29/09/2020 - 16/01/2022

AU RENDEZ-VOUS
DES AMIS

MODERNISM IN DIALOGUE WITH CONTEMPORARY ART FROM THE SAMMLUNG GOETZ

Part 2

6 AUGUST 2021 UNTIL 16 JANUARY 2022

The dialogue between Classical Modernism and contemporary art from the Sammlung Goetz continues to be extremely popular with the public. As a consequence, the exhibition has not only been extended until 16 January 2022 but enriched by the curators with new juxtapositions. Some of the thematically conceived rooms have been completely redesigned. These include Room 3, in which paintings by the ‘Blauer Reiter’ (Blue Rider) artists have now been combined with large-format works by Michael Buthe from the 1980s in their quest for spirituality in art.

The highly expressive painting ‘Agonie’ (Agony; 1912) by Egon Schiele comes from the collection of the Neue Pinakothek. In Room 4 this work not only comes face to face with Lehmbruck’s sculpture ‘Der Gestürzte’ (The Fallen), a monument to Europe’s sacrificed youth in World War I, but also with collages by Marcel Odenbach and a large-format photograph by Stan Douglas which address the fate of war-related flight that continues to this day.

A spectacular addition to the juxtaposition of works by the artists Max Beckmann and Thomas Schütte in Room 9 is the latter’s sculpture ‘Stahlfrau Nr. 12’ (Steel Woman No. 12; 2003). Up until now this monumental work stood in the sculpture garden in front of the exhibition building of the Sammlung Goetz and, in combination with the minimalist architecture, has become a landmark of the institution. Other highlights in the new presentation of the exhibition include a photograph by Cindy Sherman in dialogue with New Objectivity portraits and figure paintings in Room 7, and a monumental painting by Günter Fruhtrunk ‘Trennendes Rot’ (Dividing Red; 1968/69) in Room 11. In addition, objects by Tom Sachs and the painting ‘Cargo (USS Cole)’ by Luc Tuymans (2004) complement Room 13.

The exhibition ‘Au rendez-vous des amis’ resulted from the idea of presenting a few works from the Sammlung Goetz in the Pinakothek der Moderne with the aim of rendering the diverse reciprocal relationships between contemporary art and Modernism visible. Curatorial work on the collections, however, revealed an almost inexhaustible potential, resulting in an extensive exhibition of over 200 works.

The new hanging of the exhibition will be accompanied by curatorial tours with Oliver Kase and Karsten Löckemann, as well as a discussion with artists. Dates will be announced closer to the time.

INSTALLATION VIEW ROOM 9
Thomas Schütte, Stahlfrau Nr. 12, 2003, Sammlung Goetz, München © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021; Max Beckmann, Frau mit Mandoline in Gelb und Rot, 1950 © Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Sammlung Moderne Kunst in der Pinakothek der Moderne, München
Photo: Haydar Koyupinar

PART 1

1 OCTOBER 2020 UNTIL 5 AUGUST 2021

With its multitude of artistic revolutions and styles Classical Modernism has been an inexhaustible source of inspiration for successive generations of artists. In the early 20th century, the avant garde paved the way for a more liberal treatment of colour, line and perspective, and outlined groundbreaking ideas for a new social community.

These manifold impulses are shown in an exemplary new presentation of the 13 rooms of Classical Modernism, in which some 140 works from the Modern Art Collection and the Ann and Jürgen Wilde Foundation enter into dialogue with 80 contemporary artworks from the Sammlung Goetz. In this way, the focus on painting within the Classical Modernists in the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen has been widened to include photography, sculpture and works on paper, as well as textile art, some objects being exhibited for the first time.

In this presentation of works in dialogue, particular attention has been placed on the numerous female artists in the Sammlung Goetz who are otherwise not represented here in the field of Classical Modernism. Like the Expressionists Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Erich Heckel before them, Louise Bourgeois and Huma Bhabha draw on sculpture from Oceania and Africa for inspiration while their focus on the body, gender and identity is from a female perspective. This equally applies to the sculptress Mária Bartuszová, whose fragile plaster objects and organic bronze sculptures are juxtaposed with works by Hans Arp.

The sculptures and paintings of Aaron Curry and Tobias Pils clearly show how Pablo Picasso’s Cubist formal vocabulary continues to be a stimulus for creative innovations in contemporary art. Another thematically conceived room is devoted to the enthusiasm for new urban industrial architecture and techinical subjects in ‘New Objectivity’ painting and the photography of the ‘Neues Sehen’ (New Vision) movement.

Two rooms devoted to Abstraction underline how the reformist utopias and Constructivist ideas of the Bauhaus, represented by Oskar Schlemmer, Lásló Moholy-Nagy and Josef Albers, continue to resound in the works of artists such as Andrea Zittel, Gerwald Rockenschaub and Katja Strunz. Rodney Graham’s light box ‘Artist in Artists’ Bar, 1950s’, on the other hand, illustrates in a humorous and ironic way how, in the 21st century, the art history of Abstraction as an historical style and bohemian milieu has, in turn, become available to the photographer, painter and concept artist himself.
The exhibition, however, also provides an exemplary, emotional access to the human figure of the post-war period. In the 1960s Francis Bacon and George Segal used biblical events as projection surfaces for defining themes of their time as well as from within their own personal spheres. Both artists set their protagonists in stage-like arrangements of figure and space which are equally accessible to viewers themselves.

Curators: Oliver Kase (Pinakothek der Moderne - Modern Art Collection), Karsten Löckemann (Sammulung Goetz)

With the kind support of PIN. Freunde der Pinakothek der Moderne e.V. as well as the Herbert-Schuchardt-Foundation, München and the Kunststiftung Ingvild und Stephan Goetz.

Further information about the exhibition on the website of the Bavarian State Painting Collections