoid of all

moment that Minimalism began to morphological presence; intellectual

receive relatively mainstream attention, provocation replaced perception as
there emerged a counter-aesthetic words displaced images and objects.
known variously as Anti-Form, Post- The Guggenheim International
Minimal, or Process Art that found its Exhibition, igyi — an exhibition devoted
inspiration in the human body, the to the work of twenty-one contemporary
random occurrence, the process of artists from eight countries — served
improvised artistic creation, and the unwittingly as a forum for such dissent
liberating qualities of nontraditional and brought the conflicts between
materials such as industrial felt (for institutional-critical art and the
example, Robert Morris's Untitled museums that harbored it to the fore.
[1970, plate 126]), molten lead, wax, Jointly curated by Waldman and Fry,
fiberglass (for example, Eva Hesse's the exhibition was the sixth invitational
Expanded Expansion {1969, plate 125]), of its kind. Initiated in 1956, the series
and rubber." Simultaneously, a strictly represented the museum's attempt to
conceptual approach to art as a survey up-to-date aesthetic
linguistic proposition evolved that achievements on a global scale, while
challenged all formal, empirical honoring well-known figures such as
characteristics of painting and Giacometti, Antoni Tapies, and Robert
sculpture. Tensions and conflicts were Motherwell. M Prior to 1971, no
revealed throughout the period, often in particular effort was made to feature
exhibition reviews and artists' own specific styles; artists included in the
commentaries. Judd, for example, 1964 and 1967 shows ranged from
assailed then-current art critical Oyvind Fahlstrom, Lucio Fontana, Joan
terminology, while weakly recalling Miro, Louise Nevelson, and Isamu
Duchamp, when he wrote: "
'Non-art,' Noguchi to Larry Bell, John
'anti-art,' 'non-art art,' and 'anti-art art' Chamberlain, Kelly, and Tony Smith.
are useless. If someone says his work is The 1971 International focused
2
art, it's art."' This open-ended exclusively on contemporary work,
declaration of artistic freedom was underscoring the recent emergence of a
hardly representative of the times, for Post-Minimalist sensibility involving
and artists themselves
critics, curators, process-oriented art, Conceptual Art,
were grappling with the very definition Earthworks, and an overall de-
of art as well as its political, cultural, materialization of the aesthetic object.
and economic implications. In partial This exhibition followed a spate of other
Top: Fig. 108. Diane Waldman with Richard Serra during
response to Judd's statement, for international museum and gallery shows installation of the Guggenheim International Exhibit ion. ro~i

instance, Conceptual artist Joseph that recognized and explored the new
Bottom: Fig. 109. Donald Judd during installation of the
Kosuth pointed out in "Art After art forms, often in ways that Guggenheim International Exhibition. 19-1
Philosophy" that "formalist critics and complemented their ephemeral, purely
artists alike do not question the nature cerebral nature; in 1969, for example,
of art." He added: the Kunsthalle Bern organized When
Attitude Becomes Forml Works — Concepts —
Being an artist now means to question the Processes-Situations — Information; the
nature of art. If one is questioning the nature Whitney Museum of American Art
ofpainting, one cannot be questioning the mounted Anti-Illusion: Procedures/
nature of art. If an artist accepts painting Materials; and the Museum of
(or sculpture) he is accepting the tradition Contemporary Art in Chicago hosted
that goes with it. That's because the word art Art by Telephone. That same year, the
is general and the word painting is specific. Guggenheim featured a number of the
Painting is a kind of art. If you make artists included in these and other focal
paintings you are already accepting (not exhibitions — Bruce Nauman, Gerhard
questioning) the nature of art." Richter, Serra, and Gilberto Zorio — in

Against the Grain 271

Plate 1 24. Richard Serra, Strike (to Roberta and Rudy),
1969-71. Hot-rolled steel plate, on edge, 243.8 x 731.5 x
2.5 cm (96 x 288 x 1 inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum, Panza Collection 91.3871.
 a

us own selection of emerging talent practiced among this representative

sponsored by the Theodoron group of artists. For Buren, the striped
Foundation." But unlike those other blue-and-white fabric, the two vertical

theme-oriented survey shows, the ends which were coated in white

of

Guggenheim's group exhibition did not paint, embodied the two poles of his
attempt to contextualize the art, an critical project: an attack on Modernist

effort only broached in the 1971 painting, and Duchamp's Ready-made

1

International, which included work by as "its radical historical other."' As a '

Andre, Victor Burgin, Hanne Darboven, neutral, redundant emblem that is

Walter De Maria, Jan Dibbets, Flavin, repeated in different, but arbitrary, color
Michael Heizer, Judd, On Kawara, combinations throughout his oeuvre,
Kosuth, LeWitt, Richard Long, Mario the stripe parodies painting, yet offers
Merz, Morris, Nauman, Ryman, Serra, nothing but its own effigy. It is its own
16
and Lawrence Werner. Each artist was reality rather than a representation
invited to create installations uniquely of it. And as a prefabricated object

conceived for the Guggenheim's viewed within the context of the

demanding architecture or to contribute museum, it recalls Duchamp's ironic
individual, representative pieces. exposure of art's inextricable
Dutch Dibbets requested that in
artist dependency on institutional support
his absence photographs be taken of the for its legitimatization, while, in
garden window of the rotunda every turn, exposing the rampant
five minutes for the duration of institutionalization of Duchamp's own
December 21, the shortest day of 1970 project. By expanding on the
and prints
(see fig no). Slides possibilities for the production and
documenting the passage of time were display of his stripes, Buren disrupts the
presented in the exhibition. Flavin rarified atmosphere of the museum, an

created an installation of fluorescent act that he explains as follows:

tubes whose light cascaded from bay to
1-
bay. Morris devised an interactive // is established that the proposition {the

environment in which viewers were striped work}, in whatever location it be

instructed by tape recordings to execute presented, does not "disturb" that location.

a number of activities with either a ball, The place in question appears as it is. It is

rope, or pole (see fig. 112). LeWitt seen in its actuality. This is partly due to the

provided instructions for five wall fact that the proposition is not distracting.
drawings (see fig. III). Judd constructed Furthermore, being its own subject matter, its

a sculpture from gray steel sheeting that own location is the proposition itself, which
was bolted together to form two makes it possible to say. paradoxically: the

concentric circles that conformed proposition in question "has no real

exactly to the slopingramp of Wright's location. " In a certain sense, one of the
spiral rotunda. Weiner was represented characteristics of the proposition is to reveal
40
by the two texts he submitted to the the "container" in which it is sheltered.

exhibition catalogue, "Flanked Beside"

and "Done Without." Merz laced
the interior of the Guggenheim's
ascending spiral with neon numerals
that, in accordance with the structural
progression of the Frank Lloyd Wright
Buren had described the banner
without providing specific dimensions
prior to his arrival in New York for the
exhibition, and when it was installed
(fig. 103) just one day before the

design, advanced in increments based opening of the International, the work

on the Fibonacci mathematical caused an uproar. A number of artists
8
sequence.' seriously contested the inclusion of the
It work proposed by the
was a piece in thatit obstructed the view of

French Daniel Buren

artist — theirworks and they threatened to
monumental 20-by-io-meter striped, withdraw from the show. Noting that it

woven cotton banner suspended from had not provided Buren with an
the rotunda skylight — that forced a unconditional commitment to
confrontation between the aesthetic, exhibiting the banner, and since the
theoretical, and ideological tenets work had never been seen in concert

Against the Grain 273

^^^^^^^BfctMf.- i
Plate 125. Eva Hesse, Expanded Expansion, 1969. Fiberglass
and rubberized cheeseclorh, three units; eight-pole unit:
310 x 457.2 cm (122 x 180 inches); five-pole unit: 310 x
304.8 cm (122 x 120 inches); three-pole unit: 310 x 152.4 cm
(122 x 60 inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Gift, Family of Eva Hesse 75.2i38.a-.c.
Plate 1 26. Robert Morris, Untitled, 1970. Felt,
variable dimensions. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Panza Collection 91.3804.
 .

wa-ter (wa'tcr), n. [AS. warter = D. water = G. wasser,

akin to Iccl. ratn, Goth, wato, water, also to Gr. ZSwp, Skt.
udan, water, L. unda, a wave, water; all from the same root
as E. ivet: cf. hydra, otter 1 undine, and wash.'] The liquid
,

which in a more or less impure state constitutes rain, oceans,

lakes, rivers, etc., and which in a pure state is a transparent,
inodorous, tasteless liquid, a compound of hydrogen and
oxygen, H 2 0, freezing at 32° F. or 0° C, and boiling at 212°
F. or 100° C; a special form or variety of this liquid, as rain,
or (often in pi.) as the liquid ('mineral water') obtained from
a mineral spring (as, "the waters of Aix-la-Chapelle"

t 6

wa-ter (wa'ter), n. [AS. wzter = D. water = G. wasser,

akin to Icel. vain, Goth, wain, water, also to Gr. SSup, Skt.
udan, water, L. unda, a wave, water; all from the same root
as E. wet: cf. hydra, otter , undine, and wash.'] The liquid
1

which in a more or less impure state constitutes rain, oceans,

lakes, rivers, etc., and which in a pure state is a transparent,
inodorous, tasteless liquid, a compound of hydrogen and
oxygen, H 2 0, freezing at
32° F. or 0° C, and boiling at 212°
F..or 100° C; a special form or variety of this liquid, as rain,
or (often in pi.) as the liquid ('mineral water') obtained from
a mineral spring (as, "the waters of Aix-la-Chape!le".

Plate 1 27. Joseph Kosuth, Titled (Art as Idea as Idea)'

{Water}, 1966. Photostat, accompanied by documentation of
princed definition with pencil mounted on cardboard;
photostat: 121. 9 x 121. 9 cm (48 x 48 inches); documentation:
14.3 x 11. 4 cm (5 Vi x 4'/i inches). Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum, Gift, Leo Castelli, New York 73.2066.1-.2.
 —

with the other works in the show, the work itself, subsequently making the
museum attempted to orchestrate a location in which this perception occurs '//•'

compromise: a striped banner Buren another determining factor of the

had designed for the outside of the aesthetic experience. Recognizing thai
building would be displayed as planned the physical circumstances in which a 'tuy Of /»vt «i '7 A
during the International, and Buren work is viewed contributes to the way it
would have a solo show immediately is comprehended, artists such as Flavin,

following the exhibition. Because the Morris, Nauman, and Serra produced
artist'sproject depended on the dialectic site-specific installations. What
between interior and exterior remained relatively unanalyzed,
presentation, this solution was however, were the social, political, and
untenable to Buren, and he refused to economic conditions underlying places
participate unless on his terms. for exhibition usually construed as
Pressured by the other artists' protests neutral or as benign cultural >U/4v

and, no doubt, sympathetic to their environments. Also unquestioned were

desire for the unmitigated visibility of issues of spectatorship and reception @ C-yi*Jiat~A*t*S^ 'di^tytS' P<*j-*-

their works, the museum removed both to whom, for instance, are the works of
banners from the exhibition. "This art directed; does the art take into
issue," explained Waldman, "was one of account the gender, religion, or social
incompatibility: there was simply no class of its viewers; or does the artist
way of reconciling Buren's project with investigate his or her mode of
the work in the exhibition." Buchloh 4 '
production in terms of its economic
has pointed out in his discussion of the implications. As divergent artistic
incident that even though the artists' trends emerged out and inof,

complaints were valid, the intensity of contradistinction to, Minimalism, these

their reaction was most likely premised inquiries began to be pursued and (,tac £*Lr-u^- C***. tc*<- -vu*> % i&t ***- Aww
on the fact that Buren's project betrayed continue to be so today. At the 6iri&. . o- ^e£_, i^u^u <iy^- 7^ *-**-

specific characteristics of their work that International, Buren's banner represented

had become obsolete. 4 The emphatic
'
a move away from the formal
manner in which the banner sliced constraints of Minimalism, his agenda
through the rotunda created great being far more conceptually and
architectural tension, activating a critically motivated. Additionally, but
spatial void so commanding in its less controversially, De Maria's
presence that the impact of art contribution — a hollowed aluminum
exhibited along the walls was in many swastika resting on the floor and
cases compromised. On both a containing a metal ball — addressed and
metaphoric and empirical level, the undermined the notion of the art
banner challenged the dominating institution as a neutral container, an
character of Frank Lloyd Wright's objective repository for cultural Fig. 1 10. Jan Dibbets, instructions for The Shortest Day of

structure as well as the institutional artifacts. Entitled Museum Piece (1966, 1970 Photographed from Sunrise to Sunset, the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum. New York, 1971, for the Guggenheim
framework of the museum itself.
4'
plate 129), this ironic work emulates a International Exhibition. 19JI.

Conversely, Flavin and Judd designed child's game but the horrific
works that conformed exactly to the implication of its current iconographic
descending curvilinear ramps of the meaning makes any reference to
spiral, as if they were acquiescing to the recreation utterly perverse. Beyond
ideological, economic, and cultural allusions to amusement, De Maria's
control asserted by the institution. haunting sculpture evokes issues of
The conflicts that arose at the memory, a territory
collective cultural
International as a result of the artists' embraced and inscribed by the museum
territorial tendencies as well as their itself as an institution devoted to the
fundamental theoretical discrepancies preservation of historical memorabilia.
are indicative of the critical differences As an archive of assorted visual objects,
among the various aestheticmovements the museum has traditionally been
of the time. Minimalism undermined considered nonpartisan in terms of
the notion that art exists as an economic or political issues, its only
autonomous entity by including human domain being that of quality. But like
perception as an integral part of the any social institution, it intersects with

Against the Gram 279

 prevailing political ideologies and properties amassed by Harry Shapolsky,
economic realities, its purported a well-connected, infamous New
P/K?/>IL£L LIA^CS, AioT TOUCH/A/b
1/erVTlCflL,
neutrality providing a mask for its own York slumlord, through information
PfiAWH FrZEEHWD, AT (IftVDpM USifiJC
1=001? CoLeRS Cblack yeu-ow, Ret> 9 fr-uej complicity with dominant social values gleaned from the New York County
Mien AR£ uviKptiHLy P/spetseD,
i

mm and its reliance upon public patronage. Clerk's office. Comprised of maps,
MQyimum OEVSiTy.coveftivc, THe ejjtiks
VjfirLL SURFfiCe. It is, therefore, impossible for the 142 photographs of building facades and
contents and programs of a museum to empty lots, data sheets listing their
be considered as entities entirely addresses, the corporations or
L//ves, A/or srtvtr, A/or srfcm&t+r i

separate from the institution's financial individuals holding title, the date of
Rm/poH t£//vt FOUR colo<?s ( black, profileand social obligations. Both the acquisition, and so on, the piece
VeLicvu, Rep eBuieJ^mcHrMe uni- museum and the objects in its collection identifies a strategy of real-estate
Ve/vsiry, cove?.iti/c> thiz etornze w/uu- have their unique histories and neither investment dependent upon the
SuRFnce. should be hidden from view, though exploitation of the lower class by a
traditionally that has been the practice. complex, interdependent network of
In the case of De Maria's sculpture, the interested parties that thinly veils the
uh/£s ^/9&oi<rTt>vo /A/cms loajc.)
5/szxe-T Guggenheim attempted to mitigate the private individual at its core. However
pzpiU/m fir RfttvPoM, us/ a/6 n>u/? coLoes
impact of the work by denying its discriminating the work appeared, it
(3LACk, yeuou;, R<=V 2 Blue), hot Twenty
M/HICH Mle Uk/tFOfcMLy DlSfCI?S£t>, tUITH immediate and exclusive reference to did not include any evaluative
Mfly I MUM D£A/S/Ty £o[/£R/A/& THE BTVTIte
i Nazism and pointing out the status of commentary, a fact that the artist
S\jRFftC£ Of THE MLL,EXCLUP/W TH€
CoORs. the swastika as a universal symbol in a stressed in his defense of the project.
statement it issued to accompany the When Messer expressed concern over
-
piece. As a matter of principle, the what he construed to be a "muckraking
&A-Y ttr 3S~
Guggenheim Museum had rarely relied venture" that might lead to charges of
LiajCS MOT l-OA/6, A/or frftrtt6HT/ VOT
libel, Haacke offered to substitute
,
on didactic material to explicate the
TDuCH/A/6, PRfitty/s AT A?AMf>CM uSiA//,
fbuiz. CoL£>Ci> (BLACK, YeUolv, ftzt) 2 aesthetic experience, but when the piece fictitious names for all references. The
Blue) which Me
vuiFoetfLy Disreittep provoked several complaints, it seemed museum, nevertheless, rescinded its
^ny mm./ mum beNSiVf ,toi/eAUV6 The
ENTIRE W#LL iUftFAte. necessary to ease the situation. 44 While offer for an exhibition, citing the overtly
De Maria's intentions for the work political nature of the work as cause.
47

remain unclear, it inevitably functions "It is well understood," wrote Messer in

B/f-y fF 3.f as a critical device by forcing the his letter to Haacke, "that art may have
institution in which it is exhibited to social and political consequences but these,
STKM&rtT UArtTS, /+?Pfi.O)ClA1A-rt:Ly
6" LOA/6 ,T0VLHM6 /W£> C£oSS/AJC> jmwM confront its own, often convoluted, role we believe, are furthered by indirection
as cultural interpreter. and by the generalized, exemplary force
C0L0/zs(eut^ yeuoy icet) ?u<jb)\a,uw
The Guggenheim was once again that works of art may exert upon the
MIS UuifO&HLy PtSP&ZSeV.H/lTH Al4*-
IMoiap£1^ITy tot/£n/M6 ine EAfn&T compelled to face these issues when, environment, not, as you propose, by
(

immediately following the International, using political means to achieve

Messer canceled the Conceptual artist political ends." Advocating the
Hans Haacke's exhibition, scheduled to metaphoric aspects of art that affect by
open on the grounds
in April 1971, allusion and suggestion, Messer
that portions of the show were dismissed Haacke's art for its specificity

"inappropriate for presentation." 45 The and unabashed directness. As with

its

objectionable works proposed for the De Maria's sculpture, and to some

Guggenheim, all premised on Haacke's
investigation of existing social systems,
consisted of a visitors' poll containing
ten demographic questions about age,
gender, education, and the like, and ten
questions regarding current cultural and
political issues (for example, "Do you
sympathize with Women's Lib?" and
"In your opinion, should the general
orientation of the country be more
less conservative?"), as well as two
documentary presentations of major
Manhattan real-estate holdings. 46 The
work that caused the most apprehension
recorded and illustrated the myriad
extent with Pop art, the museum
sought to sustain the supposedly neutral
tenor of its discourse through the
repression of controversial content.
Though Haacke disavowed Messer's
description of his project as overtly
claiming the work to be
political,
nothing more than the explication of a
particular social system, the issue at
or hand was more far-reaching. What
emerged from the Haacke controversy
were questions regarding the degree to
which a museum, as an institution in
the public realm, could be considered a
private "sanctuary"; whether all art

280 ArtofTh^ i
forms and their institutional avant-garde gesture, such work has now
'/hmMmm, ihi-
presentation might be interpreted as been incorporated into, it not embraced
political in that they inexorably respond by, the institutions it attempted to
to (or against) prevalent ideologies; and expose and subvert. In some cases,
to what extent the Guggenheim, or any museums themselves have become more
city museum, could extricate itself from critically reflexive by questioning their
the urban power structures centered own complicity with hegemonic
around class systems, segregation, and cultural values and examining their
economic inequity. If laced with picture place within the larger social fabric.
after picture of crumbling tenements Their self-directed investigations are
and litter-strewn empty lots, the manifest in a shift in programming to
pristine white walls of the museum on include more artists whose work
Fifth Avenue would have only served to inspires such critique, exhibitions that
ML/
reinforce the geographic and financial reflect the multicultural flavor of society
discrepancies operative in the city. or reexamine inherited art-historical
The Haacke affair created a convention, and publications that
controversy that reverberated articulate the theoretical questions at
throughout the art world; petitions hand. For the Guggenheim Museum,
were signed against the Guggenheim's this has been a slow but invigorating
act of "censorship" and artists process. The exhibition Jenny Holzer, in
demonstrated outside the museum. Fry, which incisive, often acerbic, statements
Left: Fig. 11 1. Sol LeWitt, instructions tor En, Wail
the curator responsible for the show, was about our various and indeterminate
Drawings, 1971, for the Guggenheim International Exhibition.
dismissed when he opposed the cultural realities circled around the 1971.

administration's decision and issued a rotunda's spiral in one continuous LED

Above: Fig. 1 12. Robert Morris, instructions for
public statement in favor of the artist. sign (fig. 119), was one example of the Instruction-Leaming-Memory, 1971, for the Guggenheim
Haacke himself achieved a notoriety museum's continuous effort to explore International Exhibition, 1971.

that far exceeded what the exhibition and confront the issues intrinsic to
itself would have earned for him. His important contemporary art. 49 By 1989,
real-estate project became, through its when the show was mounted, most of
denunciation, an art-historical entity, a the art-viewing public had become
work martyred to the cause of rebellious familiar with such critical, self-reflexive
art, a progeny of Duchamp's urinal. work. The exhibition, therefore, caused
For the Guggenheim, the Haacke little to no controversy. If it had been

scandal was, like the Buren debacle, a organized twenty years earlier, however,
somber event. In retrospect, these this show of a woman's monumental
incidents embody the dialectical and object/text that interrogates our very
polemical nature of contemporary art belief systems and the language used to
that endeavored to disrupt the discuss them would have undoubtedly
supposedly seamless, neutral facade of provoked great institutional tension.
the museum from within the very frame The question remains, however, whether
of the institution. This frame does not art without conflict can incite and
just connote the physical environment motivate in ways that still seem vital to
in which work is exhibited and our cultural survival.
appreciated as aesthetic phenomena, but
also refers to the discourses through
which art is inscribed and
circumscribed, the social and economic
system through which it is acquired,
and the theoretical foundations from
which it emerges and, subsequently,
perpetuates. In other words, the
sophisticated, subversive nature of
Haacke 's and Buren's projects made it

virtually impossible for the museum to

comfortably exhibit and condone them
since they undermined the institution's
4S
very premise. Ultimately, as with any

Against the Grain 281

Left: Plate 128. Walter De Maria, Cross, 1965-66
Aluminum, cm (4 x 42 x 22
10.2 x 106.7 x 55.9 inches).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 73.2033.

Center: Plate 129. Walter De Maria, Museum Piece, 1966.

Aluminum, cm (4
10.2 x 91.5 x 91.5 x 36 x 36 inches).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 73.2034.

Right: Plate 130. Walter De Maria, Star, 1972.

Aluminum, cm (4
10.2 x in. 8 x 127 x 44 x 50 inches).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 73.2035.
Notes

i. While involved with the Independent Group, International 7, no. 7 [September 1963}, of Lichtenstein's style in her catalogue essay on
Alloway and fellow member John McHale pp. 37—43), posits these artists as apolitical the artist. She suggests that it is critical "to see
organized a series of public lectures, examples of champions of all that is popular and the formal aspect of his paintings and to
which are indicative of the association's entertaining in American culture: "Instead understand that was not the imagery that was
it

concerns: "Probability and Information Theory of rejecting the deplorable and grotesque solely important. wasn't denying that it fed
I

and Their Application to the Visual Arts," products of the modern commercial industrial his painting, but for me, at the time and still,

"Advertising 2, Sociology in the Popular Arts," world — the world of the hard sell and all it the best of Pop art is both about its subject and
"Fashion and Fashion Magazines," and implies . . . — these new artists have turned its formal properties." Unpublished interview

"Aesthetics and Italian Product Design." In with relish and excitement to . . . television with Lewis Kachur, October 24, 1986.
addition to discussions and symposia, the commercials, comic strips, hot dog stands, Manuscript in the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Independent Group participated in and curated billboards, junk yards, hamburger joints, used Museum Archives.
most renowned being This is
exhibitions, the car lots, juke boxes, slotmachines and
Tomorrow Today held at the Whitechapel Art supermarkets. They have done so not in the 14. Quoted in Kynaston McShine, ed., Andy
Gallery in 1956. Included in this spirit of social criticism
. . but out of an
. . . . Warhol: A Retrospective, exh. cat. (New York:
groundbreaking show was an installation affirmative and unqualified commitment to . . . The Museum of Modern Art, 1989), p. 436. The
designed by Independent Group members a fantastic new wonderland,
more properly, or, present essay was completed prior to the
McHale, Richard Hamilton, and John Voelcker Disneyland." This analogy between 1960s exhibition Hand-Painted Pop: American Art in
that consisted of an architectural environment America and Disneyland has familiar echoes in Transition, 1955-62, which opened in December
crammed with a multitude of visual stimuli Jean Baudrillard's treatise on the American 1992 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los
gleaned from popular culture — film posters, a cultural landscape (America, trans, by Chris Angeles. While the exhibition focused
life-sizedimage of Marilyn Monroe, a giant beer Turner {London: Verso, 1988]), which he likens exclusively on the painterly quality of earlyPop
bottle, and optical illusions —
accompanied by to Disneyland. accompanying catalogue examines the
art, its

an audio collage created from jukebox conceptual, economic, and social contexts in
recordings combined with the taped sounds of 6. The catalogue for The New Realists was which the work was created through essays such
previous visitors to the exhibit. An immense written by poet/critic John Ashbery, Pierre as Kenneth E. Silver's "Modes of Disclosure:
cardboard cutout of a sci-fi robot clutching a Restany, the French critic who originated the The Construction of Gay Identity and the Rise
barely clad, futuristic Fay Wray framed the term Nouveau Realisme, and gallery owner of Pop Art," and David Deitcher's
entrance to the installation. Sidney Janis. A prejudice toward the American "Unsentimental Education: The
incarnation of Pop art is clearly stated in at Professionalization of the American Artist."
2. Lawrence Alloway, "The Long Front of least two reviews of the show: T. B. H. [Thomas
Culture," in This is Tomorrow Today; The B. Hess], "New Realists at Janis Gallery," Art 15. For further discussion regarding the
Independent Group and British Pop Art, exh. cat. News (December 1963), p. 12, and S. T.
61 reception of Warhol, see my article "Andy and
(New York: The Institute for Art and Urban [Sidney Tillim], "The New Realists at Janis After," Artscribe, no. 76 (summer 1989), pp. 7-8.
Resources, The Clocktower, 1987), p. 33. Gallery," Arts Magazine 37 (December 1962),
Reprinted from Cambridge Opinion, no. 17 (1959). pp. 43-44. "The European entries," wrote Hess, 16. Lawrence Alloway, Systemic Painting, exh.
"look feeble in this line-up." "Americans," cat.(New York: The Solomon R. Guggenheim
3. Lawrence Alloway and Robert Adams, claimed Tillim, "dominate the exhibition. . . . Foundation, 1966), p. 19. Reprinted in Gregory
"Personal Statement," Ark, no. 19 (March 1957), There is nothing Surreal, nothing coated with Battcock, ed., Minimal Art: A Critical Anthology
pp. 28-29. ennui, about the Americans. They give you the (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1968), pp. 37-60. In
thing itself —pow!" Conversely, Restany argued reaction to Clement Greenberg's rigid, formalist
4. For an overview of the evolution of British in a separate article that the American version of reading of such abstract painting, Alloway
Pop art and its reception in relation to Nouveau Realisme was far weaker than its insisted that the variations and fluctuations
analogous but not equivalent developments in European counterpart in that it merely made a within each system imparted emotional and
American art, see Lynne Cooke, "The fetish of the object through trompe-l'oeil. "I ask iconographical content. For him, systems were
Independent Group: British and American Pop myself," he claimed, "if one will speak about entirely open-ended: "A system is not
Art, a 'Palimpcestuous' Legacy," Modern Art and Lichtenstein and Warhol in two or three years." antithetical to the values suggested by such art-
Popular Culture: Readings in High and Low (New See Restany, "Le Nouveau Realisme a la world clusters as humanist, organic, and
York: The Museum of Modern Art and Harry Conquete de New York," Art International 7, process. On the contrary, while the artist is

N. Abrams, 1990), pp. 192-216. Andreas no. 1 (January 1963), pp. 29-36. engaged with it, a system is a process. The . . .

Huyssen discusses the critical debate predictive power of the artist, minimized by the
surrounding the attention to popular culture in 7. In the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum prestige of gestural painting, is strongly
Germany during the 1960s, in "The Cultural Exhibition Archives. operative" (p. 19).
Politics of Pop," in Paul Taylor, ed., Post-Pop
Art (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1989), 8. Lawrence Alloway, Six Painters and the Object, 17. In his catalogue text, Alloway indicated that
pp. 45-77; reprinted from New German Critique, exh. cat. (New York: The Solomon R. he had planned to exhibit "systemic" sculpture
no. 4(1975). Guggenheim Foundation, 1963), p. 7. as well when he initially conceived the show in
1964, but the Jewish Museum had dedicated the
5.The Washington Gallery of Modern Art 9. Ibid. exhibition Primary Structures to such work
(Washington, D.C.) mounted the exhibition during the spring of 1966. See Alloway, Systemic
The Popular Image in April 1963. Curated by 10. Ibid. Painting, p. 21, note 8.
Alice Denney, it included works by George
Brecht, Jim Dine, Jasper Johns, Roy 11. Letter in the Solomon R. Guggenheim 18. The first three of these exhibitions were
Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Museum Exhibition Archives (emphasis mine). curated by Diane Waldman, and Brice Marden
Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Andy by assistant curator Linda Shearer.
Warhol, Robert Watts, John Wesley, and Tom 12. Alloway, Six Painters and the Object, p. 10.
Wesselmann. The catalogue essay by Alan R. 19. The art-historical sources for Minimalism are
Solomon, "The New Art" (reprinted in Art 13. Waldman emphasized the abstract elements myriad; prototypes for 1960s monochrome

284 Art of This Century

 —

pointing can be- found in the art ot Aleksandr Reviewed," Burlington Magazine 131, no. 1038 Walker, Peter Young, and Zorio, and the
Rodchenko, Bamett Newman, Ad Reinhardt, (September 19H9), p. 643. second,in [971, with Power Boothe,

Mark Rothko, Yves Klein, and Piero Manzoni. Ron Cooper, Billy Bryant Copley, Mary
For a brief critical text on the lineage ot 27. Quoted in Frances Colpitt, Minimal Art: Corse, Guy Dill, Andrew (icrndt. Harriet
reductivist art, see Barbara Rose, "ABC Art," The Critical Perspective (Ann Arbor: UMI Korrnan, Dona Nelson, Michael Singer,
Art in America 53, no. 5 (October-November Research Press, 1990), p. 134. and George Irakis, were (.united by Fry and
1965), pp. 57-69; reprinted in Battcock, Waldman. The third and last exhibition,
pp. 274-97. 28. Hal Foster, "The Crux of Minimalism," in in 1977, featuringJohn Duff. Steve Gianakos,
Howard Singerman, ed., Individuals: A Selected Darryl Hughto, Michael Hurson. Mary
20. For an in-depth discussion about the History of Contemporary Art 1945-1986, exh. cat. Miss, Elizabeth Murray, Kathenne Porter,
generation of artists who, following Stella's (Los Angeles: The Museum of Contemporary Allen Ruppersberg, and James Surls was
black-stripe paintings and aluminum shaped Art, 1986), pp. 162-83. curated by assistant curator Linda Shearer.
canvases, embraced Greenberg's formalist These showcases for emerging talent were
dictum but later, having taken the notions of 29. Ibid., p. 177. revived in 1978 with Exxon Corporation-
Harness and self-reflexivity to the logical supported exhibitions, which, held
conclusion of the blank monochrome, explored Benjamin H. D. Buchloh,
30. Ibid., p. 178. See annually until 1986, alternated between
the "objecthood" of art, see Thierry de Duve, "Allegorical Procedures: Appropriation and presentations of international and exclusively
"The Monochrome and the Blank Canvas," Montage in Contemporary Art," Artforum 21, American artists.

in Serge Guilbaut, ed., Reconstructing Modernism: no. (September 1982), pp. 43-56.
1

Art in New York. Paris, and Montreal 1945-1964 36. Given that Waldman took responsibility for
(Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1990), 31. In 1968, Morris, who, along with Judd, had the European and American sections of the
pp. 244-310. articulated the formal and theoretical tenets of exhibition, all but two of the selections were
Minimalist sculpture in their critical texts, hers; Fry chose Brazilian artist Antonio Dias
21. Richard Wollheim, "Minimal Art," Arts published his prolegomenon to an aesthetic and Japanese artist Jiro Takamatsu. Although
Magazine 39, no. 4 (January 1965), pp. 26-32. sensibility thatseemed the utter antithesis of the list of participants is impressive for its

Reprinted in Battcock, pp. 387-99. Minimalism. See Robert Morris, "Anti-Form," breadth, the fact that the majority of artists are
Artforum 6, no. 8 (April 1968), pp. 33-35. Ever American did not go unnoticed by the critics.
22. The work of Larry Bell, Walter De Maria, the observer and catalyst, Morris was no doubt However, as in any group show, the list of
and Dan Flavin may also be considered in participating in artistic developments here and omissions is instructive as to matters of taste
this category. Although Minimalism is abroad affected by Joseph Beuys in Germany, and institutional policy but remains, ultimately,
generally regarded as a three-dimensional Mario Merz and Gilberto Zorio in Italy, and an act of futility. One can ask, for instance, why
genre, the contemporaneous work of many Hesse, Serra, Bruce Nauman, Smithson, and Vito Acconci, Beuys, Mel Bochner, Dan
painters —
Alan Charlton, Bob Law, Mangold, others in the United States. Graham, Douglas Huebler, Dennis Oppenheim,
Marden, Martin, and Ryman demands — and Smithson were not included, but this
like consideration. For reappraisals of 32. Reprinted in DonaldJudd: Complete Writings remains merely an exercise in naming. The
Minimalism, see in particular Rosalind Krauss's I9S9-I975 (Halifax: The Press of the Nova Scotia absence of Hesse is less disconcerting in that the
The Originality of the Avant -Garde and Other College of Art and Design; New York: New museum organized her memorial retrospective a
Modernist Myths (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, York University Press, 1975), p. 190. year later.
1985); Passages in Modern Sculpture (New York:
Viking Press, 1977); and "Richard 33. Joseph Kosuth, "Art After Philosophy," and 37. Flavin re-created this piece, extending it

Serra/Sculpture," in Richard Serra /Sculpture, "Art After Philosophy, Part II," Studio throughout the entire rotunda, for the
exh. cat. (New York: The Museum of Modern International 178, no. 915 (October 1969), Guggenheim's 1992 exhibition marking the
Art, 1986), pp. 15-39. pp. 134-37, an d no. 916 (November 1969), reopening of the museum after an extensive
pp. 160—61. Reprinted in Ursula Meyer, renovation and expansion.
23. It was precisely this temporal aspect of Conceptual Art (New York: E. P. Dutton,
Minimalism that had incited Michael 1972), p. 161. 38. Since 1970, Merz has incorporated the
Fried's now infamous attack against the Fibonacci formula of mathematical progression
genre. Finding the introduction of temporality a 34. The first three of the exhibitions were into his works. Originally conceived by
threat to the Modernist vision of pure presence, selected by an international committee and the medieval monk Leonardo da Pisa (known as
of instantaneous comprehension, Fried awards were bestowed on particular artists. In Fibonacci) and explicated in his Liber Abacci of
condemned what he considered to be a 1964, Alloway assembled the group of invited 1202 and 1228, the formula is a sequence in
contamination of sculpture by the theatrical. artists, while three judges — Hans Hofmann, which each number equals the sum of the two
A follower of Greenberg's denunciation of the Arnold Rudinger, and Werner Haftmann numbers that precede it: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 . . .

interdisciplinary in art, he could not were engaged to grant awards of excellence. By His observations were based on the
condone the breakdown of rigid aesthetic 1967, when Fry (who was not yet an associate reproduction of rabbits beginning with
categories. See Fried, "Art and Objecthood," curator at the Guggenheim) organized the one pair and expanding, ultimately, to
Artforum 5, no. 10 (June 1967), pp. 12-23. survey Sculpture from Twenty Nations as the fifth infinity. Corresponding to biological, spatial,
Revised version in Battcock, pp. 116—47. International, the notion of awards had been and temporal dimensions, Fibonacci
transferred into museum-purchase prizes. progressions relate to the proliferation and
24. Anna Chave, "Minimalism and the Rhetoric growth of organic materials leaves, reptile —
of Power," Arts Magazine 64, no. 5 (January 35. Beginning in 1969, the Theodoron skins, deer antlers, pinecones, seashells — items
1990), pp. 44-63- Foundation, comprised of anonymous members, or images that Merz often uses in his art.
supported a series of small invitational
25. Craig Owens, "Earthwords," October 10 exhibitions of young artists and the purchase of 39. This description of Buren's project is

(fall 1979), pp. 121-30. one work by each participant. The first show, borrowed from Benjamin H. D. Buchloh,
featuring Dan Christensen, Barry Flanagan, "Conceptual Art 1962— 1969," October 55 (winter
26. Quoted in Lynne Cooke, "Minimalism Nauman, Richter, James Seawright, Serra, John I99°)i P- 137-

Against the Gram 285

 40. Daniel Buren, "Beware," Studio International Statement in the Solomon R. Guggenheim
179, no. 920 (May 1970), pp. 100-04. Reprinted Museum Archives. Haacke had created a similar
in Meyer, p. 74. poll the year before for MoMA's Information
exhibition. This poll only asked one question:

41. See "Gurgles Around the Guggenheim," "Would the fact that Governor Rockefeller has
Studio International 181, no. 934 (June 1971), not denounced President Nixon's Indochina
pp. 246-250, in which Waldman's response to policy be a reason for you not to vote for him in

the occurrences at the Guggenheim International November?"

and Buren's detailed defense of his project are
published. The quote is from p. 248. 47. For a detailed analysis of Haacke's canceled
exhibition at the Guggenheim, see Rosalyn
42. Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, "Formalism and Deutsche, "Property Values: Hans Haacke, Real
Historicity —
Changing Concepts in American Estate and the Museum," in Hans Haacke:
and European Art Since 1945," in Europe in the Unfinished Business, exh. cat. (New York: The
Seventies: Aspects of Recent Art, exh. cat. (Chicago: New Museum of Contemporary Art, 1986),
The Art Institute of Chicago, 1977), pp. 82-m. pp. 20-37. The catalogue also includes
In this essay, he claims that the American reproductions of a portion of the controversial
approach to art during the early to mid-1970s work, Shapolsky et al. Manhattan Real Estate
tended to be formalist in its focus on the Holdings, a Real-Time Social System, as of May 1.

physical attributes of a work, while the 1971, which exists today in an edition of two.
European critical practice of historicity situated See pp. 92-97. The cancellation generated a
an art work within its sociopolitical climate. debate between Haacke and Messer that was
The following (from pp. 91-92) summarizes published in a number of art magazines and
his thesis: discussed in several editorial pieces. The
exhibition catalogue provides a comprehensive
Both concepts {formalism and historicity} have to be bibliography.
regarded as the opposite ends of an axis on which art
activities seem to be permanently shifting according to 48. This critical approach can be described as a
their own and to historical conditions. Of course deconstructive process about which Jacques
neither of them could be called specific per se to Derrida has written: "The movements of
European and American art of the recent decades, but deconstruction do not destroy structures from
it seems that at precisely the point where the major the outside. They are not possible and effective,
European artists of the present like Buren, nor can they take accurate aim, except by
Broodthaers, Richter developed an entirely inhabiting those structures." Quoted by Craig
—
. . .

changed notion of the artist's relation to history Owens in "From Work to Frame, Or is There
—
which was around 1965 a strong current of Life After 'The Death of the Author,'" in
formalist identification with art seems to have been Implosion: Ett postmodernt perspektiv I A Postmodern
representative for the American situation. Perspective, exh. cat. (Stockholm, 1988), p. 209.

43. In Buchloh's (and Buren's) opinion, 49. The exhibition was curated by Waldman.
Wright's design for the museum is, in effect,
quite polemical. "It could be argued," Buchloh
explained, "that Wright's museum seriously
questions and 'exposes' the historical character
of easel painting for whose exhibition and
installation it was paradoxically constructed."
See Buchloh, "Formalism and Historicity,"
p. 102.

44. In her review of the International, Barbara

Rose claimed that De Maria's piece embodied
the "perverse and ironic relationship American
American society in this moment of
art bears to
bad Rose, "Gobbledygook at the
faith." See

Guggenheim," New York Magazine 4 (March 8,

1971), p. 48.

Hans Haacke from Thomas Messer

45. Letter to
dated March
19, 1971, in the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum Archives. In this
correspondence, Messer states his misgivings
about the exhibition; the show was officially
canceled on April 1.

46. The poll is described in the statement that

Haacke issued on April 3, 1971, after being
notified of the cancellation of his exhibition.

286 Art of This Century

Following two pages: Fig. 1 13. Mario Men, Siger
Crocodile (Coccodri/lo del Siger), 1972 (1989 reconstruction,
detail). Stuffed alligator, metal, and neon tubes. Solomon
R. Guggenheim Museum 89. 3630.3-. e. Site-specific
installation at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum for
the 1989 exhibition Mario Merz.
 —
The Institution as Frame
Installations at the Guggenheim

Clan Bell

If traditional sculpture has been learned from avant-garde composer

considered in terms of "the deployment John Cage, with whom he began
of bodies in space,"' site-specific art studying in 1956 at the New School for
work created and installed by its maker Social Research in New York, led him
with its physical surroundings in to experiment with a type of
mind — may be thought about as the performance he eventually termed
propulsion of space onto bodies. It Happenings.' The name was adopted by
frames looking in a particular place and critics at the time to describe this
at a particular time, attaching as much elusive art form, which was embraced
importance to the context in which art by several practitioners. Happenings
is shown as to the art object itself. Site- were conceived by artists and carried
specific installations pose a direct out by players who performed simple, Above: Fig. 1 15* Joseph Betiys, photographed in 1979
challenge to the longstanding notion of seemingly meaningless activities, such at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum during

installation of Joseph Beuys. Photo by Bernard Gotlryd

art as a self-contained entity enjoying as sweeping or standing in line.
the status of a precious object. Such Performers and audience members often 1 14. Joseph Beuys, The Pack, 1969.
Left: Fig.

installations have broadened the scope interacted with each other and with Volkswagen bus with 20 sleds, each tarrying felt,
fat, and a flashlight. Collection Herbig Installed at the
of art to include terrains where the various objects, typically newspapers Solomon Guggenheim Museum for the 1979-80
R.

spontaneous, the phenomenological, the and other items of urban detritus, that exhibition Joseph Beuys. Photo by Mary Donlon.

theatrical, the collaborative, the were placed in the same space.

political, and the personal can converge. Happenings have been described as a
Site-specific art has matured into an "theater of effect," 4 intended to be
art form with far-reaching implications, experienced piecemeal, outside the
but its evolution has not followed a bounds of character, time, and place.
direct course. As early as 1909, with the They were critical in helping to
advent of Italian Futurism, and establish an art form that reached
continuing through the 1920s with the beyond the confines of the picture frame
international Dada movement, artists or sculpture base into culture at large.
began to counteract art's tendency As much recent theory developed by
to become a static icon. Since then, feminists shows, the emphasis on
artists have reconsidered art in terms of spectacle displaced conventional
its ephemeral, temporal, and spatial iconographic readings — which seek to
qualities, investigating the very fix meaning — in favor of the continuous
processes and systems through which it reinvention of meaning elicited by the
is made and presented as well as viewer's gaze. With any gaze come
introducing the use of unconventional infinite points of reference, leading to
materials and settings. manifold readings of the art at hand.
A direct precedent to site-specific Gender, sexuality, religion, ethnic
art found in the work of the American
is background, and class are all
race,
Allan Kaprow, who, with other artists inseparable fromwhat constitutes a
of his generation, sought a form of look. Happenings activated their
artistic expression that fused the visual environments, promoting the
artswith everyday life. In a 1958 article involvement of the audience in the
entitled "The Legacy of Jackson action /making process, and thus broke
Pollock," Kaprow seized on the down the boundaries between object
liberating qualities he saw in Pollock's and spectator by melding them into
gestural drip paintings of the 1940s and one.
early 1950s as a way to identify new In the 1960s, with the advent of
territory in which art could exist. Minimalism, Process Art, and
"Anywhere is everywhere and you can Earthworks, artists such as Eva Hesse,
dip in and out when and where you Donald Judd, Robert Morris, Richard
can," wrote Kaprow about Pollock's Serra, and Tony Smith created simple
canvases. "What we have then is a type geometric sculptures that were intended
of art which tends to lose itself out of to elicit similar, fundamental responses
bounds, tends to fill our world with from all viewers. (The emergence in the
1
itself." The theatricality that Kaprow 1970s of Body Art, which involved
observed in Pollock's work, along with fetishizing or mutilating the artist's
the theories of chance the younger artist own body or subjecting it to various

The Institution as Frame 291

 physical ordeals or stimuli, further works have succeeded
that, site-specific
identified the body as the site for artistic in moving beyond the strict
art
investigation.) Many artists associated Modernist canon, which deemed that
with Minimalism experimented with art could be understood as a universal
Earthworks (also called Land Art), in experience.
which art is sited outdoors, often in vast
areas such as meteor craters or fields. Installations designed for conventional
Many of these projects were so exhibition spaces such as museums and
expansive, and located in places so galleries have been crucial to the
remote, that they were seen only in the development of site-specific art. Such
photographs that documented their installations have fostered an essential
existence. They usually involved the dialogue between art and the art
alteration of the landscape; and all were institution by activating architectural
subject to the effects of the elements. As spaces so that they no longer remain
John Beardsley has noted: discreet and supposedly neutral
presences. The Guggenheim Museum
Land art helped to restore to sculpture made its first foray into showing
a sense that the surroundings —and most installations with the Guggenheim
particularly the landscape — were all- International Exhibition, 1971 (see
important both in the formulation of a "Against the Grain," pages 257—86).
work and in its perception. Sited sculpture Beginning withjoseph Beuys in 1979,
emerged in the wake of this restoration and continuing through the present, the
and can be said to have descended in part museum has mounted several
installations designed specifically for the
5
from land art.
spaces of the Frank Lloyd Wright
In an influential 1967 essay, critic building. In so doing, the Guggenheim
Michael Fried attacked the blending of has provided an important site in which
theater with the art object, writing, to broaden definitions of art.
"There is a war going on between the When his work was installed at the
and modernist painting,
theatrical Guggenheim in 1979, Joseph Beuys
between the theatrical and the commented, "My concern is for the
6
pictorial." Fried believed that transformation of substance, rather than
Minimalist works, which he described the traditional aesthetic understanding
as "literalist art," were so intent on of beauty. If creativity relates to the
asserting their own "objecthood" that transformation, change, and
they could never be experienced as true development of substance, then it can
paintings or sculptures. In contending be applied to everything in the world,
8
with artists such as Morris, Smith, and and is no longer art." Like Marcel
Anne Truitt, Fried concluded that their Duchamp, who believed that anyone
work "amounts to nothing other than a could be an artist and spent the better
new genre of theater; and
plea for a part of his career exposing the futility of
theater is now the negation of art. defining what art is, Beuys preached
Whereas in previous art 'what is to be that art is unfixed and open to everyone.
had from the work is located steadily Beuys's varied oeuvre consisted of live
within [it],' the experience of literalist performance pieces that sometimes
of an object in a situation
art is one — involved the use of animals; "social-
which, virtually by definition, includes sculptures," works made from felt,
the beholder."" Fried's argument — that copper, fat, and a variety of relics, which
the work of art must take precedence Beuys described as part of "how we
over the viewer in order for the visual mould and shape the world in which we
arts to remain intact and separate from live" 9 ; public "actions," often political
the performing arts was highly— in intent, which generated many
disputed among artists and critics. artifacts; and junk items and personal
Fried's line of thought underscores the effects the artist presented in vitrines.
understanding that time and place Although his work shared traits with
contribute to differing experiences of the Post-Minimal experiments of
objects by individuals. In doing just contemporary American artists, who

292 Art of This Century

were also using items like felt and Guggenheim, initiated as early as the
metals, their intentions were quite summer of 1976, a year after the final

different. American artists were withdrawal of American troops from

involved with unconventional materials Vietnam, was the first major showing of

and formats in an effort to demystify his work in the United States. The
Beuys
traditional artistic practice, while installation marked a critical moment
assumed the ancient shaman,
role of in the reception of Beuys's work in

heightening a sense of mysticism and a America, exposing the

peculiar inclination toward ritual in his
oeuvre. Shrouded in autobiographical
references of mythic proportions,
Beuys's work was unique and highly
elusive. His account of being rescued in
the Crimean tundra by the nomadic
clan called the Tartars after his
fighter plane was shot down during
World War II was legendary in
European and American art circles
(although the episode has been
questioned as fact by some historians).
His claim that he was taught to survive
the freezing temperatures by swaddling
himself in fat and felt lent a
to his use of those materials in his art.
The mythic speech Beuys used to
describe his work personalized and
romanticized his art in terms that were
quintessentially heroic. imbued
It also
it with a symbolic quality that seemed
misunderstandings surrounding his
oeuvre while further explaining its
intentions and expanding its influence.
Guggenheim director Thomas M.
Messer recognized the importance to
Beuys of exercising complete control
German over the way his work was shown and
the context in which it would appear.
When he proposed the project to the
institution's Board of Trustees, Messer
noted that "it was clear from the onset
that Joseph Beuys and his deputies
would have to be given a free hand to
shape the project and that this in turn
fascination would require a measure of uninhibited
functioning that far exceeded the
norm."' Messer queried British curator
Caroline Tisdall, Beuys's close friend, on
the prospect of a Beuys show, and she
served as the curator for the
presentation and the author of its

closer in line with the more grandiose accompanying catalogue. Given the
mythological themes reminiscent of nature of Beuys's art — his use of such
Abstract Expressionist paintings from idiosyncratic substances as fat, honey,
the 1940s and 1950s, not to mention the asphalt, and felt as well as more
art of the distant past.Because of the substantial objects like bathtubs, cages,
outspoken disdain he held for the art and automobiles — the installation was
world and for capitalist culture in devised to speak to the transformation
general, his art production was of the modern art museum as much as it

considered to be politically charged by was meant to capture the changeability

admirers and detractors alike. of Beuys's materials and his artistic
Beuys, who was born in Kleves, formulations.
Germany and who died in 1986,
in 1921 Beuys conceived the installation as a
had visited the United States only a few series of interrelated tableaux that
times before the Guggenheim's would be placed in the bays on Wright's
retrospective presentation opened to the ramps. Plans for what he termed Stations
public on November 2, 1979. He came appeared in Tisdall's correspondence to
to NewYork twice in 1974; once for an Messer beginning in 1978. These
exhibition at the Ronald Feldman Stations,wrote Tisdall, would "give
Gallery that consisted of an empty access to a reading of development,
room; the next time for a show at the rather than the 'straight chronology.'"
Rene Block Gallery, where he confined Designed to induce a feeling of
himself with a live coyote and harmony and continuous movement
proceeded to engage the animal in a within the museum, Beuys's Stations Following two pages: Fig. 116. On wall: Richard Long,
pseudo-dialogue. Beuys had refused an were disturbing in their deliberate RiverAion Mud Circle. 1986. Mud on painted plasterboard
wall, 5.3 m (17 feet 4 inches) diameter. Temporary
show his work at the
invitation to conflation of Christianity, the installation On floor Richard Long, Chalk Circle, 1986.

Museum of Modern Art in New York in Holocaust, and art. They emphatically Chalk rocks. 5.6 m (18 feet 3 inches) diameter.
San FranciscoMuseum of Modern Art. Installed in the
protest of United States involvement in recalled both the "Stations of the Cross"
High Gallery of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum for
Vietnam. Thus, his exhibition at the in the Christian Church and the the 1986 exhibition Richard Long. Photo by David Heald.

The Institution as Frame 293

**

^k
/
 movement of Jews to concentration would prefer is that we regard his entire
camps on railroads throughout Nazi- activity as one ongoing work of art that
occupied Europe. They also inferred a can be designated as 'sculpture.'"" In its

skewed relationship to Barnett array of mediums and juxtapositions of

Newman's controversial series of private experience with metaphysical
paintings called Stations of the Cross, ideas, the installation challenged the
which he began in 1965 and presented at ways in which
had been traditionally
art
the Guggenheim in 1966. produced, circulated, and consumed.
To install the works, Beuys brought However, the installation did little to
six students from his Free International question the myth of the artist-genius.
University for Creativity and Indeed, despite the ways in which
Interdisciplinary Research (F.I.U.) to Beuys aligned himself with political
assist him. A school designed to exist and social issues in his work, his
without walls or a campus, F.I.U. installation at the Guggenheim was
extolled Beuys's philosophies about art conceived to demonstrate that the
as well as promoted his ideas about "free meanings of his art flowed through him
democratic socialism." Clad in red as the artist/alchemist.

jumpsuits bearing the F.I.U. insignia,
these six helpers, all male, along with
members of the Guggenheim's technical
were directed by the artist in the
staff,
placement of his pieces within Wright's
12
spiral. The installation resembled a
performance piece, with the Wright
building serving as the stage.
presentation was complete, there were
all on the
twenty-four Stations in
museum's ramps. Each contained one of
Beuys's "social-sculptures," surrounded
by various smaller works, either the by-
product of one of his actions or other
objects chosen by the artist. A single
object, Bathtub (i960), in Station 1, was
meant to represent the moment
and attested to Beuys's interest in
alchemy as well as what he identified
the universal nature of all experience.
Fat Chair (1964), a chair in Station 8
whose seat was filled to capacity with
mounds of fat, directly recalled Beuys's
time in the Crimea, as did other
multimedia pieces, such as Station ip's
The Pack (1969, fig. 114), a Volkswagen
bus surrounded by twenty wooden sleds
loaded down with felt and fat and each
equipped with a flashlight. The Secret
Block for a Secret Person in Ireland
(1936-76), a series of 445 drawings, was
hung throughout the installation. It was
the first time the complete set of
drawings had been exhibited.
The ease with which Beuys seemed
to move from chaos to order, from
materiality to immateriality in the
installation led one critic to write,
does not even like to think of his past
works as fixed and finished. What
The museum did not devote the bulk
of its spaces to another site-specific
installation for several years following
Beuys's presentation. In May 1986, as
part of a mid-career survey devoted to
his work, Enzo Cucchi created pieces
that were designed to elicit associations
When the with Wright's spiral. Cucchi, who was
born in 1950 and resides in the Italian
coastal city of Ancona, gained
recognition in the United States in the
early 1980s when the paintings of the
Italian Neo-Expressionists were greeted
with tremendous interest. His work,
along with that of Italians such as
Francesco Clemente and Sandro Chia,
of birth revitalized painting amidst Post-
Minimalism's ongoing search for new
as mediums. Forceful brushstrokes and a
preoccupation with the painted figure
characterized much of their work.
Organized by Diane Waldman, Cucchi's
installation at the Guggenheim
included large paintings and sculptures
with various motifs, such as wheels and
ships, that suggested a spiritual journey.
Works by the British artist Richard
Long were shown at the museum
shortly thereafter in an installation that
opened in September 1986. Long, who
was born in Bristol, England in 1945,
had performed a walking piece on one
of the museum's ramps as part of his
contribution to the 1971 Guggenheim
International Exhibition. Long's walks,
which he began in the late 1960s while
a student in London, comprise an
"He important part of his production. Long
traces his footsteps in the landscape or
he interior by using the materials he finds

296 Century
to mark his passage. Often, the forms he over a period of time he began to
creates are as elusive as the crush of enlarge many to the scale of
grass or earth beneath his feet or architecture. The Knife Ship, as this
mounds of stones or twigs he piles object was called, was motorized and
together at certain intervals along the took up a large portion of rotunda floor
way. Photographs are taken by the artist (fig. 117). It was comprised of eight oars,

to mark each expedition. each ten feet long, which jutted out
In his 1986 one-person show, from either side of the knife's red
organized by guest-curator Rudi Fuchs, casing. When one of the knife's blades
Long created a contemplative was fully extended it reached over thirty
environment of circular rock and slate feet into the air. A parody of Wright's
floor sculptures within the museum "corkscrew" museum, the gigantic
(see fig. 116). For these works, the artist corkscrew of The Knife Ship stood
supplied diagrams and written accounts motionless while the two blades
about the placement of each rock or continually crisscrossed each other.
piece of slate in relationship to the ones Though not originally intended for the
around it, specifying what their Wright space (the object had been used
ultimate diameters must be in the final in 1985 as the central piece in a
configuration. He also created mud wall performance that took place on the
drawings and included black-and-white Grand Canal in Venice, Italy), the
photographs of various walks he had playful yet imposing presence of The
taken throughout the world. The simple Knife Ship turned the museum into a
geometric forms in the photographs and theater of the uncanny, fusing two
other works in the installation echoed monumental presences, art object and
the architectural designs found in edifice, toform a new reality. Wrote van
Wright's terrazzo floor, the skylight, Bruggen, "Since Oldenburg's own
and the sweeping curves of the concern is with the tension between
building's shell. Discussing Long's work 'thing-ness' and abstraction, the subject
in the exhibition's catalogue, Fuchs of buildings opened up a new, abstract
sums up the defining principles manipulation of forms.""
underlying Long's oeuvre, commenting, In September 1989, Mario Merz, a
"Impermanence lies at the very heart of leading proponent of Arte Povera,
Richard Long's conviction as an artist. It mounted his largest presentation of
has rendered possible the idea of work to date in the United States, in an
walking as his comprehensive art form, exhibition organized by Germano
containing all the other forms through Celant for the Guggenheim. Arte
which his art chooses to express itself."' 4 Povera ("poor" art) was a catch-all term
With his earthen materials and organic coined by Celant in 1967 to describe the
shapes, Long intended, as Wright had, work of a select group of international
to link the inside of the building with artists who were drawing their materials
the environment outside. from nature. Beuys and Long, for
That same winter, a collaborative instance, were among a number of
piece designed by artistsOldenburg and artists who fell under the rubric in the
Coosje van Bruggen and architect late 1960s. Other artists associated with
Frank O. Gehry was installed at the the movement included New
Guggenheim. A larger-than-life red York-based artist Eva Hesse, Dutch
Swiss Army knife, it recalled in scale artistJan Dibbets, and several other
numerous Pop art public sculptures of Americans and Europeans. Merz and
the 1960s created by Oldenburg, an fellow Turin-based artists Giovanni
artist born in Stockholm, Sweden whose Anselmo, Giulio Paolini, and Giuseppe
Following two pages: Fig. 117. Claes Oldenburg,
family settled in the United States in Penone comprised the core of the Italian
Coosje van Bruggen, and Frank O. Gehry,
1934. Typically, Oldenburg's early works contingent Celant identified with Arte Tit Kni/i Ship, 1986. Wood, steel, paint, and motor;
were based on commonplace objects Povera. Celant wrote that these artists closed: 2.4 x 12.3 x 3.2 m (8 feet x 40 feet 3 inches x
10 feet 6 inches); with blades, corkscrew, and oars open:
that the artist would transform into had "chosen to live within direct 9.7 x 25.3 x 9.7 m (31 feet 8 inches x 83 feet x

large, sagging vinyl forms stuffed with experience." Their work, he continued, 51 The Museum of Contemporary Art,
feet 10 inches)

Los Angeles. Installed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim

kapok and placed on the wall or floor. drew "from the substance of the natural Museum 1986-8- exhibition Tht Knife Ship from
With the assistance of van Bruggen, event —
that of the growth of a plant,
for the
"11 Corso del Coltello. " Photo by David Heald.

The Institution as Frame 297

Right: Fig. 1 18. Mario Men, Unreal City Nineteen the chemical reaction of a mineral, the It seems fitting that Jenny Holzer's 1989
11/,,,,,, itta imale, Millenovecentottantanove),
movement of a river Guggenheim would
i

the fall of a . . . installation at the

[989 < il.i^s. mirror, metal pipes, twip, rubber, clay, and
6
damps; three igloos: 500 cm (196 '/> inches) high, 995.7 cm weight."' While Celant maintained mark a decisive transition in the
diami (99.7 cm (157 Ks inches) high,
n hi s) ti 1

that Arte Povera was an international museum's history. Though the

800.1 cm (315 inches) diameter; 250 cm (98 'At int lies) high.

cm Solomon R. Guggenheim style, today the term is most often used installation was conceived by Diane
497.8 (196 im hes) diameter.
Museum, Gift <>t the artist 89.3631.3-^. Installed at the to identify works by the Italian artists. Waldman during Messer's tenure, it was
Solomon R Guggenheim Museum for the 1989 exhibition
Mario Men Photo bj David Heald.
Born in 1925, Merz is chiefly notmounted until December 1989, by
involved with notions of progression which time Thomas Krens had become
and infinite growth, and his nearly director. And Holzer's installation was
thirty years of artistic production lies at the final presentation at the
the forefront of the Arte Povera spirit of Guggenheim before it closed to the
creativity.Concerned with biological public in February 1990 to undergo a
and sensory occurrences, his works are two-year renovation and expansion
expandable and fluid. He has fashioned project.
igloos from items like clamped shards of Holzer, born in Gallipolis, Ohio in
glass, sandbags, melted wax, twigs, and 1950, is a visual artist as well as a social
branches. Other works include helical activist. Through her language-based
glass tables covered with fresh fruits and work, she attempts to call into question
vegetables, and umbrellas and systems of power in Western culture.
rubberized raincoats pierced by neon Holzer first came to prominence with a
tubes. In all, these works reflect the group of offset posters printed with her
semi-intangible nature of all things. Truisms, a series of deadpan sentences
For the 1971 Guggenheim International describing clashing ideological values.
Exhibition, Merz arranged neon tubes The sentences were placed in
formed into a group of numbers, known alphabetical order so as not to give one
as a Fibonacci series, on the outer any more weight than the next. She had
parapet wall of the Guggenheim. A begun to clandestinely paste up
Fibonacci series is an infinite sequence unsigned posters around Manhattan in
in which the first two numbers are /and 1977. The Truisms were followed in 1979
the rest are the sum of the two numbers by another poster project, The
that precede it. Because a Fibonacci Inflammatory Essays. This time Holzer
series may be considered a mathematical used colored sheets of paper, each
abstraction of a spiral, Merz used it as a printed with a paragraph of urgent,
way of calling attention to the confrontational writing. Moving from
progression of the Guggenheim's shape. posters to mediums such as enamel and
In his 1989 retrospective exhibition at bronze plaques, Holzer formulated texts
the museum, this work appeared once for The Living Series in 1982.
again on the outer wall. If anonymity marked the first phase
Unlike most monographic of Holzer's artistic production, public
exhibitions, in which an artist's works recognition of her work characterized
are made to fit into a linear chronology, the next. In 1982, Holzer was invited by
the placement of Merz 's works in the the Public Art Fund in New York to
museum was kaleidoscopic (fig. 118). display messages or computer-generated
Some of the objects in the show were images on the Spectacolor Board in
pieces that had been reworked by Merz Times Square. Other artists who
over an extended period of time. participated in Messages to the Public at
Another segment had been refabricated various times included Ida Applebroog,
for the Guggenheim installation. The David Hammons, Edgar Heap-of-Birds,
final portion included pre-existing Alfredo Jaar, and Barbara Kruger.
objects that the artist changed Although each of their works had
completely for the presentation. different intentions and spoke to a
Slippery inits chronology (as with the variety of concerns, it was clear that all
Beuys exhibition a decade earlier), the of these artists were deeply involved
Merz installation, much like his with the politics of identity and of
individual pieces, felt more like a remaking culture.
habitat than the charted presentation of Following the presentation of her
an artist's development. work on the Spectacolor Board, Holzer

300 i
entury
 T
, »

fr',1.
 began The Survival Series,
specifically for smaller computerized
light boards. Eventually she discovered
LED (light-emitting diode) display
boards, and began to program them
with the series. She also used peel-off
stickers and tractor caps to display her
messages. Texts from The Survival Series
usually appeared outdoors and
could be seen on public-announcement
signboards located in various
1985, "Protect Me From What
Want,"
a text from Survival, was displayed on
the Spectacolor Board. Selections from
Truisms and Survival were seen on the
creating texts every series on one LED sign. Different
typefaces and light patterns were used
to distinguish the individual series from
each other, but the program did not
follow a preconceived order.
During preparations for the
Guggenheim's show, Holzer gave birth
to her daughter, Lili, and she wrote a
many new text centering on her convictions
and fears about motherhood. Child Text,
cities. In which premiered on the LED sign at
I the Guggenheim, was later developed
into a body of writing for her
installation at the Venice Biennale in
the summer of 1991. She was the first

marquee for Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas female artist to have a solo exhibit at
in 1986; some, like "Money Creates the American Pavilion.
Taste," underscored the sensibilities of Flashing and streaming colorful
the gambling industry. All of these texts — ranging from conflicting
public projects served to establish statements about morality, issues of
Holzer as an artist whose undertaking quality, and the macabre that often
could not be ignored. She soon became accompanies daily existence, to somber
familiar to the general public, which references to the aids epidemic, to the
began to recognize her still-unsigned artist's own damning and passionate
work on the street and read about her reactions as a mother — Holzer's LED
exploits in the press. signboard at the Guggenheim ran for
Holzer had made the transition from one hour and forty-five minutes and
outdoor spaces to the interiors of continued nonstop until the museum
galleries and museums several years closed each evening. The sinuous
before her installation at the current of multicolored lights created a
Guggenheim. Under a
Series such as fantastic spectacle. Itdemanded,
Rock (1986) and Laments (1989) were provoked, seduced, amused, annoyed,
conceived for spaces designated to dazzled. It was often difficult to read,
display art. The former series dealt with though mesmerizing to watch. Its
feelings about dying, while the latter unrelenting presence in the museum's
conjured up the sense of death itself. space destabilized the viewer's gaze and
She thought people would spend more as a result it resisted slippage into the
time reading these than the outdoor realms of indifference or the sublime.
messages, which were designed to catch The hold that representation maintains
the fleeting attention of a passerby. on how we come to know the world was
Granite benches were used for the first thrown emphatically off guard.
time in Under a Rock. They were Benches were also an important
engraved with the same texts that element of Holzer's installation. Two
moved across an LED sign positioned sets, one in white granite and placed in
nearby. Inscribed marble and the High Gallery, the other of red
granite sarcophagus forms and vertical granite and positioned in a circular
LEDs in virtual darkness comprised grouping on the rotunda floor (fig. 120),
Laments, an installation that opened were etched, tombstone fashion, with
at the Dia Art Foundation in New York statements that also appeared on the
in 1989. signboard, making the charged
When her 530-foot-long LED sign statements pulsating overhead seem
wound way down the outside of the
its lasting and permanent.
Guggenheim's parapet, the bays of five There had been few shows at the
of the museum's ramps left bare, it was museum devoted to the work of women
clearly unlike anything she or the artists, and the decision to mount a
museum had shown before (fig. 119). For show of Holzer's work signaled a critical
1-
the first time, she included texts from passage in the Guggenheim's history.

302 Artoj Tbi

The museum's reopening in the summer encourage us to search out important
of 1992 provided another occasion for a aspects of our own lives and the lives of

site-specific work, this time to those around us in ever more-

inaugurate the newly renovated spaces mean ingful ways.
of the Wright rotunda. Dan Flavin's
Untitled (to Tracy, to celebrate the love of a
lifetime), a work dedicated to his fiancee
(now wife), was comprised of a series of
pink, yellow, green, and blue industrial
fluorescent-light tubes placed in
differing configurations throughout all
seven ramps of the rotunda,
highlighting each bay (fig. 121). The
piece reprised and expanded Flavin's
installation for the 1971 Guggenheim
International Exhibition, at which time
its dedication read (to WardJackson, an
old friend and colleague who, during the fall
of 19$J when I finally returned to New York
from Washington and joined him to work
together in this museum, kindly
communicated); Jackson, an artist in his
own right, is the museum's longtime
8
archivist.' For the 1992 installation,
Flavin added an immense column of
pink fluorescent rods joining floor and
skylight.
Flavin, who was born in Jamaica,
New York in 1933, pioneered the use of
fluorescent-light tubes as an art
medium and has used them since 1961.
He worked as an assistant at the
Guggenheim just before the opening of
the Wright building in 1959. The artist
holds the Guggenheim edifice in high
regard, and through this work sought to
reorient perceptions of Wright's
Following eight pages: Fig. 1 19. Jenny Holier
architecture through subtle Selections trom Truisms, Inflammat'n , I ./. . Tbt l.r

permutations ambience rather than

in Series, The Survival Series, Under a Reck, laments, and new
writing. 1989. LED display board. Site-specific installation
by interfering with its physical at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum for the 1989-90
structure. The oblique transformation exhibition_/enn) Ho/zer. Photo by David Heald.

Flavin intended to produce with this

Fig. 120. Jenny Holier, Selections from The Sunn al Serif
concentration of soft light was offset by and The Living Series, 1989. Granite benches. Site-specific
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum for the
installation at the
the verticality of the pink totem, which
1989-90 exhibition Jenny Hotzer. Photo by David Heald.
suggested a phallus in the way it

seemingly penetrated the skylight. Like Fig. 121. Don Flavin, I ntitled (to Tracy, to celebrate the love

of a lifetime), 1992, expanded version of Untitled (to Ward

all site-specific art, Flavin's piece cannot Jackson, an oldfriend and colleague who. during the fall 0} /«c~

be separated from the cultural, social, nht'i I finally returned to Neu Y<irk from Washington and joined
htm to uork together in this museum, kindly communicated 1. 19-1
and political matrix in which it existed. Fluorescent light, variable dimensions. Solomon R.
A reminder of patriarchal power and its Guggenheim Museum, Partial gift of the artist in honor of
Ward Jackson 72.1985. Installed at the Solomon R.
stranglehold on how we come to know
Guggenheim Museum for the 1992 exhibition Dan Flaiin.
the world, Flavin's installation offered Photo by David Heald.
important insights into the challenge to
Fig. 122. Rebecca Horn, Paradiso, 1993. Glass funnels,
dismantle its grip on us. As the pumping system, lightning machines, fox machines, water,
museum continues to inspire and and dye. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Gift of the
artist. Installed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum for
embrace site-specific art, that art will
the 1993 exhibition Rebecca Horn: The Inferno-P aradiso Switch.
serve an all-important function — to Photo by Lee Ewing.

The Institution as Frame 303

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 Notes

1. See Rosalind Krauss's discussion of Gotrhold Frank O. Gehry, and Claes Oldenburg,"
Lessing's essay "Laocoon; or On the Limits of Artforum 23, no. 1 (Sept. 1984), p. 88.
Painting" (1766) in her introduction to Passages
ni Modern Sculpture (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT 16. Germano Celant, Art "Povera" (New York:
Press, 1990), pp. 1-3. Praeger, 1969), p. 225.

2. Allan Kaprow, "The Legacy of Jackson 17. In addition to the installation^/;?)' Holzer,
Pollock," Art News 57, no. 6 (Oct. 1958), p. 26. other exhibitions at the Guggenheim devoted to
women artists have included: Alice Mattern
3. In the spring of 1959, Kaprow performed Memorial (opened October 1945, closing date
Something to Take Place, a Happening at Rutgers unknown); Hilla Rebay (November 2,
University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1948-January 16, 1949); Chryssa (November

where he was teaching. A year earlier, he 14-December 17, 1961); Eva Hesse: A Memorial
presented several junk-filled environments at Exhibition (December 7, 1972-February 11, 1973);
Hansa Gallery (210 Central Park South, New Helen Frankenthaler Tiles (May 2—June 1, 1975);
York City). Others involved with Happenings Ree Morton; Manipulations of the Organic
during the late 1950s and 1960s included Jim (February 8-March 24, 1985); [Helen]
Dine, Red Grooms, Claes Oldenburg, and Frankenthaler: Works on Paper 1949-1984
Robert Whitman. (February 22-April 21, 1985); Hannelore Baron
(May 19-July 23, 1989); Rebecca Horn: The
4. Michael Kirby, ed., Happenings: An Illustrated Inferno-Paradiso Switch (June 25— September 26,
Anthology (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1965), p. 19. 1993, fig. 122).

5. John Beardsley, Earthworks and Beyond: 18. See Cornelia Lauf, "Dan Flavin," in
Contemporary Art in the Landscape, expanded Guggenheim Museum: A to Z (New York:
edition (New York: Abbeville Press, Cross River Guggenheim Museum, 1992), p. 84.
Press, 1989), p. 103.

6. Michael Fried, "Art and Objecthood,"

Artforum 5, no. 10 (
June 1967), p. 20.

7. Ibid., p. 15.

8. Acoustiguide transcript for the exhibition,

Joseph Beuys, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Archives, p. 5.

9. Quoted in Caroline Tisdall, Joseph Beuys,

(New York: Solomon
exh. cat. R. Guggenheim
Museum, 1979), p. 7.

10. Quoted in the Institute for Foreign Cultural

Relations, Stuttgart, Joseph Beuys: Drawings,
Objects and Prints, exh. cat. (Stuttgart, 1989),
p. 25.

11. Letter from Tisdall to Messer, January 24,

1978, quoted in ibid., p. 29.

12. Concurrent with Joseph Beuys, an exhibition

of photographs, posters, and slide projections

developed by several F.I.U. students was also on
view, in the now-defunct smaller side galleries
of the Monitor building. The student exhibition
took place from December 11, 1979-January 2,
1980, and a four-page brochure describing the
teachings of F.I.U. was printed.

13. John Russell, "The Shaman as Artist," The

York Times Magazine (Oct. 28, 1979), p. 40.

14. R. 1. Fuchs, Richard Long, exh. cat. (New

1

York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation;

London: Thames and Hudson, 1986), p. 45.

15. Coosje van Bruggen, "Waiting for Dr.

Coltello: A Project by Coosje van Bruggen,

312
 Exhibition and Publication History

Beginning in 1956. Solomon R. Guggenheim's 1940 Edward Landon, Lloyd R. Ney. Mary Ryan. Rolph
collection of non-objective paintings was exhibited 7. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-Objective Scarlett, Roland St. John, Edna Tacon. Paul Tacon,
publicly. The foundation that bears his name was Painting, Three American Non-Objective Painters: March 11— April 22.

chartered in 1937. and. under its auspices, the 1. Rice Pereira, Balcomb Greene. Gertrude Greene,

Museum of Non-Objective Painting opened in 1939; Jan. 3-Feb. 14. 19-T. Portland, Oreg., Pacific Arts Association,

its name was changed to Solomon R. Guggenheim Lincoln High School, Fifteen Non-Objective
Museum in i9<,2. Tins history includes exhibitions 8. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-Objective Paintings from the Solomon R. Guggenheim
mounted by the found/ / ton as well as those Painting, Eight American Non-Objective Painters: Foundation, April 7—23; Eugene, Oreg.,
organized by other institutions and shown at the Penrod Centurion. John Ferren. Gerome Kamroivski. University of Oregon, April 28-May 11;

Guggenheim. Peggy Guggenheim Collection Hi/la Rebay. Rolph Scarlett. Charles Smith. John Corvallis, Oreg., Oregon State College,
exhibitions are included from 1979. the year that the von Wicht.Jean Xceron, Feb. 15— March 30. May 12-30; Los Angeles, Calif, Chouinard
foundation assumed full responsibility for its Art Institute, July; San Diego, Calif., Fine
operation. The Guggenheim Museum S0H0 opened 9. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-Objective Arts Gallery, Aug.; Institute, W. Va.,
in 1092. Painting, Charles G. Shaw: Thirteen Recent West Virginia State College, Sept.; Massillon,
Paintings, April i-May 13. Ohio, The Massillon Museum, Oct.; Normal,
In tht following exhibition history, the abbreviation 111., Illinois State Normal University,
S.R.G.M. stands for the Solomon R. Guggenheim 10. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- Nov.; Hazleton, Pa., Hazleton Undergraduate
Museum, Sue York. N.Y.: P.G.C. stands for the Objective Painting, Twelve American Non- Center, The Pennsylvania State College,
Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Venice. Numbers at the Objective Painters: Emil Bisttram, Florence Feb. 1942.
beginning oj entries are used for the museum's record Brillinger, Manuel Essman, Robert Gribboek, Noah
keeping; the letter t an exhibition
indicates that Grossman. La wren Harris. RaymondJonson. 20. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-
was organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Hanany Meller. Agnes Pelton, Rouben Samberg, Objective Painting, Paintings and Constructions
Museum for presentation elsewhere. A bibliography of Rolph Scarlett. Charles Smith, May 14-June 27. by Ladislas Moholy-Nagy, April 24-May 25.

and catalogues published by the foundation

books
begins on page 330. 11. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-Objective 21-T. Norton, Mass., Wheaton College,
Painting, Three American Non-Objective Painters: Thirteen Non-Objective Paintings from the Solomon
1936 Penrod Centurion. Dwinell Grant. Noah Grossman, R. Guggenheim Foundation,May-June;
i-t. Charleston, S.C., Carolina Art Association, June 28-Aug. 5. Washington, D.C., The Catholic University
Gibbes Memorial Art Gallery, Solomon R. of America, July 25-Aug. 10; South Hadley,
Guggenheim Collation of Non-Objective Paintings, 12. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-Objective Mass., Mount Holyoke Friends of Art,
March i-April 12 (catalogue). Painting, Six American Non-Objectii'e Painters: Dwight Art Memorial, Mount Holyoke
Penrod Centurion, Dwinell Grant, Lauren Harris, College, Oct. 3-24; Boise, Idaho, The Boise Art
2-T. Chicago, 111., The Arts Club of Chicago, RaymondJonson, Rouben Samberg, Stuart Walker, Association, Boise Art Gallery, Nov.; Dallas,
Paintings by Rudolf Bauer from the Collection of Aug. 6-Sept. 30. Tex., Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Jan. 4-24,
Solomon R. Guggenheim, May 12-June 6 1942; Pullman, Wash., The State College of
(checklist). 13. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-Objective Washington, Feb. 22-March 25, 1942;
Painting, Twelve American Non-Objective Painters: Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines Association of
1937 Florence Brillinger. Penrod Centurion, Josette Fine Arts, April 1942; Detroit, Mich., Women's
3-T. Philadelphia, Pa., Philadelphia Art Coeffin, Dwinell Grant, Noah Grossman, Hanany City Club of Detroit, May 1942.
Alliance, Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection of Meller, I. Rice Pereira. Hilla Rebay. Mary
Non-Objective Paintings, Feb. 8-28 (second Ryan. Rolph Scarlett. Charles Smith, Jean Xceron, 22. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-
enlarged catalogue). Oct. i-Nov. 13. Objective Painting, Eight American Non-Objective
Painters: Florence Brillinger. Werner Drewes.
1938 14-T. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln Gallery, Dwinell Grant. Maude I. Kerns. Edward Landon.
4-T. Charleston, S.C., Gibbes Memorial Art Abraham Lincoln High School, Non-Objective Ted Price. Mary Ryan, Rolph Scarlett, May 27—
Gallery, Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection ofNon- Art from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, June 29.
Objective Paintings, March 12-April 17 (third Oct. 13-27.
enlarged catalogue). 23. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-
15. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-Objective Objective Painting, Eight American Non-Objective
1939 Painting, Ten American Non-Objective Painters: Painters: Thomas Eldred. Dwinell Grant, Noah
5-T. Baltimore, Md., The Baltimore Museum of Penrod Centurion, Josette Coeffin, Manuel Essman, Grossman. Marguerite Hohenberg. Ladislas
Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection of Non- Noah Grossman, Hanany Meller, Marie Menken. Moholy-Nagy, Otto Nebel. I. Rice Pereira, Rolph
Objective Paintings, Jan. 6-29 (fourth catalogue). I. Rice Pereira, Mary Ryan. Rolph Scarlett, Charles Scarlett, July 25—closing date unknown.
G. Shaw, Nov. 14— Dec. 31.
6-1. Pans, Galerie Charpentier, Realites nouvelles 24-T. Bennington, Vt., Bennington
(including selections from the Solomon R. 1941 College, Twenty-seven Non-Objective
Guggenheim Foundation): "1" Exposition 16. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- Paintings from the Solomon R. Guggenheim
1
1 S< rie), Oeuvres des artistes francais," Objective Painting, American Non-Objective Foundation, Oct.; Iowa City, Iowa,
June 15-28; "1 Exposition (2"' Serie), Oeuvres Painters, Jan. i-Feb. 10. The State University of Iowa, Jan. 6—26,
des artistes rt rangers,"
June 30-July 15; 1942; Birmingham, Ala., Birmingham
Exposition, Oeuvres des artistes dont la 17. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-Objective Art Club, Public Library, Feb. 1942;
tendam e inobjective s'est volontairement arretee Painting, Charles G. Shaw: Twenty-six New Minneapolis, Minn., The University
avant 1920"; "Oeuvres des artistes apres 1920" Paintings, Feb. n-March 9. Gallery, University of Minnesota, March 2—
(lisi ol participating artists). 3i» 1942-
18. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-Objective
York, N.Y., Museum of Non-Objective Painting, Ten American Non-Objective Painters: 25. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-Objective
morrou , opened June t. Florence Brillinger, Olga Egeressy, Thomas Eldred. Painting, American Non-Objective Painters, Nov.

314
26. New York, N.Y., Museum oi Non- jo. New York, N.Y., Museum oi Non- ( )b|c< tive Painting, /."./// Exhibiti
Objective Painting, American Non-Objective Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition, 1 (i Ik-i klist).

Painters, Dei April [8 closing date unknown (checklist).

Sv New York, N.Y., Museum oi Non-Obji
1942 40. New York, N.Y., Museum oi Non- Painting, i bition,Oc\ [5,1946 Feb. 10,
27. Nc-w York, N.Y., Museum of Non- Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition, [947 (clue klist).

Objective Painting, Guest Exhibition: Drawings ( )< 1 is ( losing date unknown (( hec klist).

and Woodblock Prints by Mar) Ryan, John 1947

Sennhauser, Charles Smith, Jan. 1—Feb. 27. 41- 1 . Cazenovia, N.Y., Cazenovia Junior New
56. York. \ Y . Museum oi Non-
College, Selections from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Objective Paintinj hibition,

28. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- Foundation, Nov. 11.

[944—Jan. [945. Feb. 12-closing date unknown (checklist)
Objective Painting, Ten American
Non-Ob/ectm Painters: Noah Gro\sman. 1945 57. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-
Margueriti Hohenberg, Charles Johnson, Hyman 42-T. Fort Worth, Tex., Fort Worth Objective Painting, In Memoriam Laszlo Moholy-
Kuppt /»/./>/. Hans Km 10. Edward Landon, Association, Public Library, Selections from tin Nagy, May 1
5—July 10 (catalogue).
Grischa Metlay, John Sennhauser, Edna Tacon, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Jan. 6—
Piii/I Tacou, March i-May 10. March 2,1. 58. New York, N.Y., Museum ofNon-
Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition.
29. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- 43. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- July 15—closing date unknown (checklist)
Objective Painting, Twelve American Non- Objective Painting, hi Memory oj Wassily
Objective Pitt liters: Lucille Alitor inn. Penrod Kandinsky, March 15—April 29 (two catalogues). 59. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-
Centurion, Noah Grossman, Marguerite Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition.
Hohenberg. Gerome Kamrowski, H. Felix Kraus, 44. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- Oct. 15-closing date unknown (checklist)
Joseph Manfredi, Ladislas Moholy-Nagy, Michael Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition,
Schlazer, John Sennhauser, Charles G. Shaw, June 6—closing date unknown (checklist). 60-T. Zurich, Kunsthaus Zurich. Solomon R.
Edna 'Paeon, May n-June 20. Guggenheim Foundation: Zeitgenossische Kunst mid
45-T. Scranton, Pa., Everhart Museum, Art oj Kunstpflegi in U.S.A., Oct. 15-Dec. 15
30. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- Tomorrow, June 15—Sept. 15 (checklist). (catalogue); (selections shown previously in

Objective Painting, Fifth Anniversary Exhibition, Paris, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Deuxitnu Salon des

June 25-Oct. 31. 46. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- realites nouvelles, July 18-Aug. 17); Karlsruhe.
Objective Painting, Alia Mattern Memorial, Kunsthalle, as Gegendstandlo^e Malerei in
31-T. Summit, N.J., Summit Art Association, Oct.-closing date unknown (checklist). Amerika, March 18—April 18, 1948 (no
Non-Objective Paintings from the Solomon R. catalogue); Munich, Kunstrunde, May-June
Guggenheim Foundation, Nov. 1-15. 47-T. Chicago, 111., The Arts Club of Chicago, 1948 (no catalogue); Mannheim, Stadtische
Wassily Kandinsky Memorial Exhibition, Nov. Kunsthalle Mannheim, July 1948 (catalogue);
32. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- (checklist). Frankfurt am Main, Kunstkabinett, Aug. -Sept.
Objective Painting, American Non-Objectives, 1948 (henceforth no catalogue); Kassel,
Nov. 1, 1942-Jan. 30, 1943 (checklist). 48. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Oct. 1948;
Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition, Braunschweig, Galerie Otto Ralls. Nov. 1948;
1943 Dec. 5-closing date unknown (checklist). I lamburg, Kunstrunde, Dec. 1948; Hannover,

33-T. Cazendvia, N.Y., Cazenovia Junior Landesmuseum, Jan. 1949; Dusseldorf,

College, Nine Non-Objective Paintings from 49-T. Milwaukee, Wis., Milwaukee Art Kunsthalle, 1949 (specific dates unknown);
the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Institute, Wassily Kandinsky Memorial Exhibition, Essen, 1949 (institution and dates unknown);
Jan. 12-Feb. 15. Dec. 1945-Jan. 1946. Karlsruhe, Kunsthalle, July 1949; Bremerhaven.
Firma Nordkunst, Nov. 19-Dec. 25, 1949;
34. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- 1946 Munich, Amerika-Haus, 1950 (specific dates
Objective Painting, American Non-Objectives, 50-T. Savannah, Ga., Telfair Academy of Arts unknown); Bremerhaven, Amerika-Haus,
Third Group Show Commemorating the Fifth and Sciences, Selections from the Solomon R. June— Aug. 1950; Hamburg, Amerika-Haus,
Anniversary of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Guggenheim Foundation, Feb. 9-26; traveled in Sept. 1950; Bremen, Amerika-Haus. Oct. 1950;
Foundation, Feb. 7—June 13 (checklist). part to Augusta, Ga., Augusta Art Club, March; Hamburg, Amerika-Haus, Nov. 1950;
Athens, Ga., Southern Art Association, April. Braunschweig, Amerika-Haus. Dec. 1950.
35-T. Savannah, Ga., Telfair Academy of Arts
and Sciences, Non-Objective Art from the Solomon 51-T. Anniston, Ala., United Service 1948
R. Guggenheim Foundation, March 10-April 10. Organizations, Inc. (USO), Seventeen Paintings 61. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-
from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, April. Objective Painting, Hilla Rebay, Nov. 2,

36. New
York, N.Y., Museum of Non- 1948-Jan. 16, 1949 (catalogue).
Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition. 52-T. Utica, N.Y., Munson-Williams-Proctor
June 15-Oct. 14 (checklist). Institute, Thirty-five Non-Objective Paintings 1949
from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 62. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-
37. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- April 7-28. Objective Painting. European Painters: Otto
Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition, Friedrich Xordemherge-G ildeii art . Lotte Konnerth.
Oct. 15—closing date unknown (checklist). 53-T. Pittsburgh, Pa., Department or Fine Arts, Hannes Beckmann. Jan. 18— Feb. 20 (checklist).
Carnegie Institute, Memorial Exhibition oj

1944 Paintings by Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), 63. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-
38-T.Washington, D.C., Arts Club of April n-May 12 (catalogue). Objective Painting. Neu Exhibition. American
Washington, Fort) -five Paintings from the Solomon Non-Objective Painters: Jordan Belson. Ilya
R. Guggenheim Foundation, Jan. 54. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- Bolotowsky, Kenneth Campbell. St end Clausen.

Exhibition and Publication History 315

Hohannesian, Ibram Lassaw, Alice T. Mason, April 29— closing date unknown (checklist). 86. S.R.G.M., Younger American Painters: A
Lloyd Ney, Hilla Rebay, Rolph Scarlett, Selection, May 12— Sept. 26; traveled to Portland,
Zahara Scbatz, Charles Smith, Lucia Stern, 75. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- Oreg., Portland Art Museum, Sept. 2-Oct. 9,
Robert Wolff, Jean Xceron, Feb. 22-May 29 Objective Painting, Group Exhibition: Gianni 1955; Seattle,Wash., Henry Gallery, University
(checklist). Dova, Elinor Evans, Benjoppolo, Alberto Martini, of Washington, Oct. 16-Nov. 13, 1955; San
Dale McKinney, J. Jay McVicker, Samuel Francisco, Calif, San Francisco Museum of Art,

64. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- Olkinetzky, Cesare Peverelli. Mauro Reggiani, fall. Nov. 15, 1955-Jan. 22, 1956; Los Angeles, Calif.,
Objective Painting, Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum, Feb. 1—29, 1956;
May 31-Oct. 10. 76-T. New Paltz, N.Y., State Teachers College, Fayetteville, Ark., University of Arkansas,
State University of New York, Eighteen Non- March 9-April 10, 1956; New Orleans, La., Isaac
65. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- Objective Paintings from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Delgado Museum of Art, April 15-May 20, 1956
Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition, Oct. II, Foundation, Oct. 10-Nov. 3; Garden City, N.Y., (catalogue).
1949-Feb. 15, 1950 (checklist). Adelphi College, Nov. 7-Dec. 1; Endicott,
N.Y., Harpur College, Dec. 5-23; Summit, 87. S.R.G.M., Selection IV, Oct. 6, 1954-Feb. 27,
1950 N.J. Jan. 16-Feb.
, 2, 1953. 1955 (checklist).
66. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non-
Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition, Feb. 21- 1953 88-T. Vancouver, Vancouver Art Gallery, The
June 11 (checklist). 77-T. Rome, Galleria Origine, Mostra Fondazione Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: A Selection from
R. Solomon Guggenheim {sic}, Jan. 24-Feb. 20 the Museum Collection, Nov. 16— Dec. 12

67. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- (catalogue). Selections shown previously in (catalogue).
Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition, June 20- Paris, Palais des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris,
Oct. 9 (checklist). Septieme Salon des re'alite's nouvelles, July 18— 1955
Aug. 17, 1952. 89. S.R.G.M., Interim Exhibition of Museum
68-T. Nantucket Island, Mass., Kenneth Taylor Collection, March 1-13.

Galleries of the Nantucket Foundation, Inc., 78. S.R.G.M., A Selection, Feb. 4-May 3
Selections from the Solomon R. Guggenheim (checklist). 90-T. Boston, Mass., Institute of Contemporary
Foundation, July. Art, Selected Paintings from the Guggenheim
79. S.R.G.M., Selection II, May 13-Nov. 22 Museum, March 9-April 17.

69. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- (checklist).

Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition, Nov. 14, 91. S.R.G.M., Robert Delaunay, March 22-
1950-March 1951 (checklist). 80. S.R.G.M., Sixty Years of Living Architecture: May 22; traveled to Boston, Institute of
The Work of Frank Lloyd Wright, Oct. 22-Dec. 13 Contemporary Art, June 2—30 (checklist).
1951 (catalogue).
70. New York, N.Y., Museum of Non- 92-T. Greensboro, N.C., Woman's College of
Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition, April 3— 81. S.R.G.M., Interim Exhibition of Museum the University of North Carolina, Supplementary
June 17 (checklist). Collection, Dec. 2-13. Exhibition of Drawings, April 1— 15; Atlanta, Ga.,
Georgia Institute of Technology, April 21-
71-T. Avon, Conn., Avon Old Farms School, 82. S.R.G.M., Younger European Painters: A May 5; University, Ala., University of Alabama,
Selections from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Selection, Dec. 3, 1953-May 2, 1954; traveled to May 11-25; Dallas, Tex., The Dallas Museum of
Foundation, May. Minneapolis, Minn., Walker Art Center, Fine Arts, June 1—30; Tulsa, Okla., Philbrook
Aug. 8-Sept. 24, 1954; Portland, Oreg., Art Center, July 8-Aug. 5; Long Beach, Calif.,
72-T. Cazenovia, N.Y., Cazenovia Junior Portland Art Museum, Oct. 8-Nov. 14, 1954; Municipal Art Center, Aug. 15-Sept. 15; Reno,
College, Selections from the Solomon R. Guggenheim San Francisco, Calif., San Francisco Museum of Nev., University of Nevada, Sept. 23— Oct. 7;
Foundation, Oct. 1— 14; Ithaca, N.Y., New Art, Nov. 26, 1954-Jan. 23, 1955; Dallas, Tex., Eugene, Oreg., University of Oregon,
York State College of Home Economics, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Feb. 1-27, 1955; Oct. 18-Nov. 1; Seattle, Wash., Henry Gallery,
Cornell University, Oct. 22-Nov. 9; Fayetteville, Ark., University of Arkansas, University of Washington, Nov. 11-Dec. 30;
Delaware, Ohio, Lyon Art Hall, Ohio Wesleyan March 7-April 9, 1955; Dayton, Ohio, The Missoula, Mont., Montana State University,
University, Nov. 15-Dec. 9; Columbia, Mo., Dayton Art Institute, April 15-May 13, 1955; Jan. 9—21, 1956; remainder of tour canceled.
University of Missouri, Dec. 13, 1951-Jan. 21, Andover, Mass., Addison Gallery of American
1952; Tallahassee, Fla., The University Art, Phillips Academy, Oct. 1-31, 1955; 93-T. Montreal, The Montreal Museum of Fine
Museum and Art Gallery, Florida State Hanover, N.H., Carpenter Art Galleries, Arts, A Selection from the Solomon R. Guggenheim
University, Jan. 31-Feb. 22, 1952; Jacksonville, Dartmouth College, Nov. 5-Dec. 18, 1955; South Museum, New York, June 4—July 3 (catalogue).
Ala., State Teachers College, March 4—26, 1952; Hadley, Mass., Dwight Art Memorial, Mount
Troy, N.Y., Faculty Club, Rensselaer Holyoke College, Jan. 3-31, 1956; Middletown, 94. S.R.G.M., Alberto Giacometti, June 8-July 17
Polytechnic Institute, April 22-May 15, 1952 Conn., Davison Art Center, Wesleyan (checklist).
(selections shown also at the Emma Willard University, Feb. 7-March 31, 1956 (catalogue).
School and the Troy Public Library); New Paltz, 95. S.R.G.M., Selection V, July 27-Oct. 9
N.Y., State Teachers College, State University 1954 (checklist).
of New York, May 22-June 22, 1952. 83. S.R.G.M., Interim Exhibition of Museum
Collection, Jan. 5-March 21. 96. S.R.G.M., Constantin Brancusi, Oct. 26,
73. New
York, N.Y., Museum of Non- 1955-Jan. 8, 1956; traveled to Philadelphia, Pa.,
Objective Painting, Loan Exhibition, Nov. 27, 84. S.R.G.M., Selection III, March 31-May Philadelphia Museum of Art, Jan. 27-Feb. 26,
5
1951-closing date unknown (checklist). (checklist). 1956 (checklist).

1952 85-T. Toronto, The Art Gallery of Toronto, A 1956

74. NewYork, N.Y., Museum of Non- Loan Exhibition from the Solomon R. Guggenheim 97. S.R.G.M., Selection VI, Jan. 25-May 1

Objective Painting, Evolution to Non-Objectivity, Museum, New York, April 2-May 9 (catalogue). (checklist).

316 An
98- r. Oberlin, Ohio, Allen Memorial An Dei .
5, 1957 Jan. 8, 1958; Cologne, Wallral- 117- 1 Toronto, The An ( rallery of I oronto,
Museum, Supplementary Exhibition oj Watercolors, Richartz-Museum, Jan. 26 March jo, 1958; Paintings by Kandinsk) from tin Collection oj

March 1-21; Cedar Rapids. Iowa, ( oe College, Pans, Musee des Arts Dec orat lis, April 23- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, April 24-
March iH April 19; Albion, Mich., Albion June 1, 1958 (separate catalogue published by May 24.
College, April 28-May 12; Hanover, N.H., each museum).
Carpenter Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, 118. S.R.G.M., Inaugural Selection, Oct. 21,

May U—June 15; Brunswick, Maine, Howclom IO5-T. Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, [959—June 19, i960 (checklist >.

College Museum of Fine Arts, June 24-July 22; 4j0euvres dt Kandinsky provenant du Solomon R.
University Park, Pa., The Pennsylvania State- Guggenheim Museum, New York, May 17—June 30; 119-T. Boston, Mass., Museum of I ine Arts.
University, Nov. 1-21; Washington, D.C., Pans, Musee National d'Art Moderne, Nov. 15, A Guggenheim Museum,
Sc/luh to the SeL
Howard University, Nov. 30— Dec. 21; Savannah, 1957—Jan. 5, 1958; London, Tate Gallery, Works, Oct. 30- Dec. 13 (checklist)
d.i .
, Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, Jan. [5—Feb. 28, 1958; Lyon, Musee des
Jan. 3-24, 1957; New Orleans, La., Newcomb Beaux-Arts, March 8-April 6, 1958; Oslo, 1960
College, Tulane University, Feb. 2-23, 1957; Kunstnernes Hus, April 18-May 4, 1958; Rome, 120-r. Ann Arbor, Mich., The University of

University, Miss., Fine Arts Center, University Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Michigan Museum of Art. Images at Mid-
of Mississippi, March 3-24, 1957; Lexington, May 15-June 30, 1950 (separate catalogue Century, April [3—June 12 (catalogue).
Ky., University of Kentucky, April 2-23, 1957; published by each museum).
Collegeville, Minn., St. John's University, 121-1. Chicago, III., The Arts Club of Chicago,

May Grand Rapids, Mich., Grand

3-24, 1957; 106. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions and Loans, Sculpture and Drawings b) Sculptors from tin
Rapids Art Gallery, June 1-23, 1957. June 12-Aug. 11 (checklist). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, April [9—May 19
(checklist with reproductions).
99-T. Cornish, N.H., Picture Gallery, Saint- 107. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions and Loans II,

Gaudens Memorial, Painters oj Today, Aug. 3— Aug. 21-Dec. 1 (checklist). 122-T. Lexington, Ky., University of
Sept. 4 (checklist). Kentucky, European Paintings from the
108. S.R.G.M., Ptet Mondrian: The Earlier Years, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, May 8-June 19
1957 Dec. 11, 1957-Jan. 26, 1958; traveled to San (catalogue).
ioo-t. Kalamazoo, Mich., Kalamazoo Institute Francisco, Calif., San Francisco Museum of Art,
of Arts, Supplementary Exhibition of Drawings, Feb. 6-April 14, 1958 (catalogue with checklist). 123. S.R.G.M., Before Picasso: After Mini,

Feb. 3-24; Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Coe College, June Zl—Oct. 20 (catalogue with checklist).
March 1-31; Beloit, Wis., Beloit College, 1958
April 5-28; Duluth, Minn., College of St. 109. S.R.G.M., Sculptures and Drawings from 124. S.R.G.M., Guggenheim International Award,
Scholastica, May 5—31; Laramie, Wyo., The Seven Sculptors, Feb. 12-April 27 (checklist). i960, Nov. 1, 1960-Jan. 29, 1961 (catalogue).
University of Wyoming, June 10— Aug. 16;
Bozeman, Mont., Montana State College, no-T. Portland, Maine, The Portland Museum 1961
Sept. 22-Oct. 13; Caldwell, Idaho, The College of Art, Supplementary Exhibition oj Prints. 125. S.R.G.M., Paintings from the Arensberg
of Idaho, Oct. 20-Nov. 10; Davis, Calif., ips8-rp<)9; Hamilton, N.Y., Colgate University; and Gallatin Collections oj the Philadelphia
University of California, Nov. 17—Dec. 15; Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Coe College; Superior, Museum ofArt, Feb. 7-April 16 (catalogue).
Fayetteville, Ark., Arts Center Gallery, Wis., State Teachers College; University Park,
University of Arkansas, Jan. 5-26, 1958; Notre Pa.,The Pennsylvania State University; 126. S.R.G.M., Exhibition oj Ceramic Mural by
Dame, Ind., Art Gallery, University of Notre Marywood College; Charlotte,
Scranton, Pa., Mird (Untitled, i960, lent by Harvard
Dame, Feb.' 2-23, 1958; South Hadley, Mass., N.C., Mint Museum of Art; Athens, Ga., University, Cambridge, Mass., prior to
Dwight Art Memorial, Mount Holyoke College, The University of Georgia; Talladega, Ala., permanent installation), March 30-April 16.
March 2-23, 1958. Talladega College; Ypsilanti, Mich., Eastern
Michigan College; Saratoga Springs, N.Y., 127. S.R.G.M., Acquisitions. 1955-1961.
101.S.R.G.M., Jacques Villon. Raymond Skidmore College. April 19-May 21.

Duchamp-Villon. Marcel Duchamp, Feb. 20-

March 10; traveled to Houston, Tex., in. S.R.G.M., Recent Accessions, May 14-Aug. 3 128. S.R.G.M., One Hundred Paintings from the
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 23- (checklist). G. David Thompson Collection, May 26-Aug. 27
April 21 (catalogue with checklist insert). (catalogue).
112. S.R.G.M., Selections, Aug. 13-Oct. 5

102. S.R.G.M., Guggenheim International Award. (checklist). 129. S.R.G.M., Modern Masters from the Collection

1956,March 27-June 7 (checklist). Entries of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Aug. 30—
judged in Paris shown at Musee National d'Art 113-T. Baltimore, Md., The Baltimore Museum Oct. 8 (catalogue with checklist).
Moderne, Nov. 28-Dec. 15, 1956. of Art, Sixteen Paintings by Wassily Kandinsky
from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 130. S.R.G.M., Raymond Parker, Aug. 30-Oct. 8
Williamstown, Mass., Lawrence Art
103-T. Sept. 20-Oct. 31. (checklist).
Museum, Williams College, Selection of American
Paintings from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 114. S.R.G.M., Guggenheim International Award, 131. S.R.G.M., AlfredJensen, Aug. 30-Oct. 8
April 8-28; Middletown, Conn., Davison Art 1958, Oct. 22, 1958-Feb. 23, 1959 (catalogue). (checklist).
Center, Wesleyan University, May 1-31.

1959 132. S.R.G.M., Elements of Modern Art,

104-T. London, Tate Gallery, An Exhibition of 115. S.R.G.M., Twenty Contemporary Painters from Oct. 3-Nov. 12; reinstalled Jan. 9-25. 1962
Paintings from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. the Philippe Dotremont Collection. Brussels, (catalogue, Elements oj Modern Painting, with
New 16-May 26; The Hague, Haags
York, April April [—May 24 (catalogue). checklist insert).
Gemeentemuseum, June 25-Sept. 1; Helsinki,
Ateneumin Taidekokoelmat, Sept. 27-Oct. 20; 116. S.R.G.M., Some Recent Gifts, April [—May 24 133. S.R.G.M., American Abstract Expressionists
Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, (checklist). and Imagists, Oct. 13-Dec. 31 (catalogue).

Exhibit ion and Publication History 317

134-T. Philadelphia. Pa.. Philadelphia Museum Feb. 7-28, 1964 (catalogue, Modern Art: An Oct. 21-Nov. 10; Philadelphia, Pa., Great
of Art. Guggenheim Museum Exhibition: A Loan Introductory Commentary, reprint of Elements of Eastern Numismatic Society, Dec.

Colltd ion of Paintings. Drawings, and Prints from Modern Painting, for exhibition no. 132).

the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Neu York, 153. S.R.G.M., Cezanne and Structure in Modern
Nov. 2, 1961-Jan. 7, 1962 (catalogue). 144. S.R.G.M., Summer Selection. 1962, Painting, June 6—Oct. 13 (catalogue with
July 3-Sept. 30 (checklist). checklist insert).

135. S.R.G.M., Chryssa, Nov. 14-Dec. 17

(checklist). 145. S.R.G.M., Modern Sculpture from the Joseph H. 154. S.R.G.M., Morris Louis. 1912-1962: Memorial
Hirshhorn Collection, Oct. 3, 1962-Jan. 20, 1963 Exhibition, Sept. 25-Oct. 27 (catalogue).

1962 (catalogue).
1 }6. S.R.G.M.. Sculpture from the Museum 155. S.R.G.M., Francis Bacon, Oct. 18, 1963-
Collection, Jan. 9-Feb. 25. 1963 Jan. 12, 1964; traveled to Chicago, 111., The Art
146-T. Pasadena, Calif., The Pasadena Art Institute of Chicago, Jan. 24-Feb. 23, 1964

137. S.R.G.M., Acquisitions. 1061, Jan. 9-Feb. 25. Museum, Vastly Kandinsky. 1866-1944: A (catalogue).
Retrospective Exhibition, Jan. 15-Feb. 15; San
138. S.R.G.M., Jan Mu'ller, 1922-1958, Jan. 11- Francisco, Calif., San Francisco Museum of Art, 156. S.R.G.M., 20th-century Master Drawings,
Feb. 25; traveled to Boston, Mass., Institute of March i-April 1; Portland, Oreg., The Portland Nov. 6, 1963-Jan. 5, 1965; traveled to

Contemporary Art, March 16-April 22 Art Museum, April 15—May 15; San Antonio, Minneapolis, Minn., University Gallery,
(catalogue). Tex., Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, University of Minnesota, Feb. 3— March 15, 1964;
June I—July 1; Colorado Springs, Colo., Colorado Cambridge, Mass., The Fogg Art Museum,
139. S.R.G.M., Fernand Uger: Fire Themes and Springs Fine Arts Center, July 15— Aug. 25; Harvard University, April 6— May 24, 1964
Variations, Feb. 28-April 29 (catalogue). Baltimore, Md., The Baltimore Museum of Art, (catalogue).
Sept. 19— Oct. 20; Columbus, Ohio, The
140. S.R.G.M., Antoni Tdpies, March 22-May 13 Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Nov. 5-Dec. 5; 1964
(catalogue). St. Louis, Mo., Washington University Art 157. S.R.G.M., Guggenheim International Award.
Gallery, Dec. 22, 1963-Jan. 6, 1964; Montreal, 1964, Jan. 16— March 9; traveled to Honolulu,
141. Minneapolis, Minn., University Gallery, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Feb. 5- Hawaii, Honolulu Academy of Fine Arts,
University of Minnesota, The Nineteenth Century: March 5, 1964; Worcester, Mass., Worcester Art May 14-July 5; Berlin, Haus am Liitzowplatz,
One Hundred Twenty-ftvt Master Drawings, Museum, March 20—April 20, 1964 (catalogue). Aug. 21-Sept. 15; Ottawa, The National Gallery
March 26-April 23; traveled to S.R.G.M., of Canada, Oct. 5— Nov. 9; Sarasota, Fla.,
May 15—June 28 (catalogue). 147. S.R.G.M., Vasily Kandinsky. 1866-1944: John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art,
A Retrospective Exhibition, Jan. 25—April 7; Jan. 16-March 14, 1965; Buenos Aires, Museo
142. S.R.G.M., Philip Guston, May 3-July 1; traveled to Pans, Musee National d'Art Nacional de Bellas Artes, April 20-May 20,
traveled to Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Moderne, April 29-June 24; The Hague, Haags 1965 (catalogue).
Sept. 21-Oct. 15; London, Whitechapel Art Gemeentemuseum, July 1— Aug. 30; Basel,
Gallery, Jan. i-Feb. 15, 1963; Brussels, Palais des Kusthalie Basel, Sept. 7— Nov. 7 (catalogue). 158. Washington, D.C., The Washington
Beaux-Arts, March 1-31, 1963; Los Angeles, Gallery of Modern Art, Vincent van Gogh:
Calif., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 148-T. Worcester, Mass., Worcester Art Paintings. Watercolors. and Drawings, Feb. 1-
May 21-June 30, 1963 (catalogue). Museum, Aspects of Twentieth-Century Painting March 18; traveled to S.R.G.M., April 2-June 28
Lent by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. New (catalogue).
143-T. Laguna Beach, Laguna Beach Art
Calif., York, Feb. 7— April 7 (catalogue).
Association. Elements of Modern Art (selections 159-T. Tulsa, Okla., Philbrook Art Center,
from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 149. S.R.G.M., Six Painters and the Object, Elements of Modern Art II (selections from
circulated by the American Federation of Arts), March 14-June 2; traveled to Los Angeles, theSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
July 1-30; Salt Lake City, Utah Museum of Fine Calif., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, circulated by theAmerican Federation of Arts),
Arts, Aug. 13-Sept. 3; Washington, D.C., The July 24—Aug. 20; Minneapolis, Minn., March 1-22; Nashville, Tenn., Vanderbilt
Phillips Collection, Sept. 17-Oct. 8; Oak Ridge, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Sept. 3-29; University, April 5—26; Charleston, W Va.,
Tenn., Oak Ridge Community Art Center, Ann Arbor, Mich., University of Michigan Charleston Civic Center, May 10—31; Muskegon,
Oct. 22-Nov. 12; Durham. N.C., Duke Museum of Art, Oct. 9-Nov. 3; Waltham, Mich.. Hackley Art Gallery, June 14-July 5;

University, Nov. 26-Dec. 17; Oswego, N.Y., Mass., Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Charleston, S.C., Gibbes Art Gallery,
State University College Student Union, Nov. 18-Dec. 29; Pittsburgh, Pa., Jan. 17- Sept. 27-Oct. 18; Saratoga Springs, N.Y.,
Jan. 1-22. 1963; Nashville, Tenn., Vanderbilt Feb. 23, 1964; Columbus, Ohio, The Columbus Hathorn Gallery, Skidmore College,
College, Feb. 5-25, 1963; Greensboro. N.C., Gallery of Fine Arts, March 8-April 5, 1964; Nov. 1-23; Philadelphia, Pa., Tyler School of
Woman's College of the University of North La Jolla, Calif., Art Center in La Jolla, April 20- Fine Art, Temple University, Dec. 6—27;
Carolina, March 10-30, 1963; Charleston, 111., May 17, 1964 (catalogue). Austin, Tex., Laguna Gloria Art Museum,
Paul Sargent Gallery, Eastern Illinois Jan. 10-31, 1965; Norfolk, Va., Old Dominion
University. April 13-May 4, 1963; Clinton, 150. S.R.G.M., Five Mural Panels Executed for College, Feb. 14-March 7, 1965; East Lansing,
\ Y Hamilton
. College, May 18-June 8, 1963; Harvard University by Mark Rothko, April 9- Mich., Kresge Art Center, Michigan
Tampa, Fla., University of Southern Florida, June 2. State University, March 21-April 11, 1965;
June 22-July 22, [963; Memphis, Tenn.. Brooks Montclair, N.J., Montclair Art Museum,
Memorial Art Gallery. Sept. 10-30, 1963; Lake 151. S.R.G.M., Museum Collection. Spring. 196}, May 2-30, 1965.
Charles, La., Art Association of Lake Charles, April 19-June 2 (checklist).
Oct. 14-Nov. 4, 1963; Saratoga Springs, N.Y., 160. S.R.G.M., Selections from the Museum
Hathorn Gallery, Skidmore College, 152. S.R.G.M.. Coins by Sculptors, May 7- Collection, April 2-June 28.
18-Dec. 9, 1963; Grand Rapids, Mich., Aug. 26; traveled to Philadelphia, Pa., The
Grand Rapids Art Gallery, Jan. 3-24, 1964; Philadelphia National Bank, Sept. 20—27; 161. S.R.G.M., Frederick Kiesler: Environmental
Saginaw Mich.. The Saginaw Museum. Waltham, Mass.. Brandeis University Library, Sculpture, May 5-June 28 (catalogue).

318
i6i. S.R.G.M., Van Gogh and Expressionism, Decade, organized by the Solomon R. Krannen An Must <tsk \ ol [Him
July i-Sept. [3 (catalogue with checklist insert). Guggenheim Museum and Cornell University Sepi 16 Oct 9, 1966; Lincoln, Mass.,
(i hci klist). 1 l ' V.\ 6
lova Must Min
4, 1966; I >' •

163, S.R.G.M., Albert Glet es, 1881 Tp& A Sarasota. John and Mablc Ringling
I la ,

Retrospective Exhibition, Sept. 15 Nov. i; traveled 170. S.R.G.M., (1 nst, a Klunt and Egon Schiele, Museum ol Art. April 9 Maj 7, 1967
to P.ins,Musee National d'Art Moderne, Dec. 5, Feb. 5—April 2s (catalogue). Organized by the Solomon K Guggenheim
1964 Jan. ji, 196s; Dortmund, Museum am Museum and Cornell I fniversity 'related
Ostwall, March n-April 25, [965 (catalogue). [71. S.R.G.M., William Baziotes: A Manorial publication and bro< hure with t he< klist).
Exhibition, Feb.y March 21; traveled to
164-1. San Francisco, Calif., San Francisco Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, 180.S.R.G.M., Edvard Munch, Oct. is.

Museum of Art, Albert Gleizes, 1S81- 1955: April9-May 2; Reading, Pa., The Reading 1965—Feb. 20, [966 (catalogue).
A Retrospective Exhibition, Sept. 17—Nov. 1; Publk Museum and Art Gallery, May 23-
St. Louis, Mo., City Art Museum of St. Louis, June 27; Santa Barbara, Calif., Santa Barbara [81. S.R.G.M., Wordandlmage, Dec. 8.

Nov. 19-Dec. 20; Champaign-Urbana, 111., Museum July 13-Aug. 22; Milwaukee,
of Art, 1965 Jan. 2, [966 (checklist with introductory
Krannert Art Museum, University ot Illinois, Wis., Milwaukee Art Center, Sept. 9-Oct. 10; essay).

Jan. 9—Feb. 21, 1965; Columbus, Ohio, The Waltham, Mass., Rose Art Center, Brandeis
Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, March 11- University, Nov. 1-30; Utica, N.Y., Munson- 1966
April 8, 1965; Ottawa, The National Gallery of Williams-Proctor Institute, Dec. 11, 1965— 182. S.R.G.M., The Photographic Image, Jan. 12-
Canada, April 23-May 2?, 1965; Buffalo, N.Y., Jan. 11, Columbus, Ohio, The Columbus
1966; Feb. [3 (checklist with introductory essay).

Albright-Knox Art Gallery, June i-Aug. 30, Gallery of Fine Arts, Jan. 27—Feb. 28, 1966;
1965; Chicago, 111., The Arts Club of Chicago, Washington, D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of 183. S.R.G.M., European Drawings, Feb. 24-
Sept. 20-Oct. 30, 1965 (same catalogue as Art, March 15— April 15, 1966; Minneapolis, Apnl 17; traveled to Minneapolis, Minn.,

previous exhibition). Minn., The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, University Gallery, University of Minnesota.
May 15-June 15, 1966; Dallas, Tex., Dallas May 10—31; Lincoln, Mass., DeCordova Museum.
165. S.R.G.M., American Drawings, Sept. 17— Museum of Fine Arts, July 4-Aug. 4, 1966; June 26-Sept. 4; Providence, R.I., Museum of
Oct. 27; traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich., Akron, Ohio, Akron Art Institute, Oct. 10- Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Sept. 14-
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Nov. 14, 1966 (catalogue). Oct. 8; Ottawa, The National Gallery of
Nov. n-Dec. 13; Grand Rapids, Mich., Grand Canada, Nov. 28-Dec. 25; Milwaukee, Wis.,
Rapids Art Museum, Jan. 10-Feb. 7, 1965; 172. S.R.G.M., Illustrations for Opera by Gramatti Milwaukee Art Center, Jan. 5-Feb. 5, 1967;
Minneapolis, Minn., University Gallery, and Lissitzky, March 23-April 25. Atlanta, Ga., The High Museum of Art.
University of Minnesota, Feb. 24-March 21, March 1-31, 1967; Dallas, Tex., Dallas Museum
Wash., Seattle Art Museum,
1965; Seattle, 173. S.R.G.M., Paintings from the Collection oj tht of Fine Arts, April 15-May 15, 1967;
April 8-May 2, 1965; Denver, Colo., The Denver Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, April 30— Oct. 3 Champaign-Urbana, 111., Krannert Art
Art Museum, June 6—July 4, 1965; Dallas, Tex., (catalogue). Museum, University of Illinois, May 28—
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, July 25-Aug. 22, June 25, 1967; Raleigh. N.C.. The North
1965; Columbus, Ohio, The Columbus Gallery 174. S.R.G.M., Masterpieces of Modern Art, by Carolina Museum of Art. July 15-Aug. 20, 1967
of Fine Arts, Sept. 12-Oct. 10, 1965; Courtesy of the Thannhauser Foundation, April 30- (catalogue).
Champaign-Urbana, 111., Krannert Art Oct. 3 (catalogue with insert of addenda to the
Museum, University of Illinois, Nov. 14— Dec. 5, exhibition). 184. S.R.G.M., Vasil) Kandinsky, 1901-1914
1965 (catalogue). (museum collection and loans), April 19-
175. Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Sept. 18; loans returned, exhibition reinstalled
166. S.R.G.M., Alexander C alder: A Retrospective Beuningen, deStael, May 27-July 11; traveled to Nov.; reinstalled Dec. 4, 1966-Feb. 12, 1967.
Exhibition, Nov. 6, 1964-Jan. 31, 1965; half of Kunsthaus Zurich, July 28—Sept. 5; Boston,
exhibition traveled to St. Louis, Mo., Museum of Fine Arts, Oct. i-Nov. 7; Chicago, 185. S.R.G.M., Barnett Newman: The Stations of
Washington University Gallery of Art, Feb. 21— 111., The Art Institute of Chicago, Jan. 7— the Cross: lema sabachthani, April 23—June 19
March 26; Toronto, The Art Gallery of Toronto, Feb. 13, 1966; S.R.G.M., Feb. 24-April 17, 1966 (catalogue).
April 30— May 30; half of exhibition traveled to (catalogue).
Milwaukee, Wis., Milwaukee Art Center, 186. S.R.G.M.. Museum Collection. April 23-
Feb. 25—March 28; Des Moines, Iowa, Des 176. S.R.G.M., Some Recent Gifts, June. Sept. 18.

Moines Art Center, April 28-May 30; entire

exhibition traveled to Paris, Musee National 177. S.R.G.M., Some Recent Gifts //.July 20- 18-. S.R.G.M., Gauguin and the Decorativt Style,

d'Art Moderne, July I— Oct. 15 (catalogue with Aug. 29. June 23—Oct. 23 (catalogue with checklist
checklist insert). insert).

178. S.R.G.M., Jean Xceron, Sept. 8-Oct. 10;

167. S.R.G.M., The Shaped Camas, Dec. 9-29 traveled to Providence, R.I., Museum of Art, 188-T. Richmond, Va., Virginia Museum of Fine
(checklist with introductory essayand several Rhode Island School of Design, April 7—May 1. Arts. Masterpieces from tht Collection 0] the Solomon
reproductions). 1966; Athens, Zappeion Palace, Oct. 3-30, 1966 R. Guggenheim Museum, circulated in the
(catalogue). Virginia Museum's "Artmobile. Sept. 15,

1965 1966-Jan. 15, 1967.

168. S.R.G.M., Eleven from the Reuben Gallery . 179. Ithaca, N.Y., Andrew Dickson White
Jan. 6-28 (pamphlet with introductory essays Museum, Cornell University. The Emergent 189. S.R.G.M., Systemic Painting, Sept. 21-
and several reproductions). Decade: Latin American Painters and Painting in Nov. 27 (catalogue).
the 1960s, Oct. 8-Nov. 8; Dallas, Tex., Dallas
169-T. Caracas, Ateneo de Caracas, Jan. 10- Museum of Fine Arts, Dec. 18, 1965-Jan. 18, 190. S.R.G.M.. Jijn Dubuffet 1962-66, Oct. i~.
Feb. 10, and Museo de Bellas Artes, Jan. 10-24, 1966; Ottawa, The National Gallery of Canada, 1966-Feb. 5, 1967 (catalogue).
Evaluacidn de la pint ura latinoamericana. aiios '60, April i-May 1, 1966; S.R.G.M., May 20-
preliminary version of exhibition The Emergent June 19, 1966; Champaign-Urbana, 111., 191. S.R.G.M., Vasil) Kandinsky: Painting on

Exhibition and Publication History 319

 Hinterglasmalerei), Anniversary Exhibition, 202. S.R.G.M., Acquisitions of the 1930's The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Oct. 18-Dec. 7
.
[966 Feb. 12, 1967 (catalogue). and 1940s: A Selection of Paintings. Watercolors (catalogue).
a ml Drawings in Tribute to Baroness Hilla
1967 inn Rebay, 1890-1967, April n-May 26 216. S.R.G.M., European Paintings from the

[92 S R G.M., PaulKlee, 1879-1940. A (catalogue). Museum Collection, April 25-May 11.

Retrospectivt Exhibition, Feb. 17— April 30;

traveled to Basel, Kunsthalle Basel, 203. S.R.G.M., Harold Tovish, May 15-June 30 217. S.R.G.M., Nine Young Artists. Theodoron
fune } Aug. [6 (separate catalogue published (checklist). Awards, May 24—June 29 (catalogue with
by the two museums). checklist).
204. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions, May 30-
193-T. Pasadena, Calif., The Pasadena Art Sept. 8. 218. Chicago, 111., Museum of Contemporary
Museum, PaulKlee. 1879-1940: A Retrospective Art, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, May 31-July 12;
Exhibition, Feb. 21-April 2; San Francisco, 205. S.R.G.M., Rousseau. Redon, and Fantasy, traveled to Santa Barbara, Calif, Santa Barbara
Calif., San Francisco Museum of Art, April 13- May 31-Sept. 8 (catalogue with checklist insert). Museum of Art, Aug. 2-Sept. 21; Berkeley,
Mav 14; Columbus, Ohio, The Columbus Calif, University Art Museum, University of
Gallery of Fine Arts, May 25-June 25; 206. San Francisco, Calif, San Francisco California, Oct. 2-Nov. 2; Seattle, Wash.,
Cleveland, Ohio, The Cleveland Museum of Museum of An, Julius Bissier. 1893- 1965: Seattle Art Museum, Nov. 20, 1969-Jan. 4,
Art, July J—Aug. 13; Kansas City, Mo., William A Retrospective Exhibition, Sept. 18-Oct. 27; 1970; S.R.G.M., Feb. 20-April 19, 1970
Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Sept. 1-30; traveled to Washington, D.C., The Phillips (catalogue).
Baltimore, Md., The Baltimore Museum of Collection, Nov. 18-Dec. 22; Pittsburgh, Pa.,
24-Nov. 19; St. Louis, Mo.,
Art, Oct. Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, 219-T. New York, N.Y., Art Gallery, Center
Washington University Gallery of Art, Dec. 3, Jan. 20-Feb. 23, 1969; Dallas, Tex., Dallas for Inter-American Relations, Latin
1967-Jan. 5, 1968; Philadelphia, Pa., Museum of Fine Arts, March 19-April 20, 1969; American Paintings from the Collection of the
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Jan. 15- S.R.G.M., May 16-June 29, 1969 (catalogue). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, July 2—
Feb. 15, 1968. Organized by the Solomon R. Sept. 14 (catalogue).
Guggenheim Museum in collaboration with the 207-T. Columbus, Ohio, The Columbus Gallery
Pasadena Art Museum (catalogue). of Fine Arts, Paintings from the Solomon R. 220. S.R.G.M., Selected Sculpture and Works on
Guggenheim Museum, Oct. 5, 1968— Sept. 7, 1969 Paper, July 8-Sept. 14 (catalogue).
194. S.R.G.M., Joseph Cornell, May 4-June 25 (catalogue).
(catalogue). 221. S.R.G.M., Collection: From the Turn of the
208. S.R.G.M., A Selection of Works by Vastly Century to 1914, Sept. 16-Oct. 12.

19s. S.R.G.M., Selections from the Museum Kandinsky (1866-1944) from the Museum Collection,
Collection, May 4-June 25. Oct. 8, 1968-Jan. 12, 1969. 222. S.R.G.M., Larger Paintings from the Museum
Collection, Sept. 18, 1969-Jan. 21, 1970.
[96. S.R.G.M., Museum Collection. Seven Decades. 209. S.R.G.M., Mastercraftsmen of Ancient
A Selection, June 28-Oct. 1 (checklist). Peru, Oct. 19, 1968-Jan. 11, 1969; traveled to 223. S.R.G.M., Roy Lichtenstein , Sept. 19-Nov. 9;
Los Angeles, Calif., Los Angeles County traveled to Kansas City, Mo., Nelson-Atkins
197. S.R.G.M., Guggenheim International Museum of Art, March n-June 1, 1969 Gallery of Art, Dec. 19, 1969-Jan. 18, 1970;
Exhibition, 1967: Sculpture from Twenty Sat ions, (catalogue). Chicago, 111., Museum of Contemporary Art,
Oct. 20, 1967-Feb. 4, 1968; traveled to Toronto, Feb. 7-March 22, 1970; Seattle, Wash., Seattle
Art Gallery of Ontario, Feb. 24-March 27, 1968; 210. Los Angeles, Calif, The UCLA Art Art Museum, April 10-May 17, 1970;
Ottawa. The National Gallery of Canada, Galleries, JeanArp (1886-1966): A Retrospective Columbus, Ohio, Columbus Gallery of Art,
April 26—June 9, 1968; Montreal, The Montreal Exhibition, Nov. 10— Dec. 5; traveled to Des July 9-Aug. 30, 1970 (catalogue).
Museum of Fine Arts, June 20-Aug. 18, 1968 Moines, Iowa, Des Moines Art Center,
(catalogue). Jan. 11-Feb. 16, 1969; Dallas, Tex., Dallas 224. Philadelphia, Pa., Philadelphia Museum
Museum March 12-April 13, 1969;
of Fine Arts, of Art, Constantin Brancusi. 1876-1957: A
198-T. New York, N.Y., The Metropolitan S.R.G.M., May 16-June 29, 1969 (monograph Retrospective Exhibition, Sept. 25-Nov. 2;
Museum of Art, Selections (row the Solomon R. by H. Read, The Art ofJean Arp). S.R.G.M., Nov. 21, 1969-Feb. 15, 1970;
enheim Museum, Nov. 16, 1967-March 31, Chicago, 111., The Art Institute of Chicago,
[968. 1969 March 14-April 26, 1970 (catalogue); Bucharest,
211. S.R.G.M., Works from the Peggy Guggenheim Muzeul de Arta R.S.R., June 6-Aug. 20, 1970
1968 Foundation, Jan. 16-March 23 (catalogue). (separate catalogue). Organized by the
199 S.R.G.M., Neo-Impressionism, Feb. 9-April 7 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Art
(catalogue). 212. S.R.G.M., Vastly Kandinsky, Selections from Institute of Chicago, and the Philadelphia
the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Collection, Museum of Art.
200. New York. Whitney Museum of American Feb. 14-March 9.
Art, Feb. 14-March 31, and Solomon R. 225-T. Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art
Guggenheim Museum, Feb. 14— April 7, Adolph 213. S.R.G.M., American Paintings from the Museum, Paintings from the Guggenheim Museum:
Gottlieb (joint exhibition); traveled to Museum Collection, March 28-May 11. A Loan Exhibition of Modern Paintings Covering
Washington, DC,
The Corcoran Gallery of the Period 1949-196$, Oct. 3, 1969-March 29,
Art. April 2; Waltham, Mass., Rose
26-June 214. S.R.G.M., Vastly Kandinsky: Thirteen 1970 (catalogue).
Art Museum, Brandeis University, Sept. 9- Paintings from the Museum Collection,
( )< t 20 (catalogue) March 28-May 11. 226. S.R.G.M., Vastly Kandinsky. 1866-1944:
A Selection, Oct. 14-Dec. 21; reinstalled Jan. 19-
201. S.R.G.M., Paul Feele) 11910-1966): 215. S.R.G.M., David Smith, March 29-May n; Feb. 8, 1970.
\ Men orial Exhibition, April n-May 26 traveled to Dallas, Tex., Dallas Museum of
Fine Arts, June 25-Sept. 1; Washington, D.C., 227. S.R.G.M., Collection: From the First to the

320 -
etitur)
 1

Second World War, n)i<, ipip, Dec. n. [969 Berkeley, ( alif., I niversity Art Museum, 25.} S R.< M . Ma turn P
Jan. iS, 1970. University of California, July 6 Aug. 22, 1971 I ra, Sepi ,7 Oct, [5O hecklist)
(catalogue).
1970 255. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children,
228. S.R.G.M., Kandinsky, Kite, Feininger: 1971 Sept. M 28.

1 Baubaus Painters, Feb. 17—April 19. 239. S.R.G.M., Guggenheim International

Exhibition, 1971, Feb. 12-April 11 (catalogue) 256. S.R.G.M
Amsterdam Pari I
.
>

229. S.R.( 1 M . Sculpturt Selections from the Oct. 6 Nov. 26; traveled to Pasadena, Calil .

Museum Collection, Feb. [9—April 5. 240. S.R.G.M., Cubist Painters /com tht Museum The Pasadena Art Museum, Feb. 10 April 8,
Collection, April [5—June (>.
1973; Dallas, Tex.. Dallas Museum ot Fine Arts,
230. S.R.G.M., Younger Artists fromtkt Museum May 2 June j, [973 (catalogue).
Collection, April 21-Scpc. 9. i.\\. S.R.G.M., Selections Irom tin Museum
Collection and Recent Acquisitions, t9~t, June 11- 257. S.R.G.M., Joan Mird: Magneth Fields,
231. Berkeley, Calif., University Art Museum, Sept. 12 (handbook published tor exhibition Oct. 26, 1972-Jan. zi, 1973 (catalogue).
University oi California, Pol Bury, April 28- no. 232, with printed insert of addenda).
Ma\ ji; St. Paul. Minn., The College of St. 258-T. Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum
( atherine, and Minneapolis, Minn., Walker Art 242. S.R.G.M., A Summer with Children, of Art, Masterpieces from the Solomon R.
Center, Aug. 2-Sept. 10; Iowa City, Iowa, exhibition of the Guggenheim Museum's Guggenheim Museum, Nov. 15, 1972-Feb. 11, 1973
University of Iowa Museum or Art, Sept. 20— summer program in the arts tor inner-city (catalogue),
Oct. 31; Chicago, III., The Arts Club of Chicago, children, Sept. 10-19.
Nov. 24, 1970-Jan. 2, 1971; Houston, Tex., 259. Berkeley, Calif., University Art Museum,
Institute for the Arts, Rice University, Jan. 25- 243. S.R.G.M., Ten Young Artists: Theodoron University of California, Ferdinand Hodler,
March 7, 1971; S.R.G.M., April 15-June 6, [971. Awards, Sept. 24-Nov. 7 (catalogue and Nov. 22, 1972-Jan. 7, 1973; traveled to
Organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim checklist). S.R.G.M., Feb. 2-April 8, 1973; Cambridge.
Museum and the University Art Museum Mass., Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard
(catalogue; Guggenheim Museum published an 244. S.R.G.M., Put Mondrian, 1872-1944: University, May i-June 22, 1973 (catalogue).
insert listing deletions and additions to the Centennial Exhibition, Oct. 8-Dec. 12; traveled to
exhibition). Bern, Kunstmuseum Bern, Feb. 9-April 9, 1972 260. S.R.G.M., Collection Exhibition, Dec. 7,
(catalogue). [972-Feb. 22, 1973.
232. S.R.G.M., Selections from the Guggenheim
Museum Collection, 1900-1970, May i-Sept. 13 245. S.R.G.M., Robert Mangold, Nov. 19, 1971- 261. S.R.G.M.. Eia Hesse: A Memorial Exhibition,
(fully illustrated handbook. Selections from the Jan. 2, 1972 (catalogue). Dec. 7, 1972-Feb. 11, [973; traveled to Buffalo,
Guggenheim Museum Collection. 1900—1970). N.Y., Albright-Knox Art Gallery, March 8-
246. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of April 22, 1973; Chicago, 111., Museum of
233. S.R.G.M.. Francis Picabia: A Retrospective Art, The Drawings Rodin, Nov. 20, 1971- Contemporary May
of Art. 19—July 8, 1973;
Exhibition, Sept. 18-Dec. 6; traveled to Jan. 23, 1972 (catalogue); traveled to S.R.G.M., Pasadena, Calif., The Pasadena Art Museum,
Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Rodin Drawings: True and False, March 10- Sept. 18-Nov. 11, 1973; Berkeley, Calif.,
Jan. 6-Feb. 7, 1971; Toronto, The Art Gallery May 7, 1972 (catalogue with checklist insert). University Art Museum, University of
of Ontario, Feb. 26-March 28, 1971; Detroit, California, Dec. 12, 1973-Feb. 3, 1974
Mich., The Detroit Institute of Arts, 247. S.R.G.M., John Chamberlain: A Retrospectivi (catalogue).
May 12-June 27, 1971 (catalogue). Exhibition, Dec. 22, 1971-Feb. 20, 1972
(catalogue). 1973
234. S.R.G.M., Carl Andre, Sept. 29-Nov. 22; 262. S.R.G.M., American Painters through Two
traveled to St. Louis, Mo., City Art Museum of 248. S.R.G.M., Museum Collection: Contemporary Decades from the Museum Collection, Feb. 23-
St. Louis, May 13-June 27, 1971 (catalogue). Prints and Drawings, Selections from tht Permanent April 1.

Collection and Sen Acquisitions of tht <\o's and 60s,

235. Ottawa, The National Gallery of Canada, Dec. 24, 1971-March 10, 1972. 263-T. Rochester, N.Y., Memorial Art Gallery
Joaquin Torres -Garcia: 1879-1949, Oct. 2-Nov. 1; of the University of Rochester. Works from the
traveled to S.R.G.M., Dec. 12, 1970-Jan. 31, 1972 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Collection.
1971; Providence, R.I., Museum of Art, Rhode 249. S.R.G.M., Ten Independents: An Artist- Jan. 19—July 30.
Island School of Design, Feb. 16-March 31, 1971 Initiated Exhibition, Jan. 14— Feb. 27 (catalogue
(catalogue). with checklist insert). 264-T. Albany, New York, Albany Institute of
History and Art, Works from the Solomon R.
236. S.R.G.M., The Artist Responds to Crisis: 250. S.R.G.M., Robert Ryman, March 3—April 30 enheim Museum Collection, Feb. 10-July 29.
A Sketch for an Exhibition, Oct. 29-Dec. 3. (catalogue).

265. S.R.G.M.. Jean Dubuffet: A Retrospective,

237.S.R.G.M., Contemporary Japanese Art: Fifth 251. S.R.G.M., Classics in the Collection. May 9- April 26-July 29 (catalogue); traveled to Paris,
Japan Art Festival Exhibition, Dec. 2, 1970- Aug. 27. Centre National d'Art Contemporain,
Jan. 24, 1971; traveled to Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 27-Dec. 20 (catalogue).
Philadelphia Civic Center, Feb. 26-March 28, 252.S.R.G.M., Kandinsky at the Guggenheim
1971; Berkeley, Calif., University Art Museum, Museum, May 12—Sept. 5; traveled to Los 266. S.R.G.M.. Selections from the Guggenheim
University of California, May 25-June 27, 1971 Angeles, Calif., Los Angeles County Museum of Museum Collection: Recent Acquisitions 1972-7},
(catalogue). Art, Oct. 3-Nov. 19; Minneapolis, Minn., Aug. 9-Sept. 3.

Walker Art Center, May 5-July 15, 1973

238. S.R.G.M., Fangor, Dec. 18, 1970-Feb. 7, (catalogue). 167-T. Danville. Ky.. Centre College of
1971; traveled to Fort Worth, Tex., Fort Worth Kentucky, Postwar Painting from the Solomon R.
Art Center Museum, April 4-May 9, 1971; 253. S.R.G.M., RtCtnt Acquisitions, May 16—Aug. 27. mheim Museum, Sept. 5, 19-3-June 3. 19-4.

Exhibition and Publication History 32

268. S.R.G.M., Richard Hamilton, Sept. 14- Contemporain, March 27-May 4, 1975 293. S.R.G.M., Twentieth-Century American
Nov. 4 (catalogue); traveled to Cincinnati, (catalogue). Drawing: Three Avant-Garde Generations,
Ohio, The Contemporary Arts Center, Jan. 7- Jan. 23-March 23; traveled to Baden-Baden,
Munich, Stadtische Galerie im
Feb. 14, 1974; 276. S.R.G.M., Concentrations I: Nine Modern Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, May 27—
Lenbachhaus, March 15— April 15, 1974; Masters from the Guggenheim Museum and July Bremen, Kunsthalle Bremen,
11;

Tubingen, Kunsthalle Tubingen, May 10- Thannhauser Collections, July 4-Sept. 8. July 18—Aug. 29 (catalogue).
Iuik 30, 1974; Berlin, Nationalgalerie,
July 16-Aug. 26, 1974 (catalogue). 277. S.R.G.M., llya Bolotowsky, Sept. 20- 294. S.R.G.M., Scott Burton: Pair Behavior
Nov. 11; traveled to Washington, D.C., Tableaux, Feb. 24-April 5 (brochure).

269. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children, The National Collection of Fine Arts, Dec. 21,

Sept. 21-Oct. 14 (folder with checklist). 1974— Feb. 17, 1975 (catalogue). 295. S.R.G.M., The Guggenheim Museum
Collection: Paintings 1880-1945, April 9-Oct. 3

270. University Park, Pa., Museum of Art, 278. S.R.G.M., Jean Dubuffet: Recent Acquisitions (related collection catalogue and checklist).

The Pennsylvania State University, Cuno and Permanent Collection, Oct. 1-20.
Amiet, Giovanni Giacometti, Augusto Giacometti: 296. S.R.G.M., Constantin Brancusi, April 15-
Thret Swiss Painters, Sept. 23-Nov. 4; 279. S.R.G.M., Soto: A Retrospective Exhibition, May 9.

traveled to Utica, N.Y., Museum of Art, Nov. 8, 1974-Jan. 26, 1975; traveled to
Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Nov. 18- Washington, D.C., Hirshhorn Museum and 297. S.R.G.M., Salvador Dali, May 25-July 11.

Dec. 30; Cambridge, Mass., Busch-Reisinger Sculpture Garden, Sept. 26-Nov. 9 (catalogue).
Museum, Harvard University, Feb. 1- 298. S.R.G.M., Jean Arp: 1877-1966, July 14-
March 9, 1974; S.R.G.M., April 5-June 23 280. S.R.G.M., Masters of Modern Sculpture: The Aug. 22 (checklist).

(catalogue). Lydia and Harry Lewis Winston Collection {Dr.

and Mrs. Barnett Malbin) and the Guggenheim 299. S.R.G.M., Frederick Kiesler, Aug. 24-
271. S.R.G.M., Futurism: A Modern Focus: The Museum Collection, Nov. 19, 1974-Feb. 4, 1975. Sept. 12.
Lydia and Harry Lewis Winston Collection. Dr.
and Mrs. Barnett Malbin, Nov. 16, 1973-Feb. 3, 281. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children, Nov. 22, 300. S.R.G.M., Horia Damian: The Hill,
1974 (catalogue). 1974-Jan. 5, 1975 (folder and checklist). Sept. 16-Oct. 10 (catalogue).

272. S.R.G.M., Kasimir Malevich, Nov. 16, 1975 301. S.R.G.M., Joseph Schi Ilinger: Salute to the

1973-Jan. 13, 1974; traveled to Pasadena, Calif., 282. S.R.G.M., Max Ernst: A Retrospect; re Cooper-Hewitt Opening, Oct. 5— Nov. 28.
The Pasadena Art Museum, Feb. 4— March 25, Exhibition, Feb. 14-April 20 (catalogue);
1974 (catalogue). traveled to Paris, Grand Palais, May 15-Sept. 8 302. S.R.G.M., Acquisition Priorities: Aspects of
(catalogue). Postwar Painting in America, including "Arshile
1974 Gorky: Works 1944-1948," Oct. 15, 1976-
273. S.R.G.M., The Graphic Work ofKandinsky, 283. S.R.G.M., Brice Marden, March 7-April 27 Jan. 16, 1977 (catalogue and checklist).
Jan. 17-Feb. 24; traveled under the auspices of (catalogue).
the International Exhibitions Foundation to 303-T. Winston-Salem, N.C., Wake Forest
Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, 284. S.R.G.M., Helen Frankenthaler Tiles, University Art Gallery, European Art from the
April 1-30; Little Rock, Ark., Arkansas Arts May 2-June 1. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Oct. 19,
Center, May
15-June 15; San Antonio, Tex., 1976-May 20, 1977.
Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, July 1-31; 285. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions, May 2-June 1.

Houston, Tex., The Museum of Fine Arts, 304. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children,
Houston, Aug. 15-Sept. 15; Fort Worth, Tex., 286. S.R.G.M., Museum Collection: Recent Oct. 29-Nov. 14.
fort Worth Art Center, Oct. 1-31; Kansas City, American Art, May n—Sept. 7.
Mo., William Rockhill Nelson Gallery and 305. S.R.G.M., Piet Mondrian at the Guggenheim
Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Nov. 15-Dec. 15; 287. S.R.G.M., Marc Chagall, June 8-Sept. 28. Museum, Nov. 19, 1976-April 7, 1977.
Davenport, Iowa, Davenport Municipal Art Organized by the International Exhibitions
Gallery, Jan. 4-Feb. 2, 1975; Detroit, Mich., Foundation (catalogue). 1977
The Detroit 15-March 16,
Institute of Arts, Feb. 306. Chicago, 111., The Art Institute of Chicago,

1975; Worcester, Mass., Worcester Art Museum, 288. S.R.G.M., Jin Koldf, Sept. 12-Nov. 9 James Ensor: A Retrospective, Nov. 6, 1976-Jan. 3,
April 1-30, 1975; Washington, D.C., The (catalogue). 1977; S.R.G.M., Jan. 28-April 11. Organized by
Phillips Collection, May 15-June 15, 1975 the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the
(catalogue). 289. S.R.G.M., Frantisek Kupka, 1871-1957: Art Institute of Chicago (catalogue).
A Retrospective, Oct. 10— Dec. 7; traveled to
274. S.R.G.M., Within the Decade: Selections from Zurich, Kunsthaus Zurich, Jan.-March 1976 307. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions, Feb. 4-27.
the Guggenheim Museum Permanent Collection, (catalogue and brochure).
Feb. 12—March 24. 308. S.R.G.M., Nine Artists: Theodoron Awards,
290. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children, Nov. 21- March 4— April 7 (catalogue).
275. S.R.G.M., Alberto Giacometti: A Retrospective Dec. 14 (checklist).
ition, April 5-June 23 (catalogue); traveled 309. S.R.G.M., Kenneth Noland: A Retrospective,
in part to Minneapolis, Minn., Walker Art 291. S.R.G.M., Aristide Maillol: 1861-1944, April 15-June Washington, D.C.,
19; traveled to
Center, July 13-Sept. 1; Cleveland, Ohio, Dec. 19, 1975-March 21, 1976 (catalogue). Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and
Cleveland Museum of Art, Sept. 24-Oct. 28; the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Sept. 29— Nov. 27;
Ottawa, The National Gallery of Art, Nov. 15, 1976 Toledo, Ohio, The Toledo Museum of Art,
!974-J an 5» 1975; Des Moines, Iowa, Des
- 292-T. Columbus, Ohio, The Columbus Gallery Jan. 22-March 8, 1978; Denver, Colo., The
Moines Art Center, Jan. 27— March 2, 1975 of Fine Arts, Aspects of Postwar Painting in Denver Art Museum, March 23-May 7, 1978
Calogue); Montreal. Musee d'Art America, Jan. 15-Feb. 29 (checklist). (catalogue).

322
jio. S.R.< iM., Klet at the Guggenheim Museum, Salemme: Inhabitant oj a Dream, Man h < May 7; HI S.R.G.M., OMA TheSparkling Metropolis,

June 24—Sept. j; traveled to Montreal, Musee traveled to S.R.G.M., May 19-July 4 \o\ 16 De 1
;

rex nun I

d'Art Contemporain, Sept. [8-Oct. 2?; Quebec, (< atalogue).

Musee du Que*be< Nov. j—Dec. 4; Milwaukee,
. us. S.R.G.M., Thejustin K. Thannhai
Wis.. Milwaukee Art Center, Feb. 2 March 18, 327. Los Angeles, Calif., Frederick S. Wight Art Collection (permanent installation), opened
1978; Berkeley, Calif., University Art Museum, Gallery, University of California, Alberto Burn: Dec. 14 (< olle< uon ( atalogue)
University of California, April ri-June 4, 1978; A Retrospective View 1948-1977, Sept. 25 Dec. 4,
Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Arc, 1977; traveled to San Antonio, Tex., Marion 336. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children, Do , 22,
July 6 Sept. 5, [978; Baltimore, Mil., The Koogler Mi Nay Art Institute, Jan. 8-Feb. 19; 1978-Jan. 7, 1979.

Baltimore Museum ot Art, Sept. 2,6-Nov. 19, Milwaukee, Wis., Milwaukee Art Center,
1978; Richmond, Va., Virginia Museum of Fine March 30—May 21; S.R.G.M., June 20-Aug. 27 1979
Arts, Jan. [—Feb. 18, [979 (catalogue and (catalogue and brochure). 337. S.R.G.M., Collection: Art in America after
newsletter). World War II, Jan. 18 Feb. 25.
328. S.R.G.M., School of Pans: The Solomon R.

311. S.R.G.M., American Postwar Painting from thi Guggenheim Museum Collection, July 7—Oct. 1. 338. S.R.G.M., Piei Mondrianat tin Guggenheim,
Guggenheim Collection, July i-Sept. n. Jan. 18-May 6.

329. Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Hendrik

312.S.R.G.M., Forty Modern Masters, Sicolaas Werkman 1882-194$: "Druksel"'Prints 339. S.R.G.M., Modern Masters in France,

July i-Sept. 11 (brochure with checklist). and General Printed Matter, Sept. 16-Nov. 6, March i-Aug. 12 (brochure).

1977; traveled to S.R.G.M., Aug. 18-Sept. 15;

313.S.R.G.M., Recent Gifts and Purchases, Pittsburgh, Pa., Museum of Art, Carnegie 340. S.R.G.M., Thi Planar Dimension: Europe.
Sept. 16-Oct. 16. 5-Nov. 19; Los Angeles, Calif.,
Institute, Oct. 1912-1952, March 9—May 6 (catalogue and
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, brochure with checklist).
314. S.R.G.M., David Hare, Sept. 30-Oct. 30 Feb.-March 1979; La Jolla, Calif., La Jolla
(brochure with checklist). Museum of Contemporary Art, April-May 1979 341. S.R.G.M., Rnjino Tamayo: Myth and Magic,
(catalogue). May 18-Aug. 12 (catalogue and brochure).

315. S.R.G.M., From the American Collection,

Sept. 30-Dec. 5. 330. Paris, Musee National d'Art Moderne, 342. S.R.G.M.. Master Drawings and Watercolors
Centre Georges Pompidou, Henri Michaux, and Twentieth Centuries, the
of the Nineteenth
316. S.R.G.M., Luck Fontana, 1899-1968: March 15-June 14; traveled to S.R.G.M., Bait niton Museum oj Art, Aug. 24-Oct. 14.
A Oct. 21-Dec. 8 (catalogue and
Retrospective, Sept. 8-Oct. 15; Montreal, Musee d'Art Organized by the American Federation of Arts
newsletter). Contemporain, Nov. 2—Dec. 10 (catalogue and (catalogue).
brochure).
317. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children, Nov. 18- 343. S.R.G.M., Matisse in the Collection of the
Dec. 4. 331. S.R.G.M., Selected Acquisitions, Sept. 8- Baltimore Museum of Art, Aug. 24-Oct. 14.

Oct. 15 (brochure and checklist).

318. S.R.G.M., From the American Collection: New 344. S.R.G.M., George Ricke), Sept. 7-Oct. 14
Additions, Nov. 22, 1977-Jan. 8, 1978. 332-T. Midland, Mich., Midland Art Center, (brochure with checklist).
Prints from the Guggenheim Museum Collection,
319. S.R.G.M., Forty Modern Masters: An Sept. 17-Oct. 22; Brookings, S.Dak., 345-T. Tokyo, Daimaru Museum. Modigliani,
Anniversary Show, Dec. 16, 1977-Feb. 1, 1978 South Dakota Memorial Art Center, Nov. 19- Sept. 13— Oct. 16; Osaka, Daimaru Museum,
(brochure and checklist). Dec. 24; Tucson, Ariz., University of Oct. 25—Nov. 6. Organized by the
Arizona Museum of Art, Jan. 21— Feb. 25, 1979; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in
1978 Tampa, Tampa Bay Art Center, March
Fla., cooperation with the Mainichi Newspapers
320. S.R.G.M., Jin Koldfat the Guggenheim 25-April 29, 1979; Mansfield, Ohio, The (catalogue).
Museum, Jan. 19— March 26 (brochure with Mansfield Art Center, July 29-Sept. 2, 1979;
checklist). Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage Historical and 346. S.R.G.M., Joseph Bettys, Nov. 2. 1979-

Fine Arts Center, Sept. 30-Nov. 4, 1979; Jan. 2, 1980 (catalogue and brochure).
321. S.R.G.M., Collection: American Sculpt/ire, Shreveport, La., Shreveport Art Guild, Dec. 2,

Jan. 24-April 16. 1979-Jan. Ames, Iowa, Brunnier

6, 1980; 347. S.R.G.M., Paul Klee 1879-1979: Anniversary
Gallery, Iowa State Center, Feb. 3—March 9, Selection, Dec. 1. [979-March VJ, 1980.
322.S.R.G.M., Willem de Kooning in East 1980; Tyler, Tex., Tyler Museum of Art, March
Hampton, Feb. 10— April 23 (catalogue and 29— May 11, 1980; Minneapolis, Minn., 348. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children,
brochure). University Gallery, University of Minnesota, Nov. 15-Dec. 5 (brochure).
June 8-July 13; Little Rock, Ark., Arkansas
323. S.R.G.M., The Evelyn Sharp Collection, Art Center, Aug. 10-Sept. 15, 1980. Traveled 1980
April i-Oct. 1 (catalogue and brochure). under the auspices of the American Federation 349. S.R.G.M., Ad Reinhardt and Color.
of Arts (catalogue). Jan. 11-March 9 (catalogue).
324. S.R.G.M., Salvador Dali—Special Viewing,
April 25-30. 333. S.R.G.M., Mark Rothko. 1903-1970: A 350. S.R.G.M., British Art Sou : An
Retrospective, Oct. 27, 1978-Jan. 14, 1979; American Perspective, 1980 Exxon International
325.S.R.G.M., Young American Artists: 1978 traveled to Houston, Tex., The Museum of Fine Exhibition, Jan. 11— March 9; traveled under the
Exxon National Exhibition, May 5-June n Arts, Houston, Feb. 8— April 1, 1979; auspices of the American Federation of Arts
(catalogue and brochure). Minneapolis, Minn., Walker Art Center, to San Diego. Calif, San Diego Museum of Art.

April 21-June 10, 1979; Los Angeles, Calif, March 28— April 25; Savannah. Ga.. Teltair
326. Washington, D.C., National Collection of Los Angeles County Museum of Art, July 3- Academy or Arts and Sciences, May 14—
Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Attilio Sept. 26, 1979 (catalogue and brochure). June 11; Austin, Tex., University Art Museum,

Exhibition and Publication Hislt/ry 323

University of Texas, July 6-Aug. 17; Alfred Smart Gallery, University of Chicago, Contemporary Art, Jan. 14-March 13, 1983;
traveled under the auspices of the British Oct. 15-Nov. 29; San Diego, Calif., San Diego Stockholm, Moderna Museet, April 23-Aug. 7,
Council to London, Royal Academy of Arts, Museum of Art, Dec. 18, 1981-Jan. 31, 1982; 1983; London, Royal Academy of Arts,
Oct. 18-Dec. 14 (catalogue). Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Sept.17-Nov. 13, 1983; Munich, Stadtische
April 9-May 16, 1982; Portland, Oreg., Portland Galerieim Lenbachhaus, Jan. 18-March 11, 1984;
351. S.R.G.M., Selected Acquisitions, Feb. 5- Art Museum, June 15-Aug. 15, 1982; Chapel Hannover, Kestner-Gesellschaft, March 23-
March 16. Hill, N.C., The William Hayes Ackland Art May 13, 1984; Helsinki, Helsingin Kaupungin
Museum, University of North Carolina, Sept. Taidemuseo, June 15-Oct. 28, 1984 (catalogue
352. Pittsburgh, Pa., Museum of Art, Carnegie 6-Oct. 17, 1982; Gainesville, Fla., University and brochure).
Institute, Eduardo Chillida: The Graphic Works, Gallery, University of Florida, Oct. 31-
Oct. 26, 1979-Jan. 6, 1980; traveled in part to Dec. 12, 1982 (catalogue). 378. San Francisco, Calif., San Francisco
S.R.G.M., March 21-May 11 (catalogue and Museum of Modern Art, Giorgio Morandi,
brochure with checklist). 365. S.R.G.M., Contemporary Americans: Museum Sept. 24-Nov. 1; S.R.G.M., Nov. 20, 1981-
Collection and Recent Acquisitions, Jan. 29— Jan. 17, 1982; Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines
353. S.R.G.M., New Images from Spain, April 12. Art Center, Feb. i-March 14, 1982. Organized
March 21-May 11; traveled to San Antonio, Tex., by the Des Moines Art Center (catalogue).
Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, 366. S.R.G.M., Nineteen Artists-Emergent
July 20-Aug. 31; San Francisco, Calif., San Americans: 19 81 Exxon National Exhibition, 379. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children, Dec. 17,
Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Oct. 5- Jan. 30-April 5 (catalogue and brochure). 1981-Jan. 10, 1982.
Nov. 30; Tucson, Ariz., Tucson Museum of Art,
Jan. 17-March 8, 1981; Colorado Springs, Colo., 367. S.R.G.M., Richard Navin: The Mycenae 1982
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Circle, Feb. 13-March 8 (catalogue). 380. S.R.G.M., Kandinsky in Munich: 1896-1914,
April 25-June 15, 1981; Albuquerque, N.M., Jan. 22-March 21; traveled to San Francisco,
Museum of Albuquerque, Sept. 20— Nov. 29, 368. S.R.G.M., Arshile Gorky, 1904-1948: Calif., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,
1981 (catalogue). A April 24—July 19; traveled to
Retrospective, April 22-June 20; Munich, Stadtische Galerie
Dallas, Tex., Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, im Lenbachhaus, Aug. 17-Oct. 17 (catalogue
354. S.R.G.M., Kinetics around a Fountain: Sept. 11— Nov. 6; Los Angeles, Calif., Los and brochure).
Pol Bury, May 17-June 22 (brochure). Angeles County Museum of Art, Dec. 3,

1981-Feb. 28, 1982 (catalogue and brochure). 364-T. Rome, Pinacoteca Capitolina,
355. S.R.G.M., 1900-1980 from the Guggenheim Guggenheim, Venezia-New York: Sessanta opere.

Museum Collection, May 23—Nov. 2 (collection 369. S.R.G.M., Selections from the Guggenheim 1900-1950, Jan. 23-March
Organized by the28.
catalogue: Handbook: The Guggenheim Museum Museum Collection: Precursors of Arshile Gorky, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, with the
Collection, 1000—1980). April 24-July 19. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (catalogue).

356. S.R.G.M., Some Recent Acquisitions, 370. S.R.G.M., The Sibyl H. Edwards Bequest, 381. S.R.G.M., Dan Flavin, Jan. 29-March 14.
June 24- Aug. 10. May 20-Sept. 27 (brochure with checklist).
382. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions, 1981, Feb. 4-
357. S.R.G.M., The Evelyn Sharp Collection, 371-T.Toyama, Japan, The Museum of Modern July 1.

June 24-Aug. 20, portions on view throughout Art, Toyama Now '81 (U.S. section,
1980 (catalogue). "Photorealism," organized by the Solomon R. 383. S.R.G.M., Italian Art Now: An American
Guggenheim Museum), July 5-Sept. 23 Perspective, 1982 Exxon International Exhibition,
358.S.R.G.M., Some Recent Acquisitions, (catalogue). April 2-June 20 (catalogue).
Aug. 12-Sept. 8.
372. S.R.G.M., Jean Du buffet: A Retrospective 384. S.R.G.M., Jack Tworkov: Fifteen Years of
S.R.G.M., Agatn: Beyond the Glance at Eighty, July 31-Sept. 27 (catalogue).
359. Visible, Painting, April 6—June 20 (catalogue).
Sept. 25-Nov. 2 (brochure).
373. S.R.G.M., Abstract Expressions, 1930-1950: 385-T. Sydney, Art Gallery of New South
360. S.R.G.M., Paul Klee: Works from the Works from the Collection, July 31-Sept. 27. Wales, Kandinsky: Selected Works from the
Collection, opened Oct. 18. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Hilla von
374. S.R.G.M., Postwar American Painting from Rebay Foundation, May 13—June 13; Brisbane,
361. S.R.G.M., Expressionism: A German Intuition, the Permanent Collection, Oct. 6-Nov. 8. Queensland Art Gallery, June 21-Aug. 8;
1905-1920, Nov. 14, 1980-Jan. 18, 1981; traveled Adelaide, Art Gallery of South Australia,
to San Francisco, Calif., San Francisco Museum 375. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions, 1979-1981, Aug. 26-Sept. 26; Perth, Art Gallery of
of Modern Art, Feb. 19-April 26, 1981 Oct. 6-Nov. 8. Western Australia, Oct. 8-Nov. 7; Melbourne,
(catalogue and brochure). National Gallery of Victoria, Nov. 12-Dec. 12
376. S.R.G.M., Seven Photorealists from New York (catalogue).
362. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children, Dec. 18, Collections, Oct. 6-Nov. 8 (brochure with
1980-Jan. 8, 1981. checklist). 386. S.R.G.M., The New York School: Four
Decades, Guggenheim Museum Collection and Major
1981 377. S.R.G.M., Art of the Avant-Garde in Russia: Loans, July i-Aug. 29 (brochure).
363-T. Baltimore, Md., The Baltimore Museum Selections from the George Costakis Collection,
of Art, Kandinsky Watercolors: A Selection from the Oct. 16, 1981-Jan. 3, 1982; traveled to Houston, 387. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions. 1981-1982,
Solomon R. Guggenh m and the Hilla von
I
Tex.,The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, July i-Sept. 6.
Reba) Foundation, Jan. 6-March 1; Atlanta, Ga., March n-May 9, 1982; Ottawa, The National
The High Museum of Art, March 28-May 31; Gallery of Canada, July 8-Sept. 6, 1982; 388. S.R.G.M., Asgerjorn, Sept. 14-Nov. 7;
Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Ind., Indianapolis Museum of Art, traveled to London, Barbican Art Gallery,
July 21-Sept. 27; Chicago, 111., David and Oct. 17-Dec. 2, 1982; Chicago, 111., Museum of Feb. 15— April 10, 1983; Silkeborg, Denmark,

324 Century
Silkeborg Kunstmuseum, May 7 June $, 1981 Kunste, Sept, 1
< )« 1 13 (catalogue and 418. S 1< ( i M Kat and
(( atalogue). broc hure), Bauhaus Years, t>>is 1933, De< 9 19X1
I
-'. [984; traveled to Atlanta 1

^89.S.R.G.M., Oyvind Fahlstrbtn, Sept. 14- 40?. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions: Works on 1 ligh Museum of Art. Man li is April 29.
Nov. 7; traveled to Minneapolis, Minn., Walker Paper, Man h 1- May 15. 1984; /.urn h. Kunsthaus /urn h, May 30—
Art Center, Feb. 6—March 17, i^S ^ (catalogue). July IS. 1984. Berlin, Bauhaus-Arc hiv. An
404. S.R.G.M., Aspects 0) British Art Iron/ thi Sept .
i\. 1984 (< atalogue and bro< hur<
590. S.R.G.M., Sleeping Beauty Art Now, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Collation,
Sept. 14—Nov. 7; traveled to Philadelphia, Pa., March 25—May 8 (brochure). 419-1 San Antonio. Ten . San Antonio
Port of History Museum, Dec. 17, 1982-Jan. 30, Museum of Art. Myth and Reality: Thi Art
19S;, Los Angeles, Calif., Los Angeles Municipal 405. S.R.C i.M.. Jean Ipoustlguy: Sculptun and Ten 0) Modern Latin America, De< , 11, 198^ Sept. 9,
Art Center Gallery, March 5-April 17, 1983 Works on Paper, May 20-July 17 (brochure with 1984.
(catalogue). checklist).

420. S.R.G.M., Homage to Lisbeth Bi ier, Dei 12.

J91, S.R.G.M., Jan Matulka: Recent Acquisitions, 406. S.R.G.M., Recent European Painting, 1983-Feb. 12, 1984 (brochure with checklist 1.

Sept. 21-Nov. 7. May 20-Sept. 4.

421. S.R.G.M., Japanese An in th •

ehn
392. S.R.G.M., Sixty Works-: The Peggy 407. S.R.G.M., Acquisition Priorities: Aspects oj Museum Collection, Dec. 16, 1983—Feb. 19. 1984.

Guggenheim Collation, Nov. 18, 1982—March [3, Postwar Painting in Europe, May 20-Sept. 11

1983 (catalogue). (catalogue with checklist). 1984

Venice, Gallene deHAccademia. Jaci
393. Houston, Tex., Institute for the Arts, 408. S.R.G.M., Summer Sculpture Shou , May 23- 19—March 31. Organized
Pollock 1942-194-/, Jan.
Rice University, Yves Klein (1928-1962): Sept. 4. by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection
A Retrospective, Feb. 5— May 2; traveled to (catalogue).
Chicago, 111., Museum of Contemporary Art, 409. S.R.G.M., Jean Dubuffet, Les Phenomena:
June 18-Aug. 29; S.R.G.M., Nov. 19, 1982- August 19^8-April 1962, May 24-Sept. 11. 422-T. Sydney, Art Gallery of New South
Musee National d'Art
Jan. 9, 1983; Paris, Wales. 'I hi Moderns, Feb. "-March 2S
Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, 410. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions, 198}, (catalogue).
Feb. [7—May 23, 1983 (catalogue and brochure). July 22-Sept. 25.

423. S.R.G.M., Postwar American Art from the

394-T. New York, N.Y., Hastings Gallery, 411-T. Lawrence, Kans., Helen Foresman Collection, Feb. 17-March 18.

The Spanish Institute, Spanish Drawings Spencer Museum of Art, University of

and Graphics from the Guggenheim Museum, Kansas, Early Modem Art from the Guggenheim 424. S.R.G.M.. Walter Stun. Feb. 17-March 25
Nov. 12— Dec. 17; Framingham, Mass., Museum, Aug. 15, 1983-June is, 1984 (brochure with checklist).
Danforth Museum of Art, Dec. 27, 1982- (brochure).
Feb. 27, 1983. 425. S.R.G.M., Picasso: Thi La t Years,

412. Chicago, 111., Museum of Contemporary 1963-1973, March 2—May 13. Organized by
395. S.R.G.M., American Sculpture from the Art, Charles Simonds, Nov. 7, 1981-Jan. 3, Gert Schiff for the Grey Art Gallery and Study
Permanent Collection, Nov. 23, 1982-March 13, 1983. 1982; traveled to Los Angeles, Calif., Center, New York University, and shown at
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Jan. 28— the Guggenheim (catalogue).
396. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children, Dec. 11, March 21, Worth, Tex., Fort
1982; Fort
1982-Jan. 17, 1983. Worth Art Museum, April 13-May 30, 1982; 426. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children.
Houston, Tex., Contemporary Arts Museum, March 30-April 29.
1983 June 21-Aug. 15, 1982; Omaha, Nebr.,
397. Paris, Musee National d'Art Moderne, Joslyn Art Museum, Jan. [5—March 6; 427. S.R.G.M., Eduardo Arroyo, March 30-
Centre Georges Pompidou. Yves Tanguy: S.R.G.M., Sept. 23-Oct. 30 (special installation June 3.

A Retrospective, June 17-Sept. 27, 1982; traveled of Age at Guggenheim; catalogue and brochure).
toBaden-Baden, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden- 428. S.R.G.M., Michael Singer, March 30-July 8
Baden, Oct. 17, 1982-Jan. 2, 1983; S.R.G.M . 413. S.R.G.M., Sen Perspectives in American Art: (catalogue).
Jan. 21— Feb. 27 (catalogue and brochure with Ip8j Exxon National Exhibition, Sept. 30—
checklist). Nov. 27 (catalogue). 429-T. Allentown, Pa., Allentown Art Museum,
Modern Sculptun from thi Guggenheim, April is.

398. S.R.G.M., An Homage to Joan Miro at 414. S.R.G.M., Twentieth-Century Sculptun: 1984-Jan. 27, 1985 (brochure).
Ninety, Jan. 21-Feb. 27 (brochure with A Selection from the Permanent Collection, Sept. 30—
checklist). Dec. 11. 430. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of
Art. Juan Gris, Oct. 16-Dec. 31, 1983; Berkeley.
399. S.R.G.M., Dan Flavin, Jan. 21-Feb. 27. 415-T. Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Calif., University Art Museum, University of
Museum, Modern Art in the West, Oct. i-Dec. 25 California. Feb. i-Apnl 8; S.R.G.M May 18- .

400. S.R.G.M. Jean Dubuffet, Jan. 21—March

, 13. (catalogue). July 8. Organized by the University Art
Museum (catalogue).
401. S.R.G.M., Pol Bun Fountain, Jan. 21- 416-T. Birmingham, Ala., Birmingham
Sept. 5. Museum of Art, American Art: Post World War II 431. S.R.G.M.. Painting in Paris. 1909- 192-.

Painting and Sculpture, Oct. 13, 1983— April 1, 1985 A Selection from thi Permanent Collection,
402. S.R.G.M., Julio Gonzalez: A Retrospective, (brochure). May 25-Sept. 16.
March n-May 8; traveled to Frankfurt,
Stadelsches Kunstinstitut und Stadtische 417. S.R.G.M.. Trends in Postwar American and 432. S.R.G.M.. Recent Acquisitions,
Galerie, June 16-Aug. 14; Berlin, Akademie der European Art, Nov. 8—27, 1983. June 8-Aug. 5.

Exhibition and Publicat: 325

 S.R.G.M., From Degas to Calcler: Major Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Art 453. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions, July 12-
433-
Sculptun and Works on Paper from the Guggenheim Museums, Oct. 5-Nov. 24; Baltimore, Md., Sept. 15.

Museum Collection, July 20-Sept. 9 (brochure and The Baltimore Museum of Art, Dec. 15, 1985-

checklist). Feb. 16, 1986; San Francisco, Calif., San 454. S.R.G.M., AlfredJensen: Paintings and Works
Francisco Museum of Modern Art, on Paper, Sept. 10— Nov. 3 (catalogue).

S.R.G.M., Expressionist Watercolors and March 6-April Houston, Tex., The

27, 1986;
434.
Drawings, Aug. 10-Oct. 14. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, June 14- 455. S.R.G.M., New Horizons in American Art:
July 27, 1986. Organized by the International 1985 Exxon National Exhibition, Sept. 12-Nov. 3

435-T. Worcester, Mass., Worcester Art Exhibitions Foundation (catalogue). (catalogue).

Museum, Paul Kleefrom the Guggenheim:

TbeBauhaus Years, Sept. 11, 1984-Feb. 28, 1985 446-T. P.G.C., Six Modem Masters from the 456. S.R.G.M., Pablo Serrano: The Guitar and
(catalogue). Guggenheim Museum, New York, March 10- Cubism, Sept. 20— Nov. 10 (catalogue).
April 8; Nov. i-Dec. 30 (catalogues in English

436. S.R.G.M., Will Insley: The Opaque and Italian); Milan, Padiglione d'Arte 457-T. Berkeley, Calif., University Art Museum,
Civilization, Sept. 21-Nov. 25 (catalogue). Contemporanea, / Maestri del Guggenheim, University of California, Early Modern Art,
May 5-July 26 (catalogue). Oct. 7, 1985-Jan. 11, 1987.

437. S.R.G.M., Australian Visions: 1984 Exxon

International Exhibition, Sept. 25-Nov. 25; P.G.C., Tauromaquia: Goya-Picasso, March 3- 458. S.R.G.M. Jiff Koldr. Chiasmages, Nov.
, 15,

traveled to Brisbane, Queensland Art Gallery, April Nov. i-Dec. 30; Milan, Padiglione
8; 1985-Jan. 5, 1986 (brochure).

Jan. 10-Feb. 10, 1985; Sydney, Art Gallery of d'Arte Contemporanea, May 12-July 26; Bari,
New South Wales, Feb. 26-April 7, 1985; Perth, Castello Svevo, April 5-May 31, 1986; London, 459. S.R.G.M., Transformations in Sculpture: Four
Art Gallery of Western Australia, May 2- Warwick Arts Trust, Sept. 24-Oct. 26, 1986; Decades of American and European Art, Nov. 22,

June 2, 1985 (catalogue). Antibes, France, Musee Picasso, Dec. 10, 1985-Feb. 16, 1986 (catalogue).
1986-Feb. 8, 1987; Madrid, Cason del Buen
438-T.Ann Arbor, Mich., The University of Retiro, April 30-June 6, 1987; Barcelona, Palau 1986
Michigan Museum of Art, The Wild Eye: de la Virreina, June 30-Aug. 25, 1987; New 460. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions, Jan. 10-
The Influence of Surrealism on American Art, Brunswick, Canada, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, March 9.

Sept. 28, 1984-June 16, 1985 (catalogue). May 15-Aug. 29, 1993 (several editions of
catalogue). 461. S.R.G.M., By the Muse Inspired, Feb. 12,

439. S.R.G.M., Horst Antes: Motives, Oct. 12, 1986-Jan. 5, 1987.

1984-Feb. 3, 1985 (brochure with checklist). 447. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children, March 29-
Apnl 28. P.G.C., Homage to Jean Helton: Recent Works,

440. S.R.G.M., Norris Embry, Oct. 12-Dec. 16. March 6-April 14 (catalogue).
448. S.R.G.M., Eduardo Chillida, March 29-
441. Buffalo, N.Y., Albright-Knox Art Gallery, May 12 (catalogue). 462-T/484-T. Hamilton, N.Y., The Picker Art
Robert Motherwell, Oct. i-Nov. 27, 1983; traveled Gallery, Colgate University, Abstraction, Non-
to Los Angeles, Calif., Los Angeles County 449. Baltimore, Md., The Baltimore Museum Objectivity, and Realism: Twentieth-Century
Museum of Art, Jan. 5-March 4; San Francisco, of Art, Gilbert and George, Feb. 19-April 15, Painting from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Calif, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1984; traveled to Houston, Tex., Contemporary March 9, 1986-May 31, 1987.
April 12-June 3; Museum,
Seattle Art ArtsMuseum, June 23-Aug. 19, 1984; West
June 21-Aug. 5; Washington, D.C., The Palm Beach, Florida, The Norton Gallery 463. S.R.G.M., Jack Younger/nan, Feb. 28-
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Sept. 15-Nov. 4; and School of Art, Sept. 29-Nov. 25, 1984; April 27 (catalogue).
S.R.G.M., Dec. 7, 1984-Feb. 3, 1985 (catalogue, Milwaukee, Wis., Milwaukee Art Museum,
brochure, and checklist). Jan. n-March 17; S.R.G.M., April 26-June 16 464. Dallas, Tex., Dallas Museum of Art,
(catalogue). Naum Gabo: Sixty Years of Constructivism,
442. S.R.G.M., Henri Michaux, 1899-1984: Sept. 29-Nov. 17, 1985; Toronto, Art Gallery
In Memoriam, Dec. 21, 1984-Feb. 3, 1985. 450. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of of Ontario, Dec. 13, 1985-Feb. 9, 1986;
Art, Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, May 6- S.R.G.M., March 7-April 27; Berlin, Akademie
1985 Aug. 5, 1984; Pittsburgh, Pa., Museum of Art, der Kiinste, Sept. 7-Oct. 19; Diisseldorf,
443. S.R.G.M., Ree Morton: Manipulations of the Carnegie Institute, Nov. 3, 1984-Jan. 6, 1985; Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen,
Organic, Feb. 8-March 24. Houston, Tex., The Menil Foundation, Nov. 20, 1986-Jan. 11, 1987; London, Tate
Jan. 27-March 3; S.R.G.M., May 3-June 16; Gallery, Feb. n-April 20, 1987. Organized by
Venice, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Noveartisti Milwaukee, Wis., Milwaukee Art Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art and the
Mia Neu York," Feb. 8-April
"Scuola di 8. Nov. 17, 1985-Jan. 2, 1986; Portland, Oreg., Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen
Organized by the Peggy Guggenheim Portland Art Museum, Feb. 9-April 6, 1986; (catalogue).
Collection (catalogue). San Francisco, Calif, San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art, May 4-June 29, 1986; St. Louis, 465-T. P.G.C., A Half-Century of European
444. S.R.G.M., Kandinsk) in Paris: 1934-1944, Mo., The St. Louis ArtMuseum, July 18- Painting. 1910-1960. from the Guggenheim Museum.
Feb. 15— April 14; traveled to Houston, Tex., Sept. 1, 1986. Organized by the Mark Rothko New York, March 6-April 14; Frankfurt,
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, June 8- Foundation, Inc., and the American Federation Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, June 22-Aug. 24
Aug. 11; Milan, Palazzo Reale, Sept. 19-Nov. 10; ot Arts (catalogue). (catalogue).
\ ii una, Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Dec. 5,

[985 Jan. 26, 1986 (catalogue and brochure). 451. S.R.G.M., Giulio Paolini, May 17-July 7. 466. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children, March 14-
April 13.

445. S.R.G.M., Frankenthaler: Works on Paper 452. S.R.G.M., Painterly Visions. 1940-1984:
1949-1984, Feb. 22-April 21; Edmonton, The Guggenheim Museum Collection and Major 467. S.R.G.M., Charles Seliger, March 14-May 18
The Fdmonton Art Gallery, May n-July 7; Loans, June 28-Sept. 2 (brochure and checklist). (brochure with checklist).

326
 )(>s i. Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, Contrastes 480. S.R.G.M., Piem Alechinsky: Margin Anniversary Selection, Sculptun <>i tin Modern !

de forma: Abstraction geomftrica, ipio 1980, delas and Center, Feb. 2^ May i. traveled to Des No\ [3, 198- March 13, 1988 (catalogue).
coltctiona del Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum) Moines, Iowa, Des Moines An ( 1 nt< r,

Museum oj Modern Art, New York, April 17- Oct. Z—Dec. 6; Hannover, Kunstverein 493. S.R G.M., / ifty I
-
An
June 8; Buenos Aires, Museo Nacional de Bellas Hannover, Feb. 28 April [7, 198X; Brussels, Anniversary Selection, Painting una WorldWarll
Artcs, July [5—Aug. 25; Sao Paolo, Museu de Musees Royaux des Beaux-Aris de Belgique, in Europe, Nov. n De< ,
20(0111- catalogue tor

Arte tic- Sao Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, Museed'An Moderne, May 5 June 26, 1988 nos. 493-95).

Sept. 18 [9; Caracas, Museo de Arte

( )i I (1 atalogue).
Contemporaneo de Caracas, Nov. 11, 1986- 494. S.R G.M., Fifty Yean oj Collecting: An
Jan |, iviS^. Organized by the- Solomon R. 481-T. Iowa City, Iowa, University oi Iowa Anniversary Selection, Painting una WorldWarll
Guggenheim Museum anil the International Museum of Art, Two Collections, Two Views: in Latm America, De< 23, 1987-Jan. 31, 1988
Count il ot the Museum of Modern Art Selections from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (one (atalogue for nos. 493-95).
(catalogue). and the University oj Iowa Museum oj Art,
Feb. 7-Aug. 16, 1987. 1988
469. S.R.G.M., Enzo Cucchi, May 6-July 6 495. S.R.G.M., Fifty Yean oj Collecting: An
(catalogue), 482. S.R.G.M., Revised Proposal for a New Anniversary Selection, Panning una WorldWarll
Addition, Feb. 24—early Sept. (brochure). in Sorth America, Feb. 4 March 1? (one-

470. S.R.G.M., German Realist Drawings 0/ /At catalogue for nos. 493-95).
1920s, May 16-July 6; Cambridge, Mass., 483. S.R.G.M., Peggy Guggenheim'* Other Legacy,
Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University March 6-May 3; P.G.C., La eredita fconosciute P.G.C., Treartisti italo-americani: Giorgio
Art Museums, July 26-Sept. 28; Stuttgart, di Pegg) Guggenheim, Oct. 31, 1987-Jan. 10, Cavallon-Costanttno Nivola—ltalo Scan
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Oct. 25-Dec. 28. 1988. Organized by the Solomon R. March 2-April 4; traveled toCagliari, Cittadella
Organized by the Harvard University Art Guggenheim Museum and the Peggy dei Musei, July 27-Aug. 28; Bari, Castello
Museums (catalogue). Guggenheim Collection (catalogues in English Svevo, Sept. 10-Oct. 12 (catalogue).
and Italian).

471. S.R.G.M., Proposal for a Guggenheim 496. S.R.G.M., Josef Albers: A Retrospective,

Museum Addition—Showcase for Hidden Treasures, 485. S.R.G.M., Contemporary American March 24-May 29; traveled to Baden-Baden,
May 20-Sept. 21 (installed in part through and European Drawings: Recent Gifts oj Norman Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, June 12-
Nov. 9). Dubrow, March 27—May 12. July 24; Berlin, Bauhaus-Archiv, Aug. 10-
Oct. 4; Pori, Finland. Pon Art Museum,
472. S.R.G.M., Jan Groth, July 18-Sept. 1 486. Zurich, Kunsthaus "Lunch, Joan Mini. Oct. 19—Dec. 3 (catalogue and brochure).
(catalogue). A Retrospective, Nov. 21, 1986-Feb. 1, 1987;
Diisseldorf, Stadtische Kunsthalle Diisseldorf, 497. S.R.G.M., Aspects of Collage. Assemblage
473. S.R.G.M., The Expressive Figure from Feb. 14-April 20; S.R.G.M., May 15-Aug. 23. andtht Pound Object in Twentieth-Century Art,
Rousseau to Bacon: European Art in the Guggenheim Organized by the Kunsthaus Zurich and March 29-May 22 (brochure).
Museum Collection, July 18-Sept. 21 (catalogue Stadtische Kunsthalle Diisseldorf; altered for
and checklist). Guggenheim presentation (catalogue and 498. S.R.G.M., Hans Reichel, May 6-June 19
brochure). (brochure with checklist).
474. S.R.G.M., Homage to Louise Nevelson:
Selection of Works from the Permanent Collection, 487. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children, 499. S.R.G.M., Modem Treasures from the
July 24-Sept. 1 (brochure with checklist). May 29-July 5. National Gallery in Prague, June 3-Sept. 18;

Quebec, Musee du Quebec Sept. 30—Nov. 20.

475. S.R.G.M., Richard Long, Sept. 12-Nov. 30 488. S.R.G.M., Emerging Artists: 1 978-1986: Organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim
(catalogue). Selections from the Exxon Series, Sept. 3— Nov. 1 Museum and the Narodni Galerie (catalogue).
(catalogue).
476. S.R.G.M., Angles of Vision: French Art Mantua, Palazzo Ducale, Arte italiana del
Today. 1986 Exxon International Exhibition, 489. S.R.G.M., Jan Dibbets, Sept. 11- dopoguerra dai musei Guggenheim, June 18-
Oct. 3-Nov. 30 (catalogue). Nov. 1; Minneapolis, Minn., Walker Art Sept. 30. Organized by the Peggy Guggenheim
Center, Jan. 17-March 27, 1988; Detroit, Collection (catalogue).
P.G.C., Jean Dubuffet and Art Brut, Nov. 16, Mich., The Detroit Institute of Arts,
1986-March 16, 1987 (catalogue). April 29-June 19, 1988; West Palm Beach, Fla., 500-T. Katonah, N.Y., Katonah Gallery of
The Norton Gallery and School of Art, Art, J 1 ft Koldf. Chiasmage. Selections from the
477. London, Tate Gallery, Oskar Kokoschka, July 30-Oct. 2, 1988; Eindhoven, Stedelijk Van Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Aug. 8-Sept. 25
1886-1980, June II—Aug. 10; traveled to Zurich, Abbemuseum, Nov. 6, 1988-Jan. 1, 1989. (brochure).
Kunsthaus Zurich, Sept. 4-Nov. 9; S.R.G.M., Organized by the Walker Art Center
Dec. 9, 1986-Feb. 16, 1987 (exhibition altered (catalogue). 501. Munich. Kunsthalle der Hypo-
for Guggenheim presentation; catalogue and Kulturstiftung. Georges Braque, March 4-
brochure). 490-T. Columbia, S.C., Columbia Museum of May is; S.R.G.M., June 10-Sept. 11. Organized
Art, A Quiet Revolution: American Abstract Art by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and
478. S.R.G.M., The Knife Ship from "II Corso del from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Oct. 1, the Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung
Coltello." Dec. 16, 1986-Feb. 16, 1987 (previously- 1987-Aug. 28, 1988 (catalogue). (catalogue).
shown in Venice, Campo dell'Arsenale,
Sept. 6-8, 1985; catalogue). 491. S.R.G.M., Fifty Years of Collecting: An 502. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions, June 24-
Anniversary Selection. Painting by Modern Masters. Sept. 4.
1987 Nov. 13, 1987-March 13, 1988 (catalogue).
479. S.R.G.M., Recent Acquisitions, Feb. 20- 503. S.R.G.M.. Ham Hinterreiter, Sept. 9-
March 22. 492. S.R.G.M.. Fifty Years of Collecting: An Oct. 23

Exhibition and Publication History 327

504. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children, Sept. 23- July 29— Oct. 15; Vienna, Historisches Museum from the Guggenheim, Sept. 22, 1991—Jan. 12,
\t>\ y der Stadt Wien, Nov. 15, 1989-Jan. 30, 1990; 1992; Montreal, The Montreal Museum of Fine
The Hague, Haags Gemeentemuseum, Jan.— Arts, Masterpieces from the Guggenheim, Feb.

505. S.R.G.M., Return to the Object: American arid Feb. 1990. Organized by the Haags 4-April 26, 1992 (exhibition modified for
European Art of the 1950s and 1960s frum the Gemeentemuseum in collaboration with the each venue; separate catalogue for each venue).
Guggenheim Museum Collation, Sept. 23-Nov. 27. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (catalogue).
527-T. St. Petersburg, Fla., Museum of Fine
506. S.R.G.M., Andy Warhol, Cars, Sept. 30- 515. S.R.G.M., A Year with Children, May 19- Arts, Twentieth-Century European Paintings from

Nov. 27; Tokyo, Shinjuku Isetan Museum, June 11 (brochure). the Guggenheim Museum (Collection-Sharing
April 27-May 23, 1989; Kyoto, Kyoto Daimaru Program), Sept. 23, 1990-Aug. 31, 1991
Museum, May 25-June 5, 1989; Shibukawa, 516. S.R.G.M., Hannelore Baron, May 19-July 23 (catalogue and checklist).
Hara Museum ARC, June n-Aug. 5, 1989; (brochure with checklist).
Sapporo. Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, 528-T. Coral Gables, Fla., The Lowe Art
Aug. 26-Sept. 24, 1989; Fukuoka, Fukuoka 517. S.R.G.M., Selections from the Permanent Museum, University of Miami, A Claim to

Pre lea ura I Museum of Art; Oct. 3-29, 1989; Collection, May 26-Sept. 3. Primacy, Oct. 11-Dec. 9 (catalogue and
Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefectural Cultural checklist).

(inter, Nov. 3-26, 1989. Organized by the 518. S.R.G.M.. Mario Men, Sept. 28-Nov. 26
Kunsthalle Tubingen and Werner Spies (catalogue and checklist). 1991
(catalogue). 529-T. Youngstown, Ohio, The Butler
519-T. Kandinsky: Works from the Hilla von Rebay Institute of American Art, Postwar America:
507. S.R.G.M., Landmarks ofNeu York, Oct. 10- Foundation, Westport, Conn., Westport Arts \\ 'oris from the Collection of the Guggenheim
Oct. 31. Center, Oct. 1-15. Museum, Jan. 20— Nov. 30 (checklist).

508. S.R.G.M., Doug/as Davis, Oct. 28-Nov. 27 520. S.R.G.M., Jenny Holzer, Dec. 12, 1989- 530-T. Indianapolis, Ind., Indianapolis Museum
(brochure with checklist). Feb. 25, 1990 (catalogue and brochure). of Art, works lent through the Guggenheim
Museum's Collection-Sharing Program for the

509-T. Prague, Narodni Galerie, Modern 521. S.R.G.M., Geometric Abstraction and Indianapolis Museum of Art's reinstallation,
Treasures from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Minimalism in America, Dec. 15, 1989-Feb. 28, March 22-Nov. 30.
V ounJation, Nov. 1, 1988-Jan. I, 1989; Berlin, 1990 (checklist).
Nationalgalerie, Jan. 19-March 19, 1989 531-T. Madrid, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Corporate
(catalogue). 522. S.R.G.M., Piet Mondrian and the Headquarters, Kandinsky acuarelas: Coleccion
Non-Objective, Dec. 15, 1989-Feb. 18, 1990 delMuseo Solomon R. Guggenheim y de la
P.G.C., Omaggio a Lucio F on tana, Nov. 4, (checklist). Fundacion Hilla von Rebay, April 9-June 1;

1988-March 5, 1989; traveled to New York, Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Kandinsky:
N.Y., Murray and Isabella Rayburn Foundation, 1990 Acquerelli dal Museo Guggenheim, June 7— Aug. 4;
s to Lucio F on tana, April
t
12—June 16, 1989 523. S.R.G.M., Masterpieces from the Collection, Vienna, Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien,
(catalogue). varied installation on view Feb. 21— April 29. Kandinsky Aquarelle aus dem Guggenheim
Museum, Oct. 3— Dec. 1 (separate catalogue for
510. S.R.G.M., The Early Years: Non-Objective 524-T. Venice, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, each venue).
Paintings from the Permanent Collection, Mondrian and De Stijl and Masters of the Modern
Nov. n-Dec. 4 (brochure with checklist). Ideal, May 19— Sept. 2 (catalogue). 532-T. Santander, Spain, Museo Municipal
de Bellas Artes de Santander, Museo Guggenheim:
511. S.R.G.M., Gifts of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander P.G.C., La France a Venise (part of 44th Venice Las ultimas vanguardias 1940—1991, July 29-
Liberman, Dec. 2, 1988-Jan. 29, 1989. Biennale), May 23—Sept. 30 (catalogue). Sept. 8. Organized by the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum; Universidad
512. S.R.G.M . Viewpoints: Postwar Painting and P.G.C., The Guggenheim Museum Salzburg: A Internacional Menendez y Pelayo; Junta del
Sculpture from the Guggenheim Museum Collection Project by Hans Hollein, May 25-Sept. 1; traveled Puerto de Santander; Museo Municipal de Bellas
and Major Loans, Dec. 9, 1988-Jan. 22, 1989 to Salzburg, Residenzgalerie, July i-Sept. 1 Artes de Santander; and Direccion General de
(brochure). (catalogue). Bellas Artes, Archivos y Museos del Ministerio
de Cultura (catalogue and checklist).
1989 525-T. Salzburg, Residenzgalerie, Masterpieces
513. Toledo, Ohio, The Toledo Museum from the Guggenheim Museum, July 25-Sept. 1 533-T. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Cedar Rapids
of Art, Refigured Painting: Tin German (catalogue and brochure). Museum of Art, A Selection of Works from the
Image 1960-88, Oct. 30, 1988-Jan. 8, 1989; American Abstract Art Section, Oct. 26, 1991—
S.R.G.M., Feb. 10-April 23; Diisseldorf. P.G.C., Contemporary Art in a Modern Context, May 31, 1992 (brochure).
Kunstmuseum Diisseldorf, May 20-July 30; Sept. 9, 1990-Sept. 9, 1991 (brochure).
Frankfurt Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 1992
Sept. 12-Nov. 12. A selection shown 526-T. Venice, Palazzo Grassi, From van P.G.C., Homage to Gastone Novelli, Jan. 24-
concurrently at Williamstown, Mass., Gogh to Picasso, from Kandinsky to Pollock: April 7 (catalogue).
Williams College Museum of Art, Modem Art, Sept. 9-Dec. 9;
Masterpieces of
Feb. 10-March 26. Organized by the Solomon Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina P.G.C., Arshile Gork): Works on Paper, April
R. Guggenheim Museum and the Williams Soffa, Obras maestras de la coleccion Guggenheim: 15-June 28; traveled to Rome, Palazzo delle
College Museum of Art (catalogue, brochure, De Picasso a Pollock, Jan. 17—May 13, 1991; Esposizioni, Oct. 14— Nov. 30, 1992; Lisbon,
and checklist). Tokyo, Sezon Museum of Art, Masterpieces Caloste Gulbenkian Foundation, July 21-
from the Guggenheim Collection: From Picasso to Aug. 27, 1993 (catalogue).
514.S.R.G.M., Arnnlj Rainer, Ma) [3—July 9; Pollock, June 20-Sept. 1, 1991; Sydney, Art
Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art. Gallery of New South Wales, Masterpieces 534. New York, N.Y., The Guggenheim Museum

328
 )

andtbt Art of This Century, three-pan Ilu St. Louis An Museum and forum lor I' ( j ( , Apertm :>u Italian

exhibition: S.R.G.M., "Masterpieces from the Contemporary An. Nov, [9, [992 Jan. }. 1993; \o\ 1; travels 10 Napli s. Villa Pignatelli,
Permanent Collection," June 12 & pt. 7 New York. N.Y., Guggenheim Museum SoHo, \ia in. i>;9< Jan [994; \i -w York. \ V
(staggered de-installation), and "Dan Flavin," Feb. 10 May 9; Los Angeles, Calif., Lannan Murray and Isabella Kayluirn Foundation,
June 22—Aug. 27; Guggenheim Museum Sol lo, Foundation, Maj 22 Aug. 22; Cologne, Jan.—Feb. 1994 (< atalogues in English and
"From Brancusi to Bourgeois: Aspects ol the Museum Ludwig, Sept. 10 Nov. 17; Basel, Italian).
Guggenheim Collection," June 2S Sept. 6 Museum fur Gegenwartskunst, Feb. 12-
(second floor installed through Sept, 27; Apnl vj, 1994; llumlcb.uk, Denmark, ssv S.R G.M . Ro) Lichtenstein, Oct. 7, 1993
1 ommemorative magazine). Louisiana Museum for Modern An, Aug. Jan. 16. [994. Exhibition travels (< atalogue,
[2—Oct. 20, 1994 (catalogue). brochure, and chec klist

535. New York. N.Y., Guggenheim Museum

SoHo, Marc Chagall and theJewish Theater, 543. S.R.G.M., Osmosis: Ettort Spalletti andHaim
Sept. 23, 1992-Jan. 17, 1993; traveled to Steinbach, March [8—June [3 (catalogue).
Chicago, III., The Art Institute of Chicago,
Jan. jo—May 7, 1993 (catalogue). 544. New York, N.Y., Guggenheim Museum
SoHo, "Four Rooms" and a "I hum Ball": Pop and
536. Washington, D.C., The Corcoran Gallery tin Everyday Object, Jan. 27-Apnl 25.

of Art, Robert Rauschenberg-: Tht Earl) 1950s,

June 15-Aug. 11, 1991; Houston, Tex., 545. S.R.G.M., Picasso and thi Agt 0) Iron,

The Menil Collection. Sept. 27, 1991-Jan. 5, March 19-June Worth, Tex..
r.3; Fort
1992; Chicago, 111., Museum of Contemporary Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Aug. 1-
Art, Feb. 8— April 19, 1992; San Francisco, Oct. 17 (catalogue and handout).
Calif., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,
May 14-Aug. 2, 1992; New York, N.Y., 546. New York, N.Y., Guggenheim
Guggenheim Museum SoHo, Oct. 23, 1992- Museum SoHo, Paul Klee at the Guggenheim
Jan. 25, 1993. Organized by the Menil Museum, May 7-Nov. 5; travels to Madrid,
Collection (catalogue). Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Corporate Headquarters,
Paid Klee. Colecciou del Guggenheim Museum,
537. Frankfurt, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Nov. 15, 1993-Jan. 29, 1994; Bilbao,
Die grosse Utopie: Die russiche Avantgarde Spam, 1994 (catalogues in English and
1915-1932, March 1—May 10; Amsterdam, Spanish).
Stedelijk Museum, De Grote Utopie: De Russiche
Avant-garde 1915-1932, June 5-Aug. 23; 547. New York, N.Y., Guggenheim Museum
S.R.G.M., The Great Utopia: The Russian and SoHo, Singular Dimensions in Painting, May 26,
Smut A 1 ant-Garde. 1915-1932, Sept. 25, 1993-Jan. 4, 1994 (brochure).
1992—Jan. 3, 1993; Moscow, State Tretiakov
Gallery,March-May 1993; St. Petersburg, P.G.C., Drawing the Line Against AIDS, June 8-
State RussianMuseum, July-August 1993. 13; New York, N.Y., Guggenheim Museum
Organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim SoHo, Oct. 6-19. Organized in conjunction
Museum, State Tretiakov Gallery, State Russian with Art Against AIDS Venezia under the aegis
Museum, and Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt of the 45th Venice Biennale (catalogue).
(catalogues in German, Dutch, English, and
Russian). P.G.C., Cage
II suone rapido delle cost: John

(part of 45th Venice Biennale), June 13-Oct. 10.

538. New York, N.Y., Guggenheim Museum

SoHo, New York 1947-1958: Selections from the 548. New York, N.Y., Guggenheim Museum
Guggenheim Museum, Oct. 23, 1992-Jan. 25, 1993. SoHo. A Year with Children, June 9-19.

539. S.R.G.M., Thannhauser Gallery 2, 550. S.R.G.M., Modern Masterpieces from the
permanent-collection reinstallation, Dec. Permanent Collection, June 25-Oct. I.

P.G.C., Giuseppe Santomaso: Letters to Palladia, 551. S.R.G.M., Rebecca Horn: The In/eruo-
Dec. 1, 1992-April 2, 1993 (catalogue). Paradiso Su itch, June 25-Sept. 26. Included
site-specific installations at the Guggenheim
1993 Museum SoHo, June 2~, [993—February 1994.

540. S.R.G.M., Lothar Baumgarten: America and at P.G.C., June 9-Oct. 18 (catalogue
Invention, Jan. 28— March 7 (catalogue and and handout). Travels to Eindhoven. Stedelijk
handout). Van Abbemuseum, Nov. 18, 1993-Feb. 6,
1994; Berlin, Nationalgalene. March 1-
541. S.R.G.M., Richard Serra,]an. 8-May 19. May 9, 1994; Vienna, Kunsthalle Wien,
June 2-Aug. 21, 1994; London, Tate Gallery
542. Minneapolis, Minn., Walker Art Center, and Serpentine Gallery, Sept. 27, 1994—
Photograph) in Contemporary German Art: i960 to Jan. 16, 199s; Musee de Grenoble, winter-
the Present, Feb. 9-May 31, 1992; traveled to spring 1995.
Dallas, Tex., Dallas Museum of Art, and Fort
Worth, Tex., Modern Art Museum of Fort 552. New York, N.Y., Guggenheim Museum
Worth, Aug. 16-Oct. 11, 1992; St. Louis, Mo., SoHo. Mario Merz, July 2-Sept. 20.

Exhibition and P.; 329

The following bibliography is a complete listing Memorial Exhibition: Wassily Kandinsky Twenty Contemporary Painters from the Philippe

of books and catalogues produced by the Solomon R. {1866-1944). Exh. cat., accompanied Memorial Dotremont Collection. Brussels. Exh. cat. (115).

Guggenheim Foundation. All books were
published in New York by the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Foundation. Museum of Non-Objective
Painting. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, or
Guggenheim Museum, or in Venice by the
Exhibition of Paintings by Wassily Kandinsky Foreword by James Johnson Sweeney,
(1866-1944) (53-T). Introduction by Hilla Rebay. introduction by Paul Fierens. 20 pages.
24 pages.
1960
Peggy 1947 Before Picasso: After Miro. Exh. cat. (123).

Guggenheim Collection, unless otheru'ise noted. Kandinsky, Wassily [Vasily]. Point and Line to Introduction by James Johnson Sweeney.
Publications produced by the Peggy Guggenheim Plane. Ed. by Hilla Rebay. Preface by Hilla 24 pages.
Collection prior to 1979 (the year that the Rebay, foreword and introduction by Wassily
Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation assumed [Vasily] Kandinsky. Trans, from the German by Guggenheim International Award, i960. Exh. cat.

full responsibility for its operation) are not Howard Dearstyne and Hilla Rebay. 206 pages. (124). 36 pages.
included, nor are exhibition catalogues produced by
other publishers. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy Memorial. Exh. cat., 1961
accompanied In Memoriam Laszlo Moholy-Nagy Abstract Expressionists Imagists. Exh. cat.,
The abbreviation exh. cat. denotes exhibition (57). Essay by Hilla Rebay, text by Laszlo accompanied American Abstract Expressionists and
catalogue. Exhibition and publication titles are the [Laszlo] Moholy-Nagy. 40 pages. by H. H. Arnason.
Imagists (133). Introduction

same unless otherwise noted. For full exhibition 136 pages.

information, see the exhibition history on pp. 514-29. 1948
Exhibition numbers listed in the exhibition history Hilla Rebay. Exh. cat. (61).
appear here in parentheses. Elise Ruffini. 24 pages.
1937 1953
Introduction by Elements of Modern Painting. Exh. cat.,
accompanied Elements of Modern Art (132).
Rev. ed., 1962, published as Modern Art: An
Introductory Commentary Exh. cat., accompanied
.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection of Non-Objective Sixty Years of Living Architecture: The Work of Elements of Modern Art (143-T). Text by Thomas
Paintings: Second Enlarged Catalogue. Exh. cat., Frank Lloyd Wright. Exh. cat. (80). Text by M. Messer. 40 pages.
accompanied Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection of Frank Lloyd Wright. 36 pages.
Non-Objective Paintings (3-T). Foreword by Modern Masters from the Collection of the Solomon R.
Yarnell Abbott, essay by Hilla Rebay. 88 pages. Younger European Painters: A Selection. Exh. cat. Guggenheim Museum. Exh. cat. (129). Preface by
(The first collection catalogue accompanied (82). Introduction by James Johnson Sweeney. Thomas M. Messer. 28 pages.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection of Non-Objective 60 pages.
Paintings [i-t] and was published in 1936 by the One Hundred Paintings from the G. David
Carolina Art Association, Charleston, South 1954 Thompson Collection. Exh. cat. (128). Introduction
Carolina.) Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection. Exh. cat., by G. David Thompson. 60 pages.
accompanied The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum:
1938 A Selection from the Museum Collection (88-t). Paintings from the Arensberg and Gallatin
Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection of Non-Objective Introduction by Doris Shadbolt. 48 pages. Collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Paintings: Third Enlarged Catalogue. Exh. cat., Exh. cat. (125). Introduction by Henry Clifford.
accompanied Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection of Younger American Painters: A Selection. Exh. 40 pages.
Non-Objective Paintings (4-T). Essay by Hilla cat. (86). Introduction by James Johnson
Rebay. 122 pages. Sweeney. 80 pages. 1962
Antoni Tapies. Exh. cat. (140). Foreword by
1939 1955 Lawrence Alloway. 32 pages.
Art of Tomorrow: Fifth Catalogue of the Solomon R. A Selection from the Solomon R. Guggenheim
N
Guggenheim Collection of on -Objective Paintings. Museum. New York. Exh. cat. (93-T). Foreword Fernand Le'ger: Five Themes and Variations.
Exh. accompanied Art of Tomorrow
cat., by Arthur Lismer. 24 pages. Exh. cat. (139). Introduction by Thomas M.
(unnumbered exhibition). Essay by Hilla Rebay. Messer. 116 pages.
184 pages. 1957
Jacques Villon. Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Marcel Jan Miiller. 1922-1958. Exh. cat. (138). Essays by
Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection of Non-Objective Duchamp. Exh. cat. (101). Foreword by James Thomas M. Messer and Dody Miiller. 32 pages.
Paintings: Fourth Catalogue. Exh. cat., Johnson Sweeney, texts by Andre Breton,
accompanied Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection of Marcel Duchamp, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Modern Sculpture from the Joseph H. Hirshhorn
Non-Objective Paintings (5-T). Essay by Hilla Walter Pach, Rene-Jean, and Jacques Villon. Collection. Exh. cat. (145). Preface by Thomas M.
Rebay. 44 pages. 88 pages. Messer, foreword by Abram Lerner, text by
H. H. Arnason. 252 pages.
1945 Piet Mondrian: The Earlier Years. Exh. cat. (108).
Kandinsk) . Exh. cat., accompanied In Memory of Letter from Piet Mondrian to James Johnson Philip Guston. Exh. cat. (142). Essay by
Wassily Kandinsk) (43). Ed. by Hilla Rebay. Sweeney. 16 pages. H. H. Arnason. 128 pages.
Text by Wassily [Vasily] Kandinsky. 48 pages.
1958 Vasily Kandinsky 1866— 1944: A Retrospective
Wassily Kandinsk) Memorial. Exh. cat., Guggenheim International Award. 1958. Exh. Exhibition. Exh. cat. First edition (146-T),
accompanied In Memory of Wassily Kandinsky cat. (114). Foreword by James Johnson Sweeney. 108 pages. Second edition (147), 128 pages.
(43). Text by Wassily [Vasily] Kandinsky, essay 30 pages. Introduction by Thomas M. Messer, essays by
by V. Agrarych. 124 pages. Jean Cassou, Kenneth C. Lindsay, and
1959 H. K. Rothel. (Special supplement, Special Loan
1946 A Handbook to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Paintings from the U.S.S.R. [1963], with
Kandinsky, Wassily [Vasily]. On the Spiritual in Collection. Introduction by James Johnson Thomas M. Messer, essays by
introduction by
Art. Ed. by Hilla Rebay. 154 pages. Sweeney. 272 pages. Nina Kandinsky and Will Grohmann, 20 pages,

330 Century
 1

accompanied the catalogue for exhibition no. 147 Barm tt N< wman, essay by Lawreni e Allow. n Rousseau, Redon, and Fantasy Exh cai

at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.) 11 pages. Introiluc tion and text In Louise Averill
Svendsen. 56 pages.
1963 The Emergent Decade: Lain/ American Painters and
1 anne and Structure in Modern Painting. Exh. Painting in tin 196&S. Publication related to 1969
cat. (153). Essay by Daniel Robbins. *6 pages. exhibition no. [79. Introduction by Thomas M. Constantin Brancusi, 1876-1957. A Retrospectivt
Messer, texts by Cornell Capa. Published by Exhibition. Exh. cat. (224). Introduction by
Francis Bacon. Exh. cat, < 1 s5 *- Preface by Thomas Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., and the Thomas M Messer, essay by Sidne) deist
M. Messer, introduction by Lawrence Alloway. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. 192 pages. 164 pa ejes.
80 pages.
European Drawings. Hxh. cat. (18?). Introduction I), it id Smith. Exh, cat. 121S). Introduction and
Six Painters and the Object. Exh. cat. (149). Essay by Lawrence Alloway. 82 pages. text by Edward F. fry 188 pages.
by Lawrence Alloway. 28 pages.
Gauguin and the Decorative Style. Exh. cat. (187). ,\//a Young Artists, Theodoron Awards. Exh. cat.
1964 Introduction by Lawrence Alloway, text by (217). Texts by Edward F. Fry and Diane
Albert Gleizes, 1881-19$}: A Retrospective Marilyn Hunt. 48 pages. Waldman. 28 pages.
Exhibition. Exh. cat. (163, 164-T). Essay by
Daniel Robbins. 136 pages. Jean Dubuffet 1962-66. Exh. cat. (190). Roy Lichtenstein. Exh. cat. (223). Essay by Diane
Introduction by Lawrence Alloway, text by Jean Waldman. 114 pages.
Alexander Colder: A Retrospective Exhibition. Dubuffet. 78 pages.
Exh. cat. (166). Introduction by Thomas M. Selected Sculpture and Works on Paper. Hxh. < at

Messer. 92 pages. Systemic Painting. Exh. cat. (189). Introduction (220). 160 pages.
by Lawrence Alloway. 68 pages.
American Drau ings. Exh. cat. (165). Foreword by Works jrom the Peggy Guggenheim Foundation.
Thomas M. Messer, introduction by Lawrence Vastly Kandinsky: Panning on Glass Exh. cat. (211). Introduction by Peggy
Alloway. 68 pages. (Hinterglasmalerei), Anniversary Exhibition. Guggenheim. 184 pages.
Exh. cat. (191). Introduction by Hans Konrad
Frederick Kiesler: Environmental Sculpture. Rothel. 54 pages. 1970
Exh. cat. (161). Foreword by Thomas M. Messer, Carl Andre. Exh. cat. (234). Essay by Diane
text by Frederick Kiesler. 44 pages. 1967 Waldman. 84 pages.
Guggenheim International Exhibition. 1967.
Guggenheim International Award, 1964. Exh. cat. Sculpture from Twenty Nations. Exh. cat. (197). Contemporary Japanest Art: Fifth Japan An
(157). Introduction by Lawrence Alloway. Preface by Thomas M. Messer, introduction by Festival Exhibition. Exh. cat. (237). Introduction
128 pages. Edward F. Fry. 154 pages. by Edward F. Fry. 84 pages.

Van Gogh and Expressionism. Exh. cat. (162). Joseph Cornell. Exh. cat. (194). Essay by Diane Fangor. Exh. cat. (238). Introduction by Margit
Text by Maurice Tuchman. 44 pages. Waldman. 60 pages. Rowell. 36 pages.

1965 Paul Klee. 18/9-1940: A Retrospective Exhibition. Francis Picabia. Exh. cat., accompanied Francis
Edvard Munch. Exh. cat. (180). Essays by Johan Exh. cat. First edition (192), 148 pages (revised Picabia: A Retrospectivt Exhibition (233). Essay by
H. Langaafd and Sigurd Willoch. no pages. and reprinted in 1967). Second edition (193-T), William A. Camfield. 168 pages.
128 pages. Text by Felix Klee, introduction by
Gustar Klimt and Egon Schiele. Exh. cat. (170). Will Grohmann. On the Future oj Art. Introduction by-
Introduction by Thomas M. Messer, essays by Edward F. Fry, essays by J. W. Burnham,
Alessandra Comini, James T. Demetrion, and 1968 Louis I. Kahn, Herbert Marc use. Annette
Johannes Dobai. 124 pages. Acquisitions of the 1930's and 1940s: A Selection of Michelson, James Seawright, B. F. Skinner,
Paintings. Watercolors and Drau nigs 111 Tribute to and Arnold J. Toynbee. Published by Viking
Jean Xceron. Exh. cat. (178). Essay by Daniel Baroness Hilla ton Rebay. 1890-1967. Exh. cat. Press, New York, sponsored by the
Robbins. 64 pages. (202). Introduction by Thomas M. Messer. Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.
136 pages. 144 pages.
Masterpieces of Modern Art. Exh. cat.,
accompanied Masterpieces oj Modem Art. by Mastercraftsmen of Ancient Pern. Exh. cat. (209). Selections from the Guggenheim Museum Collection.
Courtesy of the Thannhauser Foundation (174). Introduction and text by Alan R. Sawyer. 1900-1970. Exh. cat. (232). Introduction by-

Foreword by Harry F. Guggenheim. 80 pages. 112 pages. Louise Averill Svendsen. 440 pages.

Paintings from the Collection of the Solomon R. Neo-Impressionism. Exh. cat. (199). Introduction 1971
Guggenheim Museum. Exh. cat. (173). Foreword by by Thomas M. Messer, essay and text by Robert Guggenheim International Exhibition. 1971.
Thomas M. Messer. 88 pages. L. Herbert. 264 pages. Exh. by Edward F. Fry and
cat. (239). Essays

Diane Waldman. 44 pages, with 21 artists'

William Baziotes: A Memorial Exhibition. Paul Fetle) ( 1910-1966): A Memorial Exhibition. booklets.
Exh. cat. (171). Introduction by Lawrence Exh. cat. (201). Introduction by Gene Baro.
Alloway, statements by William Baziotes. 76 pages. John Chamberlain: A Retrospective Exhibition. Exh.
58 pages. cat. (247). Essay by Diane Waldman. 104 pages.

Paul Klee Exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum:

1966 A Post Scriptum. Publication related to Piet Mondrian, 1872— 1944: Centennial Exhibition.
Bamett The Stations of the Cross: lema
Kelt man: exhibition no. 192. Essay by Thomas M. Messer. Exh. cat. (244). Introduction by L. J. F.
sabachthani. Exh. cat. (185). Statement by 40 pages. Wijsenbeek, essays by Max Bill, Joop Joosten,

Exhibition and Publication History 33

Nelly van Doesburg, and R. P. Welsh. Interview with Soto by Claude-Louis Renard (in Exh. cat., accompanied Klee at the Guggenheim
224 pages. English, French, and Spanish). 136 pages. Museum (310). Essay by Louise Averill Svendsen.
84 pages.
Robert Mangold. Exh. cat. (245). Essay by Diane 1975
Waklman. 44 pages. Aristide Maillol: 1861-1944. Exh. cat. (291). 1978
Essay by John Rewald. 140 pages. The Evelyn Sharp Collection. Exh. cat. (323).

Ten Young Artists: Theodoron Awards. Exh. cat. 96 pages.

(243). i.\ pages. Brice Marden. Exh. cat. (283). Essay by Linda
Shearer, statement by Brice Marden. 68 pages. The Guggenheim Museum: Justin K. Thannhauser
1972 Collection. Introduction and text by Vivian
Amsterdam Paris DUsseldorf. Exh. cat. (256). Frantisek Kupka. 1871-1957: A Retrospective. Endicott Barnett. 216 pages.
Preface by Thomas M. Messer, introductory Exh. cat. (289). Essays by Meda Mladek and
essays by Cor Blok, Blaise Gautier, and Jiirgen Margit Rowell. 328 pages. Mark Rothko, 1903-1970: A Retrospective. Exh. cat.

Harten. 88 pages. Text by Bernard Malamud, essay by Diane

(333).

Jifi Koldr. Exh. cat. (288). Texts by Jindrich Waldman. Published by Harry N. Abrams,
Eva Hesse: A Memorial Exhibition. Exh. cat. (261). Chalupecky, Jirf Kolaf, Thomas M. Messer, New York, in collaboration with the Solomon
Essays by Robert Pincus-Witten and Linda Raoul-Jean Moulin, and Wieland Schmied. R. Guggenheim Foundation. 296 pages.
Shearer. 114 pages. 140 pages.
Prints from the Guggenheim Museum Collection.

Jean Dubuffet: A Retrospective. Exh. cat. (265). Max Ernst: A Retrospective. Exh. cat., Exh. cat. (332-T). Introduction by Linda
Introduction by Thomas M. Messer, essay by accompanied Max Ernst: A Retrospective Konheim. 72 pages.
Margit Rowell. 306 pages. Exhibition (282). Essay by Diane Waldman.
272 pages. Willem de Kooning in East Hampton. Exh. cat.

Joan Miro: Magnetic Fields. Exh. cat. (257). (322). Essay by Diane Waldman. 152 pages.
Essays by Rosalind Krauss and Margit Rowell. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: Frank Lloyd
160 pages. Wright. Essay by Louise Averill Svendsen. Young American Artists: 1978 Exxon National
48 pages. Exhibition. Exh. cat. (325). Introduction by Linda
Kandinsk) at the Guggenheim Museum. Exh. cat. Shearer. 72 pages.
(252). Introduction by Thomas M. Messer. 1976
156 pages. Acquisition Priorities: Aspects of Postwar Painting 1979
in America. Exh. cat. (302). Foreword by BritishArt Now: An American Perspective. 1980
Masterpieces of Modern Art: A Picture Book of Thomas M. Messer. 120 pages. Exxon International Exhibition. Exh. cat. (350).
Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Masterpieces from Introduction and text by Diane Waldman.
the Thannhauser Foundation. Introduction by The Guggenheim Museum Collection: Paintings 156 pages.
Thomas M. Messer. 88 pages. 1880— 1945. 2 vols. Texts by Angelica Zander
Rudenstine. 762 pages. Joseph Beuys. Exh. cat. (346). Introductions by
Robert Ryman. Exh. cat. (250). Introduction by Joseph Beuys and Caroline Tisdall, essay by
Diane Waldman. 52 pages. Horia Damian: The Hill. Exh. cat. (300). Caroline Tisdall. 288 pages.
Essay by Radu Varia. 64 pages.
Ten Independents: An Artist-Initiated Exhibition. The Planar Dimension: Europe. 1912—1932,
Exh. cat. (249). Introduction by Dore Ashton. Twentieth-Century American Drawing: Three Exh. cat. (340). Essay by Margit Rowell.
20 pages. Avant-Garde Generations. Exh. cat. (293). Essay 160 pages.
by Diane Waldman. 128 pages.
1973 Rufino Tamayo: Myth and Magic. Exh. cat. (341).
Futurism: A Modern Focus: The Lydia and Harry 1977 Essay by Octavio Paz (in English and Spanish).
Lewis Winston Collection, Dr. and Mrs. Barnett accompanied James Ensor:
Ensor. Exh. cat., 248 pages.
Malbin. Exh. cat. (271). Essays by Marianne W. A Essay by John David
Retrospective (306).
Martin and Linda Shearer. 252 pages. Farmer. Published by George Braziller, New 1980
York, for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Ad Reinhardt and Color. Exh. cat. (349). Essay by
Richard Hamilton. Exh. cat. (268). Introduction Foundation and the Art Institute of Chicago. Margit Rowell. Published by Thames and
by John Russell, commentary by Richard 128 pages. Hudson, London, and the Solomon R.
Hamilton. 104 pages. Guggenheim Foundation. 72 pages.
Kenneth Noland: A Retrospective. Exh. cat. (309).
1974 Essay by Diane Waldman. Published by the Expressionism: A German Intuition. 190$— 1920.
Alberto Giacometti: A Retrospective Exhibition. Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in Exh. cat. (361). Introduction by Paul Vogt,
Exh. cat. (275). First edition accompanied collaboration with Harry N. Abrams, essays byWolf-Dieter Dube, Horst Keller,
exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim New York. 162 pages. Eberhard Roters, Martin Urban, and Paul Vogt.
Museum. Essay by Reinhold Hohl. 204 pages. 336 pages.
S© ond edition accompanied exhibition at Lucio Fontana. 1899-1968: A Retrospective.
traveling venues. 132 pages. Exh. cat. (316). Essay by Erika Billeter. Handbook: The Guggenheim Museum Collection
112 pages. 1900-1980. Collection catalogue related to
llya Bolotowsky. Exh. cat. (277). Introduction by the exhibition 1900— 1980 from the Guggenheim
Adelyn 1). Breeskin, interview with llya Nine Artists: Theodoron Aivards. Exh. cat. (308). Museum Collection (355). Rev. ed., 1984.
Bolotowsky by Louise Averill Svendsen and Introduction by Linda Shearer. 36 pages. Introduction and texts by Vivian Endicott
Minn Poser. 136 pages. Barnett. 528 pages.
Paul Klee. 18/9-1940, in the Collection of the
\ Retrospect ivc Exhibition. Exh. cat. (279). Snl <inti>ii R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Kandinsky Watercolors: A Selection from the Solomon

332 <
tntury
 .

R. Guggenheim Museum and the /////,/ von Rebay 1983 /' .

'
I im Collection, \

Foundation. Exh. cat. (363-T). Essays by Vivian Acquisition Priorities: Aspects of Postwar Painting R. Guggenheim Foundation. Introdui tion and
Endicott Barneti and Louise Averill Svendsen, in Europe. Exh. cat. (407). Foreword by Thomas texts by Angelica Zander Rudenstine

76 pages. \l Messer. 104 pages. Published by Harry N Abrams, New York, and
the .Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation.
Neiv Images from Spain. Exh. cat. (353). Essay by Handbook: Tht Peggy Guggenheim Collection. 844 pages.
Margit Rowell. i(( pages. Published in Italian as Guida: La Colleziont
Pegg) Guggenheim. Introduction by Thomas M Transformations m Sculpture: Four Decades of

1981 Messer, texts by Lucy Flint. Published by the American and European Art. Exh. cat. (459). Essay
Arsbile Gorky, 1904 194S: A Retrospective. Solomon K. Guggenheim Foundation and by Diane Waldman. 272 pages.
Exh. cat. (368). Essay by Diane Waldman. Harry N. Abrams, New York. 224 pages.
Published by Harry N. Abrams, New York, in Rev. eds., 1986, Handbook: The Peggy Guggenheim 1986
collaboration with the Solomon R. Guggenheim and Guida: Collezione Peggy
Collect /on Anglc\ 0/ Vision: French Art Today, 1986 Exxon
Foundation. 2X6 pages. Guggenheim. Additional texts by Elizabeth C. International Exhibition. Exh. cat. <4~eii. Essays
Childs. Published by the Solomon R. by Lisa Dennison. 156 pages.
Art of the Avant-Garde in Russia: Selections from Guggenheim Foundation. 336 pages.
the George Costakis Collection. Exh. cat. (377). Enzo Cucchi. Exh. cat. (469). Essay by Diane
Essays by Margit Rowell and Angelica Zander Julio Gonzalez: A Retrospective. Exh. cat. (402). Waldman. 194 pages.
Rudenstine. 320 pages. Essay by Margir Rowell. 216 pages.
The Expfessivt Figure from Rousseau to Bacon:

Jl.ih Dubuffet: A Retrospective Glance at Eighty. Kandinsky .it tin Guggenheim. Introduction by European Art in theGuggenheim Museum Collection.
Exh. cat. (372). Texts by Jean Dubuffet, Thomas M. Messer, essay and texts by Vivian Exh. cat. (473). Text by Susan B. Hirschfeld.
Morton L. Janklow, and Thomas M. Messer. Endicott Barnett. Published by the Solomon R 16 pages.

32 pages. Guggenheim Museum and Abbeville Press,

New York. 312 pages. Jack Youngerman. Exh. tat. (463). Essay by Diane
Nineteen Artists-Emergent Americans: 1981 Exxon Waldman. 104 pages.
National Exhibition. Exh. cat. (366). Introduction Kandinsky: Russian and Bauhaus Years. 1915—1933.
by Peter Frank. 92 pages. Exh. cat. (418). Essay by Clark V Poling. Jan Groth. Exh. cat. (472). Essay by Carter
360 pages. Ratcliff. 76 pages.
Richard Navin: The Mycenae Circle. Exh. cat.

(367). Introduction by Thomas M. Messer, text New Perspectives in American Art: 1985 Exxon Oskar Kokoschka 1886-1980. Exh. cat. (477).

by Richard Navin. 20 pages. National Exhibition. Exh. cat. (413). Essay by Essay by Richard Calvocoressi. 248 pages.
Diane Waldman. 160 pages.
1982 Richard Long. Exh. cat. (475). Essay by
Asgerjorn. Exh. cat. (388). Essay by Troels Yves Tanguy: A Retrospective. Exh. cat. (397). R. H. Fuchs. Published by Thames and
Andersen. 100 pages. Essay by Roland Penrose. 24 pages. Hudson, London, and the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Foundation. 240 pages.
Italian Art Now: An American Perspective. 1982 1984
Exxon International Exhibition. Exh. cat. (383). Australian Visions: 1984 Exxon International 1987
Essay by Diane Waldman. 144 pages. Exhibition. Exh. cat. (437). Essays by Emerging Artists. 1978-1986: Selection* from the
Memory Holloway and Diane Waldman. Exxon Series. Exh. cat. (488). Essay by Diane
Jack Tworkov: Eifteen Years of Painting. Exh. cat. 100 pages. Waldman. 144 pages.
(384). Essay by Andrew Forge. 64 pages.
From Degas to C alder: Major Sculpture and Works Fifty Years of Collecting: An Anniversary Selection.
Kandinsky in Munich: 1896-1914. Exh. cat. (380). on Paper from the Guggenheim Museum Collection. Painting by Modern Masters. Exh. cat. (491).

Foreword by Carl E. Schorske, essays by Peter Exh. cat. (433). Introduction by Thomas M. Introduction by Thomas M. Messer. 152 pages.
Jelavich and Peg Weiss. 312 pages. Messer. 28 pages.
Fifty Years of Collecting: An Anniversary Selection.
One Hundred Works: The Peggy Guggenheim Michael Singer. Exh. cat. (428). Essay by Diane Painting si net World War II: Europe. Latin
Collection/Cento Opere: La Collezione Peggy Waldman. 84 pages. America. North America. Exh. cat., accompanied
Guggenheim. Foreword by Thomas Messer (in Fifty Years of Collecting: An Anniversary Selection.
English and Italian). 128 pages. Will Insley: The Opaque Civilization. Exh. cat. Painting since World War II in Europe (493);
(436). Text by Will Insley, interview with Will Fifty Years of Collecting: An Anniversary
Oyvind Fahlstrbm. Exh. cat. (389). Texts by Erro, Insley by Linda Shearer. 88 pages. Selection. Painting since World War II in Latin
Oyvind Fahlstrom, Olle Granarh, Pontus America (494); and Fifty Years of Collecting:
Hulten, Billy Kliiver, Matta, Claes Oldenburg, 1985 An Anniversary St led ion. Painting since World
Robert Rauschenberg, and Carl Frederik Alfred Jensen: Paintings and Works on Paper. War 11 in North America (495). Introduction by
Reutersward. 120 pages. Exh. cat. (454). Essays by Maria Reidelbach and Thomas M. Messer. 148 pages.
Peter Schjeldahl. 80 pages.
Sixty Works: The Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Fifty Years of Collecting: An Anniversary Selection.
Exh. cat. (392). Foreword by Thomas M. Messer. Kandinsky in Paris: 1954-1944. Exh. cat. (444). Sculpture of the Modem Era. Exh. cat. (492).
68 pages. Essays by Vivian Endicott Barnett and Christian Introduction by Thomas M. Messer. 148 pages.
Derouet. 268 pages.
Sleeping Beauty-Art Now: Scandinavia Today Joan Miro: A Retrospective. Exh. cat. (486). Essays
Exh. cat., accompanied Sleeping Beauty-Art Now New Horizons American Art: 198$ Exxon
in by Jacques Dupin, Robert S. Lubar, Thomas M.
(390). Essays by 0ystein Hjort and Pontus National Exhibition. Exh. cat. (455). Essay by Messer, Joan Miro. and Werner Schmalenbach.
Hulten. 136 pages. Lisa Dennison. 120 pages. Published by the Solomon R. Guggenheim

Exhibition and Publication History 333

Foundation in collaboration with Yale Masterpieces from the Guggenheim. Exh. cat. by Susan Compton and Benjamin Harshav.
University Press, New Haven. 270 pages. (526-T). Essays by Umberto Eco, Thomas Krens, 224 pages.
and Fred Licht. 320 pages.
Peggy Guggenheim's Other Legacy. Published in Masterpieces from the Guggenheim. Published in

Italian as Le eredita sconosciute di Peggy Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Collection: Prom French as Chefs-d'oeuvre du Musee Guggenheim.
Guggenheim. Exh. cat. (483). Essays by Melvin P. Picasso to Pollock. Exh. cat. (526-T). Essays by Exh. cat. (526-T). Essays by Umberto Eco and
Lader and Fred Licht. Published by the Solomon Umberto Eco, Thomas Krens, and Fred Licht Thomas Krens. 256 pages.
R. Guggenheim Foundation and Arnaldo (in Japanese). 348 pages.
Mondadori, Milan. 88 pages. 1993
Museo Guggenheim: Las ultimas vanguardias Guggenheim Magazine 3 (summer 1993). 80 pages.
Pierrt Alechinsky: Margin and Center. Exh. cat. ip40-rppi. Exh. cat. (532-T). Introduction by
(480). Text by Octavio Paz, interview with Carmen Gimenez, essays by Jean-Christophe Guggenheim Magazine 4 (fall 1993). 72 pages.
Pierre Alechinsky by Michael Gibson. 176 pages. Ammann, Francisco Calvo Serraller, Thomas
Krens, Nancy Spector, and Diane Waldman (in Lothar Baumgarten: America Invention. Exh. cat.

1988 Spanish). 136 pages. by Lothar Baumgarten,

(540). Artist's project

Josef Alters: A Retrospective. Exh. cat. (496). introduction by Michael Govan, essays by
Essays by Mary Emma Harris, Charles E. Obras maestras de la coleccion Guggenheim: De Vincent Crapanzano, Hal Foster, Michael
Rickart, and Nicholas Fox Weber. 304 pages. Picasso a Pollock. Exh. cat. (526-T). Essays by Govan, Robert S. Grumet, N. Scott Momaday,
Francisco Calvo Serraller, Umberto Eco, Thomas and Craig Owens. 112 pages.

1989 Krens, and Fred Licht (in Spanish). 368 pages.

Jenny Holzer. Exh. cat. (520). Essay by Diane Guggenheim Collection.
Masterpieces from the Peggy

Waldman and interview with Jenny Holzer by Watercolors by Kandinsky at the Guggenheim Foreword by Thomas Krens, essay by Philip
Diane Waldman. Published by the Solomon R. Museum: A Selection from the Solomon R. Rylands. 264 pages.
Guggenheim Foundation and Harry N. Guggenheim Museum and the Hilla von Rebay
Abrams, New York. 116 pages. Foundation. Second ed., 1993. Essay by Susan B. Osmosis: Ettore Spa Iletti and Haim Stein bach.
Hirschfeld. 188 pages. Exh. cat. (543). Essays by Germano Celant and
Mario Merz. Exh. cat. (518). Essay by Germano Nancy Spector, artists' project by Ettore
Celant and interview with Mario Merz by 1992 Spalletti and Haim Steinbach, and interview
Germano Celant. Published by the Solomon R. Giuseppe Santomaso: Letters to Palladio. Exh. cat. with Ettore Spalletti and Haim Steinbach by
Guggenheim Museum and Electa, Milan. (Peggy Guggenheim Collection). Essay by Fred Germano Celant. 112 pages.
300 pages. Licht (in Italian and English). 48 pages.
Paul Klee at the Guggenheim Museum. Exh. cat.

Refigured Painting: The German Image, 1960-88. The Great Utopia: The Russian and Soviet Avant- by Lisa Dennison, essay by
(546). Introduction
Exh. cat. (513). Ed. by Michael Govan, Thomas Garde, ipi$-ip^2. Exh. cat. (537). Essays by Andrew Kagan. 208 pages.
Krens, and Joseph Thompson. Essays by Natalia Adaskina, Vivian Endicott Barnett,
Michael Govan, Heinrich Klotz, Thomas Krens, Susan Compton, Catherine Cooke, Charlotte Paul Klee. Coleccion del Guggenheim Museum.
Hans Albert Peters, Jiirgen Schilling, and Douglas, Svetlana Dzhafarova, Hubertus Exh. cat. (546). Preface by Carmen Gimenez,
Joseph Thompson. Published by the Solomon Gassner, Evgenii Kovtun, Aleksandr Lavrentev, introduction by Lisa Dennison, essay by Andrew
R. Guggenheim Foundation and Prestel-Verlag, Irina Levedeva, Nina Lobanov-Rostovsky, Kagan (in Spanish). 184 pages.
Munich. 292 pages. Christina Lodder, Elena Rakitin, Vasilii
Rakitin, Jane A. Sharp, Aleksandra Shatskikh, Picasso and the Age of Iron. Exh. cat. (545).
1990 Anatolii Striralev, Margarita Tupitsyn, and Introduction by Carmen Gimenez, essays by
From van Gogh to Picasso, from Kandinsky to Paul Wood. 748 pages. Dore Ashton and Francisco Calvo Serraller.
Pollock: Masterpieces of Modern Art. Exh. cat. 336 pages.
(526-T). Ed. by Germano Celant, Lisa Dennison, Guggenheim Commemorative Magazine. Published
and Thomas Krens. Essays by Vivian Endicott on the occasion of the reopening of the Solomon Rebecca Horn. Exh. cat., accompanied Rebecca
Barnett, Maurizio Calvesi, Umberto Eco, R. Guggenheim Museum and the opening of Horn: The Inferno-Paradiso Switch (551).
Thomas Krens, and Fred Licht. Published by the Guggenheim Museum S0H0 (534). 80 pages. Interviews with Rebecca Horn by Germano
the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Celant and Stuart Morgan, essays by Giuliana
Bompiani, Milan. 392 pages. Guggenheim Magazine 2 (fall 1992). 64 pages. Bruno, Germano Celant, Katharina Schmidt,
and Nancy Spector. 348 pages.
1991 Guggenheim Museum: A to Z. Ed. by Nancy
Kandinsky: Acquerelli dal Museo Guggenheim. Spector. Texts by Jan Avgikos, Jennifer Roy Lichtenstein . Exh. cat. (553). Essay by Diane
Exh. cat. (531-T). Essay by Susan B. Hirschfeld Blessing, Cornelia Lauf, Nancy Spector, et al. Waldman, chronology by Clare Bell. 408 pages.
(in Italian). Published by the Guggenheim 298 pages.
Museum and Edizione Carte Segrete, Rome.
192 pages. Guggenheim Museum: Thannhauser Collection.
Essays by Vivian Endicott Barnett, Fred Licht,
Kandinsky acuarelas: Coleccion del Museo Solomon and Paul Tucker, texts by Vivian Endicott
R. Guggenheim y de la Fundacion Hilla von Rebay. Barnett. 192 pages.
Exh. cat. (531-T). Essays by Vivian Endicott
Barnett, Fernando Huici, and Fred Licht (in Homage to Gas tone Novelli. Exh. cat. (Peggy
Spanish). 196 pages. Guggenheim Collection). Essay by Annarita
Fuso (in English and Italian). 34 pages.
Kandinsky Aquarelle aus dent Guggenheim Museum.
Exh. cat. (531-T). Essay by Susan B. Hirschfeld Marc Chagall and the Jewish Theater. Exh. cat.
(in German). 192 pages. (535). Introduction by Jennifer Blessing, essays

334 Century
Index of Reproductions

U 'ori i oj art art listed by artist, and then by date. Delaunay, Soma I irk, design tor Blaise Kandinsky. Vasily (cont.), Improvi

Photographs depicting artists art listed be/on their Cendrars's /../ Prost du Transsiberien </ </< la (second version), 1912 Plate 22.
works OJ art. Petite Jehanm de Prance, [913. Fig. 85. '

, Black Lines, [913. Plate 48.

Delvaux, Paul, Thi Break of Day, July 1937. , Painting with Whitt Border, 1913
Alloway, Lawrence, [966. Fig. 105. Plate 81. Plate 50.
Apollinaire, Guillaume. Fig, Hi. De Maria, Walter, CrOSS, 1965 66. Plate 128. , Composition 8, 1923. Plate 2.
, Frontispiece of Calligrammes: Pobnes dt , Museum Piece, 1966. Plate 129. , illustration tor Point and Line to Plane,
la paix it de la guerre 11911 iptif), 1917. , Star, 1972. Plate 130. [926. Fig. 86
Fig. 84. Dibbets, Jan, instructions for Tht Shortest Da) 0/ , Several Circles, 1926. Plate 52
Archipenko, Alexander, Carrousel Pierrot, [913. 1970. Fig. no. Dominant (urn. [936. Plate
-, 51

Plate 44. Duchamp, Marcel, Nudt (Stud)). Sad Young Man Kelly, Ellsworth, Blue, Grun. Yellow, <>

. \iidrano II, 1913-14? Plate 43. on a 'Irani, 1911-12. Plate 38. Red, 1966. Plate 121.

Arp, Jean, Head and Shell, ca. 1933. Plate 86. EiffelTower, 1889. Fig. 75. Klee, Paul, Flower Bed, [913. Plate 24.
, Crown of Buds I, 1936. Plate 88. Ernst, Max, and Peggy Guggenheim. Fig. 94. , /// tht Current Six Thresholds, 1929.
Art of This Century. Figs. 92, 93, 100. Ernst, Max, Little Machine Constructed by Plate 53.

Balla, Giacomo, Abstract Speed + Sound, 1913— 14. Minimax Dadamax in Person, 1919-20. . Neu Harmon), 1936. Plate 56.
Plate 39. Plate 77. Kline, Franz, Painting So. 7, 1952. Plate no.
Barr, Alfred H., Jr., illustration lot Cubism and , The Postman (.haul, 1932. Plate 84. Kosuth, Joseph, 'Titled (Art as Ideaas Idea)'
Abstract Art, 1936. Fig. 96. , The Antipope, December 1941- {Water), 1966. Plate 127.
Bauer, Rudolf, Invention (Composition 31), 1933. March 1942. Plate 75. Larionov, Mikhail, Glass, 1912. Plate 41.
Plate 49. Fini, Leonor, The Shepherdess of the Sphinxes, 1941. Leger, Fernand, The Smokers, 1911-12. Plate 56.
Besant, Annie, and Charles W. Leadbeater, Plate 92. , Nude Model in tin Studio, 1912-13.
illustration for Thought -Forms, 1901. Fig. 89. Flavin, Dan, Untitled (to Tracy, to celebrate tht Ion Plate 37.
Beuys, Joseph. Fig. 115. of a lifetime), 1992. Fig. 121. , The Gnat Parade (definitive state),

The Pack, 1969. Fig. 114.

, Gabo, Naum, Column, ca. 1923. Plate 74. 1954. Plate 5.

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. Fig. 88. Gauguin, Paul, Haere Mai, 1891. Plate 18. LeWitt, Sol, instructions for Five Wall
Brancusi, Constantin, works by, installed in the /// the Vanilla Grove. Man and Horse,
, Drawings, 1971. Fig. ill.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1993. 1891. Plate 17. Lichtenstein, Roy, Preparedness, 1968. Plate 118.

Fig. 10. Giacometti, Alberto, studio of. Fig. 91. Lissitzky, El, Untitled, ca. 1919-20. Plate 68.
, Bird in Space, 1932-40. Plate 87. , Model for a Square, 1931-32. Plate 89. Long, Richard, Chalk Circle, 1986. Fig. 116.
Braque, Georges. Fig. 79. , Woman with Her Throat Cut, 1932 , River Avon MudCircle, 1986. Fig. 116.
The Clarinet, 1912. Plate 26.
, (cast 1940). Plate 90. Louis, Morris, Saraband, 1959. Plate 113.

, Fruit Dish and Glass, 1912. Fig. 80. Gorky, Arshile, Untitled, summer 1944. Plate 96. Magritte, Rene, Empirt of Light, 1953-54.
Buren, Daniel, Inside (Center of Guggenheim), Gottlieb, Adolph, W, 1954. Plate 104. Plate 7.
1971. Fig. 103. , Mist, 1961. Plate 105. Malevich, Kazimir, Morning in the Village after
Cezanne, Paul, Man with Crossed Arms, ca. 1899. Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. Fig. 15. Snowstorm, 1912. Plate 42.
Plate 3. Guggenheim, Peggy. Figs. 90, 95, 98. , Untitled, ca. 1916. Plate 67.
Chagall, Marc, The Soldier Drinks, 1911-12. , and Max Ernst. Fig. 94. Manet, Edouard, Before tht Mirror, 1876. Plate 9.
Plate 28. , and Jackson Pollock, 1943. Fig. 101. , Woman in Evening Dress, 1877-80.
, Paris through the Window, 1913. Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Fig. 99. Plate 12.

Plate 27. Guggenheim, Solomon R. Fig. 3. Mangold, Robert, Circlt In and Out of a
Chamberlain, John, Dolores James, 1962. , Plaza Hotel suite of. Figs. 7, 8. Polygon 2, 1973. Plate 122.
Plate 115. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Figs. 1, 2, Man Ray, Untitled. 1923. Plate 54.
Cornell, Joseph, Swiss Shoot-the-Chutes, 1941. 67-71. , Untitled, 1927.
Plate 85. , constaiction photos by William H. Mapplethorpe, Robert, Self-Portrait, 1988.
, Untitled (Grand Hotel de I'Observatoire) , Short, 1956-59. Figs. 59-64. Fig. 18.
1954. Plate 93. Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Frank O. Gehry Marc, Franz, Stables, 1913. Plate 23.
Dalf, Salvador, Untitled, 1931. Plate 79. and Associates' model for. Fig. 16. Marini, Marino, The Angel oj tht (-it), 1948 (cast
, Birth of Liquid Desires, 1931-32. Guggenheim Museum Salzburg, Hans Hollein's 1950'). Plate 91.
Plate 76. model for. Fig. 17. Martin, Agnes, Whitt Stone. 1965. Plate 123.
Degas, Edgar, Dancers in Green and Yellow, Guggenheim Museum S0H0. Fig. 14. Matter, Herbert, cover for Six Painters and the
ca. 1903. Plate 10. Hesse, Eva, Expanded Expansion, 1969. Plate 125. Object, 1963. Fig. 106.

de Kooning, Willem, Composition, 1955. Hofmann, Hans, The Gate, 1959-60. Plate 112. , cover for Systemic Painting, 1966.
Plate 108. Holzer, Jenny, Selections from The Survival Fig. 10-.
, . . . Whose Name Was Writ in Water, Seriesand The Living Series, 1989. Fig. 120. Merz, Mario, Niger Crocodile, i9~2 (1989

1975. Plate 109. Selections from Truisms, Inflammatory

, reconstruction, detail). Fig. 113.

Delaunay, Robert, Eiffel Toner uithTrees, Essays, The Living Series, Tin Survival Ser, , Unreal City. Smitten Hundred Eighty-
summer 1910. Plate 31. Under a Rock, Laments, and new writing, Nine, 1989. Fig. 118.

, The City, 1911. Plate 30. 1989. Fig. 119. Messer, Thomas M. Fig. 104.
, Eiffel Towei\ 1911. Plate 32. Horn, Rebecca, Paradiso, 1993. Fig. 122. Miro, Joan, The Tilled Field, 1923-24. Plate 4.
, Red Eiffel Tower , 1911-12. Plate 33. In Memory of Vasily Kandinsky, installation view, , Seated Woman II. February 27, 1939.
, Window on the City No. 3, 1911-12. 1945- Fig. 6. Plate 83.
Plate 29. Judd, Donald. Fig. 109. Moholy-lS'agy. Laszlo, T 1. 1926. Plate 69.
Simultaneous Windows ( 2nd Motif. Kandinsky, Vasily, Blue Mountain, 1908-09. . AXL II, 1927. Plate 70.
1st Part), 1912. Plate 34. Plate 1. . B-10 Space Modulator, 1942. Plate 71.
Windows Open Simultaneously (1st Part. , cover for The Blue Rider Almanac, 191 2. , Dual Form with Chromium Rods. 1946.
3rd Motif ), 1912. Plate 35. Fig. 81. Plate ~2.

Index of Reproduaions 335

Mondnan, Piet. Fig. 87. Ryman, Robert, Classico 4, 1968. Plate 120.
, Still Life with Ginger Pot I, 1911-12. Serra, Richard, and Diane Waldman, 1971.
Plates 45, 59. Fig. 108.
-, Still Lift uith Ginger Put II, 1911-12. Serra, Richard, Strike (to Roberta and Rudy),
Plates 46, 60 1969-71. Plate 124.
pages from Sketchbook I, 1912-14. Seurat, Georges, Farm Women at Work, 1882—83.
Plates 57, 58. Plate 14.

, Composition VII, 1913. Plate 61. , A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884,

, Composition No. 8, 1914. Plate 62. 1884-86. Fig. 72.
, The Sea, 1914. Plate 47. , Three Models, 1886-88.
, Composition 1016, 1916. Plate 63. Fig- 73-
, Composition 2, 1922. Plate 64. Severini, Gino, Sea = Dancer, January 1914.
-, Composition lA, 1930. Plate 65. Plate 40.
Montmartre, Paris. Fig. 76. Smith, David, Cubi XXVII, March 1965.
Morris, Robert, Untitled, 1970. Plate 126. Plate 114.
, instructions tor Instruction-Learning- Still, Clyfford, Jamais, May 1944. Plate 97.
Memory, [971. Fig. 112. Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin. Figs. 21, 22.

Motherwell, Robert, Personage (Autoportrait), Tanguy, Yves, The Sun in Its Jewel Case, 1937.

1943. Plate 94. Plate 80.

, Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. no, Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de, Au salon, 1893.
1971. Plate in. Plate 13.

Museum of Non-Objective Painting. Fig. 5. van Doesburg, Theo, Counter-Composition XIII,

Nauman, Bruce, Green Light Corridor, 1970—71. 1925-26. Plate 66.
Plate 8. van Gogh, Vincent, Head of a Girl, 1888.
"New Art Museum Will Be New York's Plate 16.
Strangest Building," Life, October 8, 1945. , Letter to John Peter Russell, late June
Fig. 9. 1888. Plate 15.

Noguchi, Isamu, Lunar, 1959-60. Plate 116. Waldman, Diane, and Richard Serra, 1971.
O'Keeffe, Georgia, Pelvis with Shadows and Fig. 108.
the Moon, 1943. Fig. 40. Warhol, Andy, Orange Disaster, 196). Plate 119.
Oldenburg, Claes, Coosje van Bruggen, and Wright, Frank Lloyd. Figs. 20, 65, 66.
Frank O. Gehry, The Knife Ship, 1986. architectural drawings for the
,

Fig. 117. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1943—58

Parthenon, detail of West Frieze. Fig. 74. Figs. 11-13, 19, 23-39, 46-5S-
Pevsner, Antoine, Anchored Cross, 1933. , models for the Solomon R.
Plate 73. Guggenheim Museum, 1945-47. F'g s - 41-45.
Picabia, Francis, The Child Carburetor, 1919. -, pavilion for Sixty Years of Living
Plate 78. Architecture, 1953. Figs. 56-57.
Picasso, Pablo. Fig. 77. , Plaza Hotel suite of. Fig. 58.
, Le Moulin de la Galette, 1900. Plate 19.
, Woman Ironing, 1904. Plate 21.
, Young Acrobat and Child, 1905. Plate 20.
, The Poet, 1911. Plate 25.
, Still Lijt with Chair Caning, 1912.
Fig. 78.
, Woman uith Yel/ou Hair, 1931. Plate 6.
-, On the Beach, 1937. Plate 82.
Pollock, Jackson, and Peggy Guggenheim, 1943.
Fig. 101.
Pollock, Jackson, Croaking Movement, 1946.
Plate 100.
, Eyes in the Heat, 1946. Plate 99.
, ALInmy. 1947. Plate 103.
, Enchanted Forest, 1947. Plate 101.
, Ocean Greyness, 1953. Plate 102.
Rauschenberg, Robert, Untitled, 1963. Plate 117.
Read, Herbert. Fig. 102.
Rebay, Hilla. Figs. 4, 85.
Reinhardt, Ad, "How to Look at Modern Art in
America," P.M., June 2, 1946. Fig. 97.
Renoir, Pierre Auguste, Woman with Parrot.
1871. Plate 11.

Rothko, Mark, Sacrifice, 1946. Plate 95.

, Number 18 (Black. Orange on Maroon).
1963. Plate 106.
Untitled (Black on Grey), 1970.
Plate 107.

336 ( entury
 >

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Andrew Kornblum, Visitor Assistant
Shelley Miller, Visitor Assistant
John Mix, Visitor Assistant
Stephen Potter, \ 'i si tor Assistant
Guggenheim Museum Staff 339
The Solomon R. Guggenheim
Foundation

Honorary Trustees in Perpetuity Trustees

Solomon R. Guggenheim The Right Honorable Earl Castle Stewart
Justin K. Thannhauser Mary Sharp Cronson
Peggy Guggenheim Elaine Dannheisser
Michel David-Weill
President Carlo De Benedetti
Peter Lawson-Johnston The Honorable Gianni De Michelis
Robin Chandler Duke
Vice-Presidents Robert M. Gardiner
The Right Honorable Earl Castle Stewart Jacques Hachuel Moreno
Wendy L-J. McNeil Rainer Heubach
Robert M. Gardiner Barbara Jonas
Thomas Krens
Director Peter Lawson-Johnston
Thomas Krens Samuel J. LeFrak
Peter B. Lewis
Wendy L-J. McNeil
Edward H. Meyer
Ronald O. Perelman
Michael M. Rea
Heinz Ruhnau
Denise Saul
Rudolph B. Schulhof
James B. Sherwood
Raja Sidawi
Seymour Slive
Peter W. Stroh
Stephen C. Swid
Rawleigh Warner, Jr.
Jiirgen Weber
Michael F. Wettach

Donald M. Wilson
William T. Ylvisaker

Honorary Trustee
Mme Claude Pompidou

Trustee, Ex Officio
Luigi Moscheri

Director Emeritus
Thomas M. Messer
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