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The Neue Galerie has on exhibit five paintings from the collection of Ferdinand and Adele-Bloch Bauer looted by the Nazis and only recently obtained by heir Maria Altmann after decades of battles with the Austrian government. Doubtless you have read about this best-known Klimt, "Adele Bloch-Bauer I," recently acquired by Ronald Lauder for the Neue Galerie at the estimated princely sum of $135 million. Was it a foregone conclusion that Lauder would obtain this painting, or that it will be the centerpiece of a reconstituted Neue Galerie? Perhaps.
But I find the recent discussion about Expressionist art, in particular regarding the forthcoming auction of the spectacular Ernst-Ludwig Kirchner painting "Street Scene, Berlin," to be a tad much. Perhaps Expressionist art is indeed the next big thing in this "global market," but I find the endless chirping about the commodification of paintings and the outrageous prices they fetch rather vulgar.
Moreover, I find this observation a trifle wanting: The appetite for German and Austrian Expressionist art has grown in recent years, making the timing of the return of the Kirchner fortuitous for the seller. Only a decade ago many collectors, especially Americans, were simply not interested in Kirchner or other Expressionists, who were sold mostly in Europe. For it has been exactly 20 years since the blockbuster exhibit "Vienna 1900: Art, Architecture & Design" at MoMA, and in 1986 Galerie St. Etienne also hosted a major exhibit, "Viennese Design and the Wiener Werkstätte," which overlapped with the MoMA show for one month. While some of today's acquisitive collectors or art critics might not remember those two shows, they were indeed wildly popular. Bear in mind, it was Ronald Lauder and the Lauder family that made the stellar MoMA exhibit possible 20 years ago, and therefore his acquisition might be seen in that context. Stated differently, the Neue Galerie simply had to have it.
While you won't see the enchanting females of Klimt's "Frizta Riedler" (1906), "The Kiss" (1907-8), or "Hope II" (1907-8) within the context of these five paintings, you will be able to see "Adele Bloch-Bauer II" (1912) as well. However, it's a pity, because the details of all the aforementioned paintings are so intricate, so exquisite, and so very representative of Klimt's style at the time. Klimt was the son of a goldsmith, which perhaps explains his love for the decorative arts, and perhaps why the human form was subordinate to his penchant for ornamentation. While the body types and features of all these ladies are rather unflattering, it is the extraordinary array of shapes and colors surrounding them that make them so spectacular, so majestic, even otherworldly. Such gilding as can be seen on "Adele Bloch-Bauer I" is seldom seen outside the realm of Buddhist devotional art. A quick visit to the nearby Metropolitan Museum to see Klimt's Mäda Primavesi (1912) and some of his works on paper would further set these paintings in context.
Tags:
adele bloch bauer, galerie saint etienne, gustav klimt, maria altmann, moma, neue galerie
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Posted on 8/3/2006
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