Wilhelm Thony
dal 24/5/2013 al 21/9/2013
Segnalato da
24/5/2013
Wilhelm Thony
Neue Galerie, Graz
Under the Spell of Modernism. He stood aside from the international trend to abstraction, stubbornly persisting with the classic canon of the nude, the still life, portraits, landscapes and society life.
Curators: Günther Holler-Schuster, Christa Steinle
The planned research project with accompanying exhibition attempts to fill the partially large gaps in the artist’s biography; moreover, it seeks to consolidate the work, which up to now has only been presented and published in portions.
As Thöny was born in Graz, and not only spent a part of his life in the city, cultivating personal contacts here, but set in motion key cultural-political initiatives (founding the Grazer Secession in 1923), it is of particular importance for the Neue Galerie Graz that the research into the man and artist that was Wilhelm Thöny be made as up to date as possible.
With this comprehensive exhibition and the catalogue raisonné that accompanies it, a long-held wish on the part of the Neue Galerie Graz and the public is finally realised, enabling an Austrian pioneer of Modernism once again to be brought closer to a wider audience.
The title of this exhibition
“Wilhel Thöny – Under the Spell
of Modernism” is a reference to
the visionary strength of an artist
who consistently developed an
oeuvre as his life’s work through a
continuous involvement with the
advanced movements in art during the first half of the 20th century, while also maintaining an
unbroken dialogue with nature.
Thöny’s art is characterised by its
modernity in form and the use of
colour. He stood aside from the
international trend to abstraction,
stubbornly persisting with the
classic canon of the nude, the
still life, portraits, landscapes and
society life.
Wilhelm Thöny was a moderate
among the artists, open to modernism but never a fighter or a
member of the avant-garde. He
sought out the middle path
among all the avant-garde movements, a course he found from the
start of his career in the Munich
Neue Secession and continued
later in Graz. “Within a period of
only twelve years I experienced
Impressionism, Cubism, Futurism,
Dadaism, Expressionism, Neo-
expressionism, Neoclassicism,
Primitivism and New Objectivity
...”, Wilhelm Thöny wrote. He was
an artist whose modernism was
urbane, but by no means revolutionary, international in character
and influence, but nevertheless
highly personal. Thöny was a
nomadic cosmopolitan, who
throughout his life lived only in
hotels, and was thus in a certain
sense homeless. As a result of
this polyglot life style he was one
of the few Austrian artists who
was to some extent familiar with
the international network of modernism and to have had direct
personal contact with it. An individualist, Wilhelm Thöny remained
a lone wolf throughout his life,
with a consistent yearning for his
hometown Graz.
Press contact:
Sabine Bergmann T: +43/316/8017-9211 F: +43/316/8017-9253 sabine.bergmann@museum-joanneum.at - presse@museum-joanneum.at
Christoph Pelzl T: +43/316/8017-9213 F: +43/316/8017-9253 christoph.pelzl@museum-joanneum.at
Opening: 23.05.2013, 7p.m.
BRUSEUM/Neue Galerie Graz
Universalmuseum Joanneum Joanneumsviertel, 8010 Graz Austria
Hours:
Tuesday–Sunday 10am–5pm
Admission
Adults € 8
Groups of 7 or more, senior citizens, people with disabilities € 6
School pupils, apprentices, students under 27, conscripts and those doing civilian service € 3
School pupils in class groups € 1.50
Family ticket (2 adults and children under 14) € 16
Children under 6 free