International Art News

Max Ernst, The Fireside Angel (The Triumph of Surrealism), 1937, Oil on canvas, 114 × 146 cm, Private collection © 2013, ProLitteris, Zurich

From may 25 to September 8, 2013 – The Fondation Beyeler
Max Ernst (1891–1976) is one of modernism’s most versatile artists. Having started out as a Dadaist in Cologne, he soon became a pioneer of Surrealism in Paris. A tireless creator of new figures, forms and techniques, Max Ernst kept on evolving in new directions even up to his late years. His remarkable oeuvre, which defies any clear stylistic definition, was also shaped by his eventful life and the many different places in which he lived in Europe and America.

The major retrospective at the Fondation Beyeler will present an exemplary selection of over 170 paintings, drawings, collages, sculptures and books by Max Ernst that encompass all aspects of his work. For the first time in Switzerland, visitors will be able to experience the full richness of Max Ernst’s multifaceted oeuvre.

Fondation Beyeler

Albrecht Dürer – Abduction on a Unicorn, 1516 – etching (iron) – Meder, no. 67- Rosenwald Collection

From March 24 to June 9, 2013 – National Gallery of Art
Master Drawings, Watercolors, and Prints from the Albertina
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) has long been considered the greatest German artist, uniquely combining the status held in Italian art by Michelangelo in the sixteenth century, by Raphael in the 18th and 19th centuries, and by Leonardo da Vinci in our own day.

While Dürer’s paintings were prized, his most influential works were his drawings, watercolors, engravings, and woodcuts. They were executed with his distinctively northern sense of refined precision and exquisite craftsmanship. The finest collection of Dürer’s drawings and watercolors is that of the Albertina in Vienna, Austria.

Albrecht Dürer – Portrait of a Clergyman (Johann Dorsch?), 1516 – oil on parchment on fabric painted surface: 41.7 x 32.7 cm (16 7/16 x 12 7/8 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection

The Albertina’s works by Dürer have been acquired over many years, but the museum’s ability to amass such a collection of masterpieces results from primary sources that go directly back to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. Dürer was his favorite artist, and the emperor spared no expense in searching for Dürer’s art. He used imperial ambassadors and the machinery of state to succeed in his purchases, among them extraordinary acquisitions from the Imhoff family in Nuremberg, whose works included Dürer’s personal estate.

This groundbreaking exhibition is a culmination of decades of acquisition, study, and exhibitions of early German art at the National Gallery of Art. It presents 91—including most—of the superb Dürer watercolors and drawings from the Albertina and 27 of the museum’s best related engravings and woodcuts. It also includes 19 closely related drawings and prints from the Gallery’s own collection.

National Gallery of Art

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890). Self-portrait with Straw Hat, 1887. Oil on cardboard. 40.8 x 32.7 cm (16 1/16 x 12 7/8 in.). © Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Until January 20, 2013 – Denver Art Museum
An in-depth exploration of Vincent van Gogh’s unconventional path to becoming one of the world’s most recognizable artists, Becoming Van Gogh examines critical steps in his artistic evolution through more than 70 paintings and drawings by Van Gogh, along with works by artists to whom he responded such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Camille Pissarro. Becoming Van Gogh brings together loans from more than 60 public and private collections throughout Europe and North America to tell the story of a number of key formative periods throughout the artist’s career.

Denver Art Museum

Edward Hopper (Nyack, 1882 - New York, 1967). Hotel Room. 1931 - Oil on canvas - 152.4 x 165.7 cm. Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid.

Until the 16th of September 2012 – Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
The exhibition Hopper is the result of a collaborative project between the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux de France. These are two particularly important institutions with regard to Edward Hopper, given that Paris and early 20th-century works of art were key reference points for the artist, while the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid houses the most important collection of his work outside the USA.

Edward Hopper, Morning Sun, 1952, huile sur toile, 71,4 x 101,9 cm, Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, Howald Fund Purchase (exposition au musée Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid)

Despite their enormous popularity and apparent accessibility, Hopper’s paintings are among the most complex phenomena within 20th-century art in the opinion of the exhibition’s two curators, Tomàs Llorens (Honorary Director of the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza) and Didier Ottinger (Associate Director of the MNAM/Centre Pompidou). In order to demonstrate this point the exhibition will be organised into two parts: a first half that covers the artist’s formative years from approximately 1900 to 1924, represented through a comprehensive selection of sketches, paintings, drawings, illustrations, prints and watercolours that will be complemented by works of artists as Winslow Homer, Robert Henri, John Sloan, Edgar Degas or Walter Sickert; a second half will cover the years 1925 onwards, that focuses on Hopper’s mature output and aims to illustrate his career in the most complete and wide-ranging manner possible. In order to do so, this section combines thematic groupings (recurring motifs and subjects in Hopper’s works) with an overall chronological ordering.

Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza

Modigliani - Grand Nu allongé

From May 17 to July 15, 2012 – Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand
“Modigliani: A Life in Pictures” brings to Brazil the first time 37 original works, including paintings, drawings and sculptures, 22 works of friends, including a picture of Picasso and about 200 pieces of manuscripts, diaries, letters and photographs that trace a panorama of the artist’s life and their counterparts in Paris of the early twentieth century. A work of the MASP collection also includes the show in Sao Paulo. The exhibition is part of the Italy-Brazil Moment and it’s arrived in the country through a partnership of the Modigliani Institut Archives Légales Paris-Rome with the MCA (Museum to open sky).
Another highlight is the 22 works produced by women and friends of Modigliani, which help to contextualize the fruitful period lived by the artist. Three oils of Jeanne Hébuterne his wife, a picture of Picasso, another of Foujita, paintings for four hands with Moise Kisling, and pieces by Marevna, Jacob and others…

Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand

Image © The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust

From June 7, 2012 to September 2, 2012 – Norton Museum of Art
Edward Gorey (1925-2000) is among the rare breed of artist whose work is as much beloved by children as it is by adults. His stories and illustrations carry an Edwardian sophistication while still able to impart the whimsy of an invented world that was all his own. The exhibition features more than 170 works by the master artist and author drawn from The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust. The exhibition includes selections from The Gashlycrumb Tinies, The Unstrung Harp, The Doubtful Guest, The Gilded Bat and other well-known publications. Featured are original pen-and-ink illustrations, preparatory sketches, unpublished drawings, and ephemera.

Norton Museum