Michael Werner Makes Major Gift to Paris

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• Publié par: musee-de-la-ville-de-paris
• Nombre de lectures: 16
• Langue: English

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Michael Werner Makes Major Gift to Paris

PR Newswire

PARIS, June 4, 2012

PARIS,

June 4, 2012

/PRNewswire/ --

The legendary art dealer and collector, Michael Werner has made a major gift

of 130 works from his collection to the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.

To mark this exceptional gift, an exhibition of works from the collection will go

on show at the museum from

5 October 2012

-

3 March 2013

.

Michael Werner's donation includes works by Marcel Broodthaers, James Lee

Byars, Gaston Chaissac, André Derain, Otto Freundlich, Étienne-Martin, Robert

Filliou, Antonius Höckelmann, Jörg Immendorff, Per Kirkeby, Wilhelm

Lehmbruck, Markus Lüpertz, A.R. Penck, Bernard Réquichot, Niele Toroni and

Don Van Vliet.

The gift consists of a number of works by the artists Michael Werner has

represented through the years, as well as a group of modern works by artists

such as Lehmbruck, Freundlich, Derain and others. The selection for the

donation was, for the most part, made by the museum's director, Fabrice

Hergott who made a list of the artists and pieces he felt were crucial to the

museum.

Represented by galleries in

Berlin

,

Cologne

,

New York

, and also in

London

in the

autumn, Michael Werner is one of the most influential gallerists in the world and

has worked with some of the leading artists of the 20th century. Through his

support for artists such as Georg Baselitz, Markus Lüpertz, Jörg Immendorff and

Sigmar Polke, he has helped to bring international acclaim to German post-war

art. Developed since the 60s, his collection documents his activities over a

period of 50 years.

A self-described "conservative anarchist," Michael Werner opened his first

gallery, Werner and Katz, in

Berlin

in 1963 with the first exhibition of paintings

by Georg Baselitz. He opened his gallery in

Cologne

in 1967 and in

New York

in

1990. Werner discovered and has nurtured some of the most significant post-

war artists throughout their careers including Georg Baselitz, Marcel

Broodthaers, James Lee Byars, Jörg Immendorff, Markus Lüpertz, Per Kirkeby

A.R. Penck, and Sigmar Polke. -

His single minded vision of continuously championing the same artists over fifty

years sets him apart from his contemporaries and makes him a unique figure in

the art world. Werner's uniqueness is furthered by the breadth of his art

historical interests which extend well beyond the artists whose careers he

started to include Jean Arp, Jean Fautrier, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Yves Klein,

Piero Manzoni, Francis Picabia, Kurt Schwitters, all of whose work he has shown

at the gallery. - In addition to his already diverse interests as a gallerist, as a

collector Werner's collection includes African tribal art, eighteenth century

German and French furniture, Khmer Art, and old Master Drawings.

Talking about his donation, Michael Werner has said: ""It is basically a

sentimental choice. It was a visit to this museum very early on in my career

that profoundly changed my understanding of and relationship to art. In 1962

Georg Baselitz and I travelled to Paris to see an exhibition of Jean Fautrier at

the museum and it had a serious emotional impact on me. The exhibition was

full of strange and extraordinary paintings and the atmosphere of the show was

all encompassing and I was very moved. -Although I had been working in a

gallery for a few years at that point, I had not really been touched by art in a

profound sense. The effect of this exhibition constituted my real entrance into

the art world and it defined my way. I am not a religious man but it was like a

religious conversion."

Fabrice Hergott, Director of Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville, said: "Michael

Werner's Gift represents the most significant enrichment of the Museum's

collection since the bequest made by Dr Maurice Girardin in 1953, which led to

the creation of the Institution".

Michael Werner will open a new gallery in

London

in

October 2012

with new

work by Peter Doig

Press Enquiries:

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