Busch-Reisinger Museum

Repost from @merrillcbermancollection on our longtime supporter’s recent visit to the Harvard Art Museums: In her capacity as Director of the @harvardartmuseums for the last seven years, Martha Tedeschi has been a great friend and supporter of the collection. To mark her retirement, Merrill presented the Harvard Art Museums with the gift of Vasily Kandinsky’s iconic book Klänge (Sounds) of 1913 “in honor of Martha Tedeschi.” Hosted by his longtime friend Lynette Roth, Daimler Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum @busch_hall , and Peter Murphy, Stefan Engelhorn Curatorial Fellow, Merrill and our valued team member Robert Gorman toured the galleries, where paintings by Carl Grossberg and Jankel Adler (given respectively in 2019 & 2023) are on view. Bravo to our friends at Harvard, to the marriage of our collections, and to the power of these objects to educate future generations beyond our personal stewardship. 1▪Merrill & Lynette Roth with Carl Grossberg’s Komposition mit Turbine (Composition with Turbine), 1929 2▪Carl Grossberg’s Komposition mit Turbine (Composition with Turbine), 1929 on view with Charles Sheeler’s Upper Deck, 1929 3▪Merrill & Lynette with Jankel Adler’s Artist, 1927 4▪Herbert Bayer’s poster, Section Allemande (German Section) 1930, together with a selection of Bauhaus works in the Art Study Room of the Harvard Art Museums 5▪Merrill with Carl Grossberg’s studies for Industrielandschaft (Industrial Landscape), 1934 and a selection of works by Gustavs Klucis in the Art Study Room of the Harvard Art Museums 6▪Carl Grossberg’s studies for Industrielandschaft (Industrial Landscape), 1934 7▪Carl Grossberg’s studies for Industrielandschaft (Industrial Landscape), 1934 and a selection of works by Gustavs Klucis 8▪Gustavs Klucis’s Smotri v vitrinu (Look in the Shop Window), c. 1923-1926 and VKhUTEMAS: Fundamentals, 1924-1926 9▪A selection of Gustavs Klucis’s photomontages featuring Stalin 10▪Merrill, Lynette Roth, & Peter Murphy #carlgrossberg #charlessheeler #jankeladler #herbertbayer #gustavsklucis #marthatedeschi #merrillcberman

Busch Hall Conversation with @pinarogrenci on her recent film projects including “Inventur 2021” and “Glück auf in Germany“ which will be featured as a part of our exhibition “Made in Germany? Art and Identity in a Global Nation” and related programming (see links in bio). @harvardartmuseums @pinar_ogrenci #busch _hall #buschreisingermuseum #film #contemporaryart

Join us LIVE tomorrow, Wednesday, June 26 at 12PM EST for our next Busch_Hall Conversation! We will be joined by artist and filmmaker Pınar Öğrenci (@pinarogrenci ) whose work foregrounds issues of displacement, migration, survival, and resistance. We will discuss her recent projects, including “Glück auf in Deutschland” (2023) (see link in bio), a powerful and poetic documentary about the untold stories of migrant laborers and women in Germany’s postwar mining culture and the effects of this history to this day. The artist’s “Inventory 2021” will feature in our special exhibition “Made in Germany? Art and a Global Nation” this fall (see link in bio) and “Glück auf in Deutschland” will be screened as part of our related film program. #buschreisingermuseum #buschhall #harvardartmuseums #germanart #film #photography @harvardartmuseums

On view now: “Untitled” (2021) by Svenja Deininger and three plaster casts by Jean (Hans) Arp! Viennese artist Svenja Deininger (b. 1974) draws attention to a painting’s surface. She scrapes and reapplies paint in numerous layers, polishing certain areas to a sheen, while allowing others to reveal the canvas weave. Deininger begins with an initial visual concept and then, as Luca Cerizza notes, “through a gradual process of juxtaposing patterns, tones, shapes, and memories from a vast archive of art historical references, [her] configurations finally emerge.” Adding and subtracting media on the surface also resonates with Jean (Hans) Arp’s (1886-1966) approach to plaster. Both artists fully exploit the creative capacities of their chosen medium, encouraging us to look closer. Inexpensive and malleable, plaster was a material favored by Arp. The artist would form the plaster and, once he considered it finished, commission craftsmen to form a plaster cast. Shellac coating, as seen here on the columnar sculpture called “Bust of Gnome,” was typically added when the form served as a model for further casts. These were then used to make a sand mold to cast the work in bronze. View these works and more from our collection in “Future Minded,” on view at the @harvardartmuseums through July 21! #buschreisingermuseum #buschhall #harvardartmuseums #germanart #austrianart #svenjadeininger #hansarp #jeanarp @svenjajill @stiftungarp Svenja Deininger, “Untitled,” 2021. Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Purchase through the generosity of Rosann and Richard E. Gutman, Class of 1966, and Stacey and Paul Gutman, Class of 2000, 2022.9, © Svenja Deininger. Courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen. Jean (Hans) Arp “Silent Sculpture,” 1942. 2023.287 “Birdlike,” 1965. 2023.296 “Bust of Gnome,” 1949. 2023.288 Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Gift of Stiftung Arp e.V, Berlin/Rolandswerth, © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

We are pleased to announce the acquisition of “Constellation 4” (2009) by Swiss artist Pia Fries! It has long been a goal of the Busch-Reisinger Museum to acquire a work by Fries, and we couldn’t be more excited that we now have a stellar one in our collection.  Since the 1990s, Fries has become well-known for her brightly colored abstractions. A former student of Gerhard Richter at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, Fries’ subtle variations between painting, printmaking, and drawing notably distinguish her artwork from that of her famous teacher. In “Constellation 4” we see the telltale dots of a silkscreen print in pink, black and red, but also hand drawn pen scribbles and wisps of shiny paint marker. In the 1990s, Fries moved away from an all-over approach to the canvas and began what is now a signature aspect of her work: using the primed but unpainted panel as a major compositional element. In all three works in “Constellation 4,” she embraces negative space, allowing swooping forms to originate from a single corner, often leaving much of the support untouched. The slightly shiny beige-gray color of the support stands in distinct contrast to the stark white painted additions amidst bright colors, often applied directly from the tube. The resulting abstractions are suggestive of moving limbs or dynamic textile swatches. #buschreisingermuseum #buschhall #piafries #germanart #swissart #abstractart @harvardartmuseums @piafries_ 1-7: Pia Fries, “Constellation 4,” 2009. Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Gift of Carla Chammas and Judi Roaman, 2023.622. © Pia Fries 8: Pia Fries in her studio, 2021, Düsseldorf, Germany (Photo credit: Artemiy Sergeeviç Shokin)

Following our fantastic conversation with Melissa Venator, we wanted to share our recent acquisition of the woodcut print “Beim Vorlesen” (1914) by Erich Heckel. A founding member of Die Brücke, Heckel was instrumental to the group’s pioneering use of the woodcut printing technique. “Beim Vorlesen” shows the writer Walter Kaesbach reading to Heckel’s fiancé, the dancer Siddi Riha. Kaesbach, who was a cultural fixture in Berlin, often held readings in his apartment. Although the room crowded with furniture and rays of light would seem to suggest proximity between Riha and Kaesbach, they are mentally worlds apart. Kaesbach appears unaware of his surroundings as he reads from his book, while Riha’s blank stare suggests that she is bored. In 1914, Heckel finished a painting (in the collection of @kunstmuseum_moritzburg ) with the same title where three figures are deeply engaged with a recitation (second image). Riha appears in other major works by the artist, including his seminal “To the Convalescent Woman (Triptych)” (BR50.415), which hangs on permanent view in the Busch-Reisinger galleries (third image). #buschhall #buschreisingermuseum #harvardartmuseums #germanart #germanexpressionism #erichheckel #diebrucke @melissavenator @harvardartmuseums 1: Heckel, “Beim Vorlesen,” 1914. Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Gift of the Estate of Magda Tisza, 2024.15 2: Heckel, “Beim Vorlesen,” 1914. Kulturstiftung Sachsen‑Anhalt, Kunstmuseum Moritzburg Halle (Saale), Foto: Klaus E. Göltz © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021 3: Heckel, “To the Convalescent Woman,” 1912-13. Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Edmée Busch Greenough Fund, BR50.415 4: BR50.415 detail

Busch Hall Conversation with @melissavenator on her new book „German Expressionism: Paintings at the Saint Louis Art Museum.“ @harvardartmuseums @stlartmuseum #busch _hall #buschreisingermuseum #germanart #germanexpressionism #painting #ernstludwigkirchner

Join us LIVE tomorrow Wednesday, May 22 at 12pm for our next Busch_Hall conversation! We will be joined by @melissavenator , Assistant Curator of Modern Art at @stlartmuseum and former Stefan Engelhorn Curatorial Fellow in the Busch-Reisinger Museum (2016-2019), to discuss her new book "German Expressionism: Paintings at the Saint Louis Art Museum." Melissa’s is the first publication on these internationally renowned paintings, which include major works by the movement's leading artists and lesser-known figures rarely seen outside of Germany. We will also discuss the related exhibition now at SLAM entitled “Concealed Layers: Uncovering Expressionist Paintings” on view through August 4, 2024, curated by Melissa Venator and Courtney Brooks, associate paintings conservator. For more on the show, see the link in our bio! #buschreisingermuseum #buschhall #harvardartmuseums #stlouisartmuseum #germanart #germanexpressionism @harvardartmuseums

Repost from @germanyinboston : “Who or what represents Germany today? The Busch-Reisinger Museum (@busch_hall ) will explore these questions in their upcoming exhibition “Made in Germany? Art and Identity in a Global Nation.” Opening this September, the exhibition will take an unprecedented look at German art since 1980. To celebrate Museum Day,🇩🇪 Consul General Kreibich was granted an exclusive preview with the Busch-Reisinger Museum’s curator Lynette Roth and curatorial fellow Peter Murphy. They discussed the topics of German unification, nationalism, economics and memory in works by Candida Höfer, Sibylle Bergemann, Ulrich Wüst, Gundula Schulze Eldowy, Cornelia Schleime, Rosemarie Trockel, Isa Genzken, and Marc Brandenburg. Curious? Learn more about “Made In Germany?” at @busch_hall !” #harvardartmuseums #buschreisingermuseum #museum #museumday #artmuseum #kunst #germanartist #germanart

The Busch-Reisinger‘s “Self-Portrait in Smoking“ was a recurring touchpoint at this week’s symposium „Legende und Realität: Max Beckmann in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus“ @pinakothekdermoderne in Munich. (See here for example pics of Lynette Roth, Anja Tiedemann and Olaf Peters.) Thanks to the organizers for an informative and thought-provoking 3 days! For more information see the link in the bio and stay tuned for the publication next year! @harvardartmuseums #buschreisingermuseum #busch _hall #maxbeckmann #germanart #painting #modernart

Now on view: Lucia Moholy's photographs of the Bauhaus building in Dessau! Between 1926 and 1928, Lucia Moholy (1894-1989) photographed the newly built Dessau campus of the Bauhaus, the influential school of art, design, and architecture. Founded in Weimar in 1919 by Walter Gropius, the Bauhaus moved to Dessau in 1925, where Moholy photographed the school’s buildings, faculty housing, and products. Visual identity was integral to the Bauhaus, and the iconicity of its architecture is largely due Moholy’s meticulously crafted images. The selected examples demonstrate a variety of printing, coloring, and editing techniques used by the artist, including handwritten notes and the cropping of her own shadow. Far from straightforward documentation, the intentional construction of the now famous images framed on the wall illuminate our understanding of Moholy as an artist in her own right. Hundreds of Moholy’s Dessau photographs were part of Gropius’s personal archive, which was donated to the Busch-Reisinger Museum in 1981. For decades, the photographs were attributed to Gropius until recently when they were properly catalogued to include both the photographer and the subject’s designer, allowing Moholy’s oeuvre to find its rightful place in the museum’s collection as art. Can you spot the differences? See these photographs and more in “Future Minded: New Works in the Collection“ through July 21 at the @harvardartmuseums ! #buschreisingermuseum #buschhall #harvardartmuseums #germanart #luciamoholy #bauhaus #waltergropius @bauhaus_archiv @bauhaus_dessau_foundation -- Photographs: Lucia Moholy Architect: Walter Gropius (1883-1969) 1: Bauhaus Building, Dessau, 1925-1926: South face, 1927. BRGA.20.455 2: Bauhaus Building, Dessau, 1925-1926: South face, 1927. BRGA.20.480 3: Bauhaus Building, Dessau, 1925-1926: Roof garden, 1926. BRGA.20.452 4: Bauhaus Building, Dessau, 1925-1926: Roof garden, 1926. BRGA.20.465 5: Bauhaus Building, Dessau, 1925-1926: Corner of the technical school, 1926. BRGA.20.459 6: Bauhaus Building, Dessau, 1925-1926: Corner of the technical school, 1926. BRGA.20.458 Credit for all: Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Gift of Ise Gropius

What a fantastic research trip to Oslo with Elizabeth Rudy, Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Curator of Prints, Fogg Museum/Harvard Art Museums, in preparation for our shared exhibition early next year! Beginning in March 2025, “Edvard Munch. Technically Speaking” will feature work from the museum’s holdings of paintings, woodcuts, etchings, lithographs and combination prints by the artist ~ an opportunity to closely examine Munch’s experimental practice across media. In Oslo we enjoyed the new buildings of both @nasjonalmuseet and @munchmuseet.no and their permanent collection installations, as well as the Munch’s special exhibition “Trembling Earth.” Thanks so much to our generous colleagues for facilitating such a deep dive into their incredible holdings of prints, printing blocks, and paintings and for the very inspiring conversations! Stay tuned to @busch_hall for more information to come! @harvardartmuseums #buschreisingermuseum #busch _hall #edvardmunch #woodcut #painting ____ All images from the Munchmuseet: Elizabeth Rudy examines Munch’s woodblock for “Woman at the Shore” Lynette Roth and Munch’s “Lonely Ones” Installation views, “Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth“