One of the highlights of a visit to the Guggenheim Museum is the Thannhauser Collection, which is on permanent display at the second floor of the museum.
The paintings and artworks on display at the Thannhauser Collection are from collector and art dealer Justin K. Thannhauser (1892 to 1976).
Thannhauser Collection: Who Is Thannhauser?
Justin Thannhauser was an art collector and art dealer originally from Munich, Germany.
From the 1910s, he worked together with his father, Heinrich Thannhauser (1859 to 1935) at his Moderne Galerie.
Together, father and son built up a dynamic exhibition program that featured the French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, as well as contemporary German artists.
The Moderne Galerie became an important location for experimental art.
Some of the key milestones at the gallery included the premiere exhibition of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) in 1911 to 12 and one of the first Picasso shows in Germany in 1913.
Justin Thannhauser successfully expanded the gallery network to Lucerne and Berlin. He also staged exhibitions of the works of Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, and Claude Monet.
Unfortunately, those were tumultuous times and the Nazi government in Germany was against avant-garde art.
Justin Thannhauser first relocated both his business and family to Paris but eventually settled in New York in 1941 to escape persecution as he was a Jew.\
Thannhauser and the Guggenheim Museum
Thannhauser’s ethos of promoting innovative European art and the advancement of the early careers of modern artists aligned with the vision of the Guggenheim Museum’s founder, Solomon R. Guggenheim.
In 1963, Justin Thannhauser announced in 1963 a gift of core works from his private collection to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in recognition of this shared spirit, and in memory of his first wife and two sons. This was just a few years after the new Frank Lloyd Wright–designed building had been unveiled.
Thannhauser’s widow, Hilde Thannhauser (1919 to 1991) later made additional gifts of art to the museum.
Thannhauser’s gift introduced works by European artists as paintings by Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Édouard Manet, Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh and Édouard Vuillard and Edgar Degas.
Thannahauser was a personal friend of Pablo Picasso and this resulted in more than thirty Picassos to the Guggenheim.
The various art works showcase late 19th century and early 20th century art, an especially critical period for art in France. This saw the growth of modernism where artists aimed to liberate art from academic genres and introduce more contemporary subject matters and materials.
Art at the Thannhauser Collection
Woman with Parakeet
Amongst the art on display at the Thannhauser Collection is Woman with Parakeet by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1871). This painting features a woman who looks to be at home with her pet. However, audiences at that time would have recognised the woman as a courtesan by her rich clothing.
Mountains at Saint-Rémy
Another must-see painting at the Thannhauser Collection is Mountains at Saint-Rémy (1889) by Vincent van Gogh.
This was painted when Van Gogh was at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in the southern French town of Saint-Rémy, recovering from an episode of mental illness.
The painting show the Alpilles, a low range of mountains visible from the hospital grounds. The painting shows off the heavy impasto and broad brushstrokes that are a signature of of his work.
Before the Mirror
Edouard Manet’s painting presents an intimate scene of a courtesan painted in a modern style. The free and loose brushstrokes are perfectly suited to the subject matter, as we steal a glance into her private world.
Dancers in Green and Yellow
Edgar Degas’ Dancers in Green and Yellow (1903) captures the spirit of Paris in the late 19th century. Rather than depicting the dancers at their stage best, this shows them backstage as they prepare for a performance, providing an intimate look at this back-of-house scene.
The Hermitage at Pontoise
This is the oldest work in the Guggenheim’s permanent collection. Painted by Camille Pissarro in 1867, it is an atmospheric look at a pastoral scene, something that was at that time considered direct and vulgar at that time.
There are plenty of other art and painting to view at the Thannhauser Collection at the Guggenheim Museum. To get a good appreciation of them, you can also download the audio guide, part of the Bloomberg Connects app.
You may also find it useful to read this guide on what there is to see and do at the Guggenheim Museum.
