GAUGUIN to PICASSO
October 10, 2015 – January 10, 2016
The PHILLIPS Collection
Vincent van Gogh, The Garden of Daubigny, 1890. Oil on canvas, 22 x 40 in. The Rudolf Staechelin Collection © Kunstmuseum Basel, Martin P. Bühler
The exhibition pays tribute to two pioneering supporters of the arts, Rudolf Staechelin (1881–1946) and Karl Im Obersteg (1883–1969), both from Basel, who championed the work of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and School of Paris artists.
More than 60 masterpieces on view
The Phillips will exhibit more than 60 celebrated paintings—masterpieces created during the mid-19th and 20th centuries by 22 world-famous artists—including Vincent van Gogh’s The Garden of Daubigny (1890), Pablo Picasso’s double-sided canvas Woman at the Theater / The Absinthe Drinker (1901), and Marc Chagall’s three monumental Rabbi portraits from 1914 Jew in Black and White, Jew in Green, and Jew in Red.
1. Marc Chagall, Jew in Green, 1914. Oil on cardboard laid down on fiberboard, 39 1/2 x 32 in. Im Obersteg Foundation, permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
2. Marc Chagall, Jew in Red, 1914. Oil on cardboard laid down on canvas, 39 3/4 x 31 7/8 in. Im Obersteg Foundation, permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
1. Marc Chagall, Jew in Black and White, 1914. Oil on cardboard laid down on canvas, 39 3/4 x 31 1/2 in. Im Obersteg Foundation, permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris2. Pablo Picasso, The Absinthe Drinker [verso: Woman at the Theater], 1901. Oil on canvas, 31 7/8 x 23 5/8 in. Im Obersteg Foundation, permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel © 2015 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
The exhibition also includes:
Paul Gauguin’s NAFEA faaipoipo (When Will You Marry?) (1892), a major painting from the artist. The Phillips has the privilege of featuring this impressive masterwork from the Rudolf Staechelin Collection before the painting takes on new ownership at the end of the exhibition.
1. Paul Gauguin, NAFEA faaipoipo (When Will You Marry?), 1892. Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 1/2 in. The Rudolf Staechelin Collection © Kunstmuseum Basel, Martin P. Bühler2. Amedeo Modigliani, Portrait of Mrs. Dorival, c.1916. Oil on canvas, 24 x 15 in. Im Obersteg Foundation, permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel © Mark Gisler, Müllheim
Two different collecting philosophies
The exhibition provides a platform to distinguish collecting philosophies and situate them within the history and reception of modern art. Although they shared a passion for powerful and expressive color found in French painting, Staechelin and Im Obersteg took varied approaches in their collecting, as an examination of their key acquisitions reveals.
Differents ways of collecting, same enthusiasm
While Staechelin worked exclusively with dealers to assemble a valuable selection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings in a very short time, Im Obersteg purchased important examples from the School of Paris throughout his lifetime, guided by his friendship with artists. Like his Swiss contemporaries, Duncan Phillips shared an enthusiasm for the work of many of the same artists represented in the Staechelin and Im Obersteg collections, and he used his instinct, knowledge, and extensive contacts with dealers and artists to acquire modern masterpieces for his museum.
Three patrons, same feelings
All three patrons were inspired by the art of their time, supporting modern art and purchasing works they liked even if it meant going against popular taste. The 61 works brought together in this exhibition facilitate conversations between internationally important collections formed before, during, and after World War I. Examples by Cézanne, Kandinsky, Manet, Modigliani, Monet, Renoir, and others will find their counterparts in the galleries of The Phillips Collection. Additionally, dialogues will be introduced by artists new to the Phillips, notably the Swiss Modernists Cuno Amiet and Ferdinand Hodler, as well as the unusually rich group of works by Russian Expressionist Alexej von Jawlensky.
Collections Highlights
Pablo Pablo Picasso, Sleeping Nude, 1934. Oil on canvas, 13 x 21 5/8 in. Im Obersteg Foundation, permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel ©2015 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
1. Pablo Picasso, Harlequin with Black Mask, 1918. Oil on wood, 45 5/8 x 35 in. The Rudolf Staechelin Collection © 2015 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York2. Pablo Picasso, The Absinthe Drinker [verso: Woman at the Theater], 1901. Oil on canvas, 31 7/8 x 23 5/8 in. Im Obersteg Foundation, permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel © 2015 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Paul Cézanne, Glass and Apples, 1879–1882. Oil on canvas, 12 3/8 x 15 3/4 in. The Rudolf Staechelin Collection © Kunstmuseum Basel, Martin P. Bühler
Claude Monet, Calm Weather, Fécamp, 1881. Oil on canvas, 23 5/8 x 29 in. The Rudolf Staechelin Collection © Kunstmuseum Basel, Martin P. Bühler
Camille Pissarro, Quarry, Pontoise, c. 1874. Oil on canvas, 22 7/8 x 28 1/2 in. The Rudolf Staechelin Collection © Kunstmuseum Basel, Martin P. Bühler
1. Chaïm Soutine, Still Life with Violin, Bread, and Fish, c. 1922. Oil on canvas, 25 5/8 x 21 1/4 in. Im Obersteg Foundation, permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel. Photo © Mark Gisler, Müllheim. Image © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York2. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Gabrielle, c. 1910. Oil on canvas, 16 x 12 5/8 in. The Rudolf Staechelin Collection © Kunstmuseum Basel, Martin P. Bühler
Wassily Kandinsky, Study of Murnau‒Landscape with Church, 1909. Oil on cardboard, 13 x 17 3/4 in. Im Obersteg Foundation, permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Ferdinand Hodler, Mont-Blanc with Pink Cloud, 1918. Oil on canvas, 23 2/3 x 33 1/2 in. The Rudolf Staechelin Collection © Kunstmuseum Basel, Martin P. Bühler
1. Ferdinand Hodler, The Patient, painted 1914, dated 1915. Oil on canvas, 13 3/4 x 10 5/8 in. The Rudolf Staechelin Collection © Kunstmuseum Basel, Martin P. Bühler2. Suzanne Valadon, The Frog, 1910. Pastel and oil on paper laid down on cardboard, 23 x 19 1/2 in. Im Obersteg Foundation, permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel © Mark Gisler, Müllheim
Georges Rouault, Landscape with Red Sail, 1939. Oil on paper laid down on gauze, 19 3/4 x 33 in. Im Obersteg Foundation, permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel. Photo © Mark Gisler, Müllheim. Image © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Dorothy Kosinski, Director of the Phillips and co-curator, states
“I am thrilled by the opportunity to bring such important and spectacular works to Washington—pieces that don’t normally travel,” “The exhibition shows the perspicacity of these two very important 20th-century patrons and supporters of modernism, and dovetails nicely with the history of collectors in this country, including our own founder, Duncan Phillips. As a Swiss citizen and longtime resident of Basel who had the privilege to accomplish exhibition projects there, I understand fully the importance of these collections and how they reflect the extraordinary cultural vitality of a city I love so much.”
Gauguin to Picasso: Masterworks from Switzerland,
The Staechelin and Im Obersteg Collections
October 10, 2015 – January 10, 2016. PHILLIPS Museum
Opening times: Tuesday-Saturday 10 am-5 pm Sunday noon-7 pm
202-387-2151. 1600 21st Street, NW. Washington, DC 20009
* The presentation of Gauguin to Picasso: Masterworks from Switzerland, The Staechelin and Im Obersteg Collections at the Phillips marks the first occasion for these collections to be exhibited together in the United States. The exhibition is co-organized by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, in Madrid, where loans from the Staechelin and Im Obersteg collections are currently on view.
Catalogue
Gauguin to Picasso:
Masterworks from Switzerland
The Staechelin & Im Obersteg Collections
Edited by Dorothy Kosinski and Renée Maurer; with essays by Dorothy Kosinski, Renée Maurer, Hans-Joachim Müller, and Henriette Mentha.
Published by The Phillips Collection in association with GILES
160 pages
62 colored illustrations.
$55
Available this fall for in the museum shop and online:
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Events
For a complete schedule of events, visit: www.phillipscollection.org/events
Sponsors
The exhibition is co-organized by The Phillips Collection and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in collaboration with the Im Obersteg Foundation and the Rudolf Staechelin Family Trust.
Generous funding is provided by the Rudolf Staechelin Family Trust as well as Sotheby’s and the Robert Lehman Foundation
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Links
The Phillip Collection
www.shop.phillipscollection.org
www.phillipscollection.org/events