From Cézanne to Braque, the Thannhauser Collection forms the core of the Guggenheim's early modernist holdings
When Justin K. Thannhauser (1892–1976) brought his collection of modern art to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1965, it was his crowning achievement after more than a half-century as one of Europe's most influential and distinguished collectors and dealers. The collection's formal bequeathal to the Guggenheim in 1978 represents a watershed moment for the museum—today its Thannhauser Collection constitutes the core of the Guggenheim's impressionist, postimpressionist, and School of Paris holdings, including 32 works by Pablo Picasso.
This volume presents the astonishing collection in full, offering a concentrated survey of works by such modern masters as Braque, Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Picasso, Pissarro and Van Gogh, among others. Throughout, artworks are given rich context and detail with historical installation views and high-tech conservation images. Short essays on collection highlights by current and former Guggenheim curators and conservators illuminate the artists' stylistic innovations as they sought to liberate art from academic genres and techniques. The book also features extensive technical analyses, offering rare insight into the artists' materials and processes based on the latest advances in conservation technology. A lead essay by Megan Fontanella recounts the genesis of Thannhauser's collection and its eventual transfer to the Guggenheim Museum. Tracing his ambitious career as gallerist and collector in Europe during the interwar years and into the calamity of World War II, she explores how Thannhauser's lifelong support for experimental art and eye for original talent helped define the modernist vanguard of 20th-century art.
Megan Fontanella is Curator of Modern Art and Provenance at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Julie Barten is Senior Conservator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Susan Davidson is Senior Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
John K. Delaney is Senior Imaging Scientist at the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Lidia Ferrara is an MA Candidate at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Vivien Greene is Senior Curator of 19th- and Early 20th-Century Art at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Sasha Kalter-Wasserman is Associate Curator and Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, Abu Dhabi Project at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Natalia Lauricella is a PhD Candidate at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Gillian McMillan is Associate Chief Conservator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Nathan Otterson is Senior Conservator of Objects at Guggenheim Museum.
Federica Pozzi is Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Scientific Research at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Samantha Small is a PhD candidate at the Graduate Center, City University of New York.
Lena Stringari is Deputy Director and Chief Conservator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Jeffrey Warda is Senior Conservator of Paper and Photographs at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Jeffrey Weiss is Senior Curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
