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Fondation Beyeler Presents Constantin Brancusi and Richard Serra Exhibition

The Fondation Beyeler is devoting its large summer exhibition to the art of Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) and Richard Serra (b. 1939), two of the most important sculptors of the twentieth century. Exhibition open May 22 to August 21, 2011.


Fondation Beyeler in autumn 2010, Photo: Mark Niedermann © FONDATION BEYELER 2010, SWITZERLAND

Brancusi, born in Romania and a resident of Paris from 1904 onwards, reduced forms to the essentials and thus set the cornerstone for abstract sculpture. The American artist Serra redefined the effects of sculpture by means of minimalistic steel pieces which draw the viewer directly into the work. The phenomenon and presence of sculptural form in space are his prime theme. Taken together, the oeuvres of these two pioneers of European and American sculpture cover the period of over one hundred years in which modern sculpture developed.

The essential aspects of Brancusi’s work are illuminated by about 40 exemplary pieces, arranged in the exhibition in various thematic groupings. Among the ensembles of works on view are different variants of the monolithic piece The Kiss, the poetic Children’s Heads, Sleeping Muses, female torsos, and the renowned Birds in Space, as well as the scandal-triggering Princess X, Adam and Eve, or the iconic Endless Column. Also, a photo cabinet contains a selection of twenty original photographs that provide insight into Brancusi’s own personal view of his art.

The crucial recognition of an ideal presence in space, the question as to the essence of sculpture, is approached in a different if not less compelling way in ten sculptural works from different phases of Serra’s oeuvre. In addition, a new series of works on paper is on display. The selection of works, again arranged retrospectively, extends from Serra’s early pieces in rubber and lead, such as the Belts, 1966-67, and Lead Props, as well as his characteristic steel sculpture Strike: To Roberta and Rudy 1969-71 and Delineator (1974/75). The “curved piece” Olson, 1986, opens up another facet of Serra’s work. Fernando Pessoa’s, 2007-08, radical reduction stands for developments of recent years and simultaneously delineates an arc back to earlier works like Strike.

Brancusi’s sculptural work is on view for the first time in Switzerland in retrospective form. Nor has Serra’s oeuvre previously been represented here so extensively.

The loans to the exhibition stem from renowned private collections and public museums, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; the Tate, London; the Musée National d’Art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the Muzeul de Artǎ, Craiova; the Hamburger Kunsthalle; the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart; the Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg; the Kunstmuseum Basel, and the Kunsthaus Zurich.

Curated by Oliver Wick, the Fondation Beyeler exhibition was conceived in collaboration with the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, which is foreseen as the next venue (October 10, 2011 – April 15, 2012).

The exhibition is accompanied by an abundantly illustrated scholarly catalogue, published in separate German, English and Spanish editions by Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern. It contains essays by Oliver Wick, Friedrich Teja Bach, Alfred Pacquement, and Jacqueline Matisse Monnier, and commentaries by Raphaël Bouvier, Denise Ellenberger, Alexandra Parigoris, Ileana Parvu, Marielle Tabart, Michelle White, and Jon Wood, and biographies of the two artists. 244 pages, 176 illustrations, CHF 68, ISBN 978-3-905632-89-7.

Richard Serra is represented by three outdoor sculptures in Basel and environs: Open Field Vertical / Horizontal Elevations at Wenken Park in Riehen/Basel, installed in 1980 in the context of “Sculpture in the 20th Century,” co-organized by Ernst Beyeler; the steel sculpture Intersection, installed in 1992 on Theaterplatz in Basel city center; and Dirk’s Pod, a steel piece unveiled in 2004 on the Novartis Campus, Basel.

Fondation Beyeler opening hours: 10 am – 6 pm daily, Wednesdays to 8 pm

FONDATION BEYELER
Baselstrasse 101
CH-4125 Riehen / Basel
Switzerland
Phone +41 – (0)61 – 645 97 00
Fax +41 – (0)61 – 645 97 19
Email: [email protected]
www.fondationbeyeler.ch

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