Guggenheim Museum Thannhauser Collection.

Book by Barnett, Vivian Endicott, Licht, Fred, Tucker, Paul

Studded with masterpieces by Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh, Braque, Manet, Degas and others, this sparkling catalog documents the Thannhauser Collection of Manhattan's Guggenheim Museum. As art historian Barnett relates, art dealer Heinrich Thannhauser (1859-1935) founded the Moderne Galerie in Munich, where the Blue Rider group premiered with works by Vasily Kandinsky and Franz Marc; his son Justin Thannhauser (1892-1976), who fled Nazi Germany to settle in New York City, preserved and expanded a fabulous art collection. Tucker, author of many books on impressionism, traces the catalytic role played by impressionists and post-impressionists in the creation of modernism. Licht, curator of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, demonstrates that Picasso's respect for the traditions of Spanish art and French and German romanticism inspired his audacious extension of those traditions in new directions.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

On the occasion of the Guggenheim Museum's recent renovation and additions, this catalog of the museum's Thannhauser collection has been expanded and reissued. Justin K. Thannhauser was an important dealer in Europe who collected works by such major artists as Picasso, Manet, and Cezanne. The book opens with Vivian Endicott Barnett's brief overview of the collection and of Thannhauser's life, which is followed by a concise review of French painting from 1860 to 1900 by Paul Tucker. The text is rounded out by Fred Licht's essay on the 32 Picassos in the collection. Painstakingly amassed by Barnett, the final section contains entries, alphabetic by artist, with black-and-white illustrations of each work, including commentary, provenance, condition, exhibition history, and bibliography. Also, there are 70 significant full-color reproductions spread throughout, making this a tasteful, well-written, well-researched, and informative book. Although a future edition is planned with commentary on a later bequest by Hilde Thannhauser of ten more paintings, libraries lacking the first edition (Guggenheim, 1991) may want to purchase this one now. Those having the first edition may want to wait.
- Ellen Bates, New York
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.