30 January 2008 – 25 May 2008

Collecting Images [06]

Heinrich Thannhauser (1859–1935) was born in a small southern German village and came to Munich as a boy. He worked as a merchant before becoming a partner in an art gallery. In 1909, Thannhauser established his own gallery in the Arco Palais at Theatinerstrasse 7. With its large atrium and high ceilings, the Moderne Galerie became famous for the “most beautiful exhibition spaces in Munich.”

Thannhauser organized or hosted—often in cooperation with colleagues in Germany and France—an array of groundbreaking exhibitions of modern and avant-garde art, including the French Impressionists and post-Impressionists, the first Blaue Reiter exhibition, the Italian Futurists, and the first Picasso retrospective. Thannhauser was an agent for the exchange of ideas and the nurturing of a cosmopolitan modernism in Munich: he presented to the public the best of international and German art and provided a platform for young artists to show their work. The exhibition catalogues, which featured scholarly texts by leading art historians and critics, reflect the gallery’s commitment to educating the public about modern art.

Thannhauser’s public-relations savvy can be seen in the posters that advertised exhibitions and in the flyers and lavish catalogues with which he publicized his inventory. His integrity was expressed in the motto “Supreme business principle of the Moderne Galerie: reasonable prices, identical for everyone, and strictly nonnegotiable.”

In response to deteriorating conditions of the late 1920s— which included greater conservatism in artistic tastes and growing anti-Semitism—Heinrich’s son, Justin K. Thannhauser (1892–1976), closed the Munich gallery and shifted the base of operations to Berlin. With the Nazi ascent to power, Justin moved to Paris and eventually to New York, where he ran a private gallery from his home. The family name lives on in the Thannhauser Wing of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, to which Justin bequeathed his collection.

Curator: Emily D. Bilski
Curatorial Assistance: Juliette Israël

Address

Jewish Museum Munich
St.-Jakobs-Platz 16
80331 Munich
phone +49-89-233-96096
http://www.juedisches-museum.muenchen.de/

Opening Hours

Tuesday-Sunday
10 am-6 pm

Within 10 days
starting exhibitions
ending exhibitions