Living with Matisse, Picasso and Christo: Theodor Ahrenberg and His Collections - Softcover

Monte Packham

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0500970602 ISBN 13: 9780500970607

Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2018

Synopsis

The first monograph on one of the most ambitious and idiosyncratic collections of 20th-century art, and its charismatic creator, Theodor Ahrenberg

Living with Matisse, Picasso, and Christo explores one of the most ambitious and idiosyncratic – yet largely unknown – private collections of 20th-century Western art, and its complex, charismatic creator Theodor ‘Teto’ Ahrenberg (1912–89). Containing over 6,000 artworks, the collection featured key works by artists as distinguished and diverse as Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Le Corbusier, Olle Bærtling, Sam Francis, Öyvind Fahlström, Tadeusz Kantor, Lucio Fontana, Christo, Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle.

Ahrenberg’s ever-renewing collection was shaped by his commitment to contemporary art, his intuition, his dedication to young and marginalized artists, and a self-declared conviction that he was not merely a collector but a ‘catalyst’ – one who facilitated exhibitions, collaborations and commissions, and who employed art as an instrument against conservatism and complacency. Ahrenberg passionately believed in meeting those artists whose works he acquired, and he accordingly established rich, long-term friendships that transcended the conventional artist-collector dynamic.

Living with Matisse, Picasso, and Christo, the first monograph on Ahrenberg’s fascinating collection and life, draws on a wealth of personal correspondence between Ahrenberg and ‘his’ artists, and presents much previously unpublished visual material including artworks, photographs and architectural plans.

About this title

About the Author

Monte Packham is a writer and photographer based in Munich and the author of ABC Photography. Carrie Pilto is an independent curator and writer based in Amsterdam. Her most recent exhibitions and writings include Enrico Baj: Play as Protest, Cobra Museum for Modern Art (2017) and the forthcoming The First Million is the Hardest to Earn at the Museum Van Loon.

From the Back Cover

Living with Matisse, Picasso, and Christo explores one of the most ambitious and idiosyncratic - yet largely unknown - private collections of 20th-century Western art, and its complex, charismatic creator Theodor 'Teto' Ahrenberg (1912-89). Containing over 6,000 artworks acquired between the late 1940s and late 1980s, the collection featured, throughout its dramatic existence, key works by artists as distinguished and diverse as Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Le Corbusier, Olle Bærtling, Sam Francis, Öyvind Fahlström, Tadeusz Kantor, Lucio Fontana, Christo, Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle.

Ahrenberg's ever-renewing collection was shaped by his commitment to the changing notion of contemporary art, his dedication to young and marginalized artists, his intuition, and a self-declared conviction that he was not merely a collector but a 'catalyst' - one who facilitated exhibitions, collaborations and commissions, and who employed art as an instrument against conservatism and complacency. Ahrenberg passionately believed in personally meeting those artists whose works he acquired, and he accordingly established rich, long-term friendships that transcended the conventional artist-collector dynamic.

Living with Matisse, Picasso, and Christo, the first monograph on Ahrenberg's fascinating collection and life, draws on a wealth of personal correspondence between Ahrenberg and 'his' artists, and presents much previously unpublished visual material including artworks, photographs and architectural plans

Edition details

• Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500970602
• ISBN 13: 9780500970607
• Binding: Flexibound
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 372
• Editor: Carrie Pilto