Mission and Commission

Freire M D

ISBN 10: 8434314819 / ISBN 13: 9788434314818

Published by Ediciones Polígrafa S.A., 2025

About this Item

Mission and Commission: documents and the Art Market 1955 -1968, documenta's independence from the art market is often taken as a given - at least on a formal level but this has not always been the case. There was a time when documenta was sustained by a web of vested interests as diverse as the need for funding, the desire to democratise art, and the profit-driven ambitions of an emerging art market. Miss/on and Commission: documenta and the Art Market 1955-1968 explores how these interests combined and conflicted with each other in the early documenta exhibitions, adopting a fresh angle which brings to light the tensions between artistic freedom and market pressure. Among the main characters of this lesser-known story are renowned figures such as Arnold Bode, the "founding father" of the project; but also others such as Hein Stunke, owner of the Galerie Der Spiegel; the gallerist Rudolf Zwirner; Philip Rosenthal, the porcelain manufacturer; Eugen Gomringer, the visual poet; and Knud Jensen, collector and founder of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark.

Seller Inventory # CIN8434314819LN

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Mission and Commission
• Publisher: Ediciones Polígrafa S.A.
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 8434314819
• ISBN 13: 9788434314818
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Like New

About this title

Synopsis

How the first decade of Documenta, one of the art world’s most-watched exhibitions, shaped the economics of contemporary art

Today, Documenta’s independence from the art market is a given, but this has not always been the case. In its nascent years, Documenta was at the center of a web of vested interests such as the need for funding, the democratization of art and the lucrative pretensions of an emergent art market. Mission and Commission explores the confluences and conflicts of such interests, approaching a well-known story from a novel angle. Among the main characters of this side of Documenta’s history are Arnold Bode, the "founding father" of Documenta; Hein Stünke, former co-organizer of the exhibition; gallery owner Rudolf Zwirner; and the founder of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Knud Jensen.
Mela Dávila Freire has worked as a consultant and independent researcher with the Documenta Archive in Kassel. She was formerly Head of Publications and Head of the Study Center at the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona.