Florence Henri
dal 19/3/2014 al 13/9/2014
Segnalato da
19/3/2014
Florence Henri
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
Compositions. The exhibition comprises some 65 photographs, including the portfolio published in 1974, as well as documents and historical publications from the holdings of the Ann and Jurgen Wilde Foundation. The emphasis in the exhibition has been placed on the artist's compositions using mirrors and her photo-montages.
curated by Simone Förster
The photographs and photo-montages of Florence Henri (1893–1982)
attest to her broad artistic education and an unusual openness for new
currents in the art of the time.
The artist, who had studied the piano under Ferruccio Busoni in Rome
and painting in Paris under Fernand Léger, in Berlin under Johann
Walter-Kurau and in Munich under Hans Hofmann, spent a brief
semester as a guest at the Bauhaus in Dessau in 1927.
Although photography was not part of the curriculum at the Bauhaus at
this time, lecturers such as László Moholy-Nagy and Georg Muche, as
well as pupils including Walter Funkat and Edmund Collein experimented
intensively with this medium. It was here that Florence Henri gained the
inspiration to become a photographer herself.
That same year she returned to Paris, stopped painting and devoted
herself thoroughly to photography. She created extensive series of still
lifes and portrait and self-portrait compositions, in which the artist
divided up the pictorial space using mirrors and reflective spheres,
expanding it structurally. The fragmented images created this way point
to the inspiration Florence Henri gained from Cubist and Constructivist
pictorial concepts.
Through her experimental photography Florence Henri swiftly became a
highly respected exponent of modern photography and participated in
numerous international shows such as the trailblazing Werkbund
exhibition ‘Film und Foto’ in 1929. After World War II, however, the artist
no longer pursued her photographic interest with the same intensity as
before, devoting herself instead almost exclusively to painting. This most
certainly also contributed to her photographs largely falling into oblivion
after 1945.
The emphasis in the exhibition ‘Florence Henri. Compositions’ in the
Pinakothek der Moderne has been placed on the artist’s compositions
using mirrors and her photo-montages, It comprises some 65
photographs, including the portfolio published in 1974, as well as
documents and historical publications from the holdings of the Ann and
Jürgen Wilde Foundation.As such, Ann and Jürgen Wilde significantly contributed towards the
rediscovery of this exceptional artist’s work. Her photographic œuvre now
has a permanent place within the art of the avant-garde.
The exhibition and accompanying magazine do not only bring the
important work of a keen experimental photographer to the focus of
public attention, but also offer an insight into the high-quality collection
that Ann and Jürgen Wilde have assembled over the past forty years, as a
result of their extensive research and tireless commitment to Florence
Henri.
The magazine, that includes an interview with Ann and Jürgen Wilde and
a list of works by Florene Henri, among other contributions, is the second
in a series of publications that began with ‘Die neue Wirklichkeit’ in 2011
and which, over the years to come, will focus on other exceptional
holdings from the Foundation.
Image: Florence Henri, Self Portrait, 1928. Stiftung Ann und Jürgen Wilde, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
Tine Nehler M.A.
Leitung Presse & Kommunikation | Head of Press Department
Pinakotheken im Kunstareal | Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
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e-mail: presse@pinakothek.de
Press conference: 19.03.2014, 11.00
Opening: 20.03.2014, 19.00
Pinakothek der Moderne
Barer Strasse 40 - Munich
Hours: daily except mon 10am-6pm, thu 10am-8pm
Admission: regular 10 euro, reduced 7 euro