They purchased the works with this desire – this hope – that they were saving pieces that would otherwise have been destroyed
From far left: Woman with Yellow Hair (Femme aux cheveux jaunes) by Pablo Picasso, © 2017 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS); Dancers in Green and Yellow by Degas – Thannhauser Collection, a gift from Justin K Thannhauser in 1978; Little French Girl (The First Step [III]) (La jeune fille française) by Brancusi © 2017 ARS, New York/ ADAGP, Paris. Photo by David Heald
the Foundation was to give the country, if possible, an important collection of nonobjective paintings, gathered mostly from the masters directly and so creating a moment of our own time.” His awakening to the artistic style was like the initial adrenaline rush of a newfound love affair. “The story goes that in 1928 he sat for a portrait with Rebay and was in her studio surrounded by these exponents of non-objectivity that the artist herself was promoting,” Fontanella recounts. “These works were a strand of abstraction devoid of any references or ties to the natural world. There is also a spiritual aim, this sense that it could express the inner truth of the artist – their inner essence. He was just struck by this art, and it was the genesis of the Guggenheim collection.” The museum says that at its core, Visionaries is an exhibition about
relationships – the relationships between these six collectors; between the collectors and the Guggenheim; between these collectors and the artists of their time. Fontanella says, of the historical backdrop, “These collections came into formation in a 20-year span, from 1929 to 1949 (the time of Solomon’s passing). The Great Depression took hold in the 1920s and then, ultimately, in the late 30s was the advent of World War II. And yet we see Guggenheim and the collectors remaining steadfast in their collecting and in their activities. All six collectors were in New York, together, in the 1940s, and they helped to provide a venue through their museums and through their homes for the benefit of the public.” Peggy Guggenheim founded Art of This Century – her museum gallery – in 1943, “To help fund emerging
artists like Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell,” explains Fontanella. “Kandinsky and Paul Klee also fell into the category of ‘degenerate art’, as did Franz Marc and any number of avant garde-ists. In Nazi Germany this was not in step with what the regime envisioned being the art of their culture, and we see Solomon, Hilla Rebay and co. purchasing [nonobjective] work with this desire – this hope – that they were saving pieces that would otherwise have been destroyed.” Like the art itself, the Guggenheim is no stranger to challenging the status quo. The ziggurat – an ancient Mesopotamian temple – served as the inspiration for Wright’s building design, and the challenging aesthetic drew an inevitable backlash from artists and observers. Then-New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, for one, disdainfully remarked at the time that the building looked akin to “an inverted oatmeal dish.” Thanks to these sensational six defenders of art, how culturally nourishing its contents turned out to be. Visionaries: Creating A Modern Guggenheim shows at the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum until 6 September. guggenheim.org/exhibition 41