Hilla von Rebay
Encyclopedia
Hildegard Anna Augusta Elizabeth Freiin Rebay von Ehrenwiesen, Baroness Hilla von Rebay, or simply Hilla Rebay (31 May 1890, Strasbourg
, Alsace-Lorraine
– 27 September 1967, Greens Farms, Connecticut), was a notable woman abstract
painter in the early 20th century. After immigrating to the United States in 1927, she may be best known for helping Solomon R. Guggenheim
collect the art that formed the basis of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
, and for selecting Frank Lloyd Wright
to design the new museum, which became a modernist
icon in New York. She achieved recognition for abstract works and modern styles such as collage and biogmorphic linear oil paintings. Rebay is remembered for being a key person in first exposing the American public to avant-garde art.
family in Strasbourg
, Alsace-Lorraine
, then part of Prussia
. She studied and lived in Berlin, where she started painting and working as an artist.
, and helped guide his purchases. He became a major art philanthropist and founded a museum in his name.
She helped him buy various artworks to establish the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
in New York City, and he appointed her to its board of directors. Von Rebay chose the noted architect Frank Lloyd Wright
to design the museum.
Von Rebay was acknowledged to have excellent taste in modern art
. She continued to paint and achieved some recognition for her abstract works. Although she was long a confidante to Solomon Guggenheim, others in the family found her personally difficult, especially his niece Peggy
. After Guggenheim died, the family expelled her from the board of directors.
When the museum was completed, von Rebay was not invited for the opening. She never set foot in the museum she helped create.
Embittered, von Rebay retreated from public life and spend many years at her estate in Westport, Connecticut
. She continued to meet many artists, including Wassily Kandinsky
and Marc Chagall
.
After her death in 1967, she was buried according to her wishes in her family grave in Teningen
, Germany.
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, Alsace-Lorraine
Alsace-Lorraine
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
– 27 September 1967, Greens Farms, Connecticut), was a notable woman abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
painter in the early 20th century. After immigrating to the United States in 1927, she may be best known for helping Solomon R. Guggenheim
Solomon R. Guggenheim
Solomon Robert Guggenheim was an American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist.-Biography:He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, son of Meyer Guggenheim and brother of Simon, Benjamin, Daniel and four other siblings.Following studies in Switzerland at the Concordia Institute in...
collect the art that formed the basis of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
, and for selecting Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
to design the new museum, which became a modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
icon in New York. She achieved recognition for abstract works and modern styles such as collage and biogmorphic linear oil paintings. Rebay is remembered for being a key person in first exposing the American public to avant-garde art.
Early life and education
Hilla von Rebay was born in 1890 into a German aristocraticNobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
family in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, Alsace-Lorraine
Alsace-Lorraine
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
, then part of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
. She studied and lived in Berlin, where she started painting and working as an artist.
Career
In 1927, von Rebay immigrated to the United States and settled in New York, which was a center of arts and culture. An avid art collector, she became a friend and confidante of Solomon R. GuggenheimSolomon R. Guggenheim
Solomon Robert Guggenheim was an American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist.-Biography:He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, son of Meyer Guggenheim and brother of Simon, Benjamin, Daniel and four other siblings.Following studies in Switzerland at the Concordia Institute in...
, and helped guide his purchases. He became a major art philanthropist and founded a museum in his name.
She helped him buy various artworks to establish the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
in New York City, and he appointed her to its board of directors. Von Rebay chose the noted architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
to design the museum.
Von Rebay was acknowledged to have excellent taste in modern art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
. She continued to paint and achieved some recognition for her abstract works. Although she was long a confidante to Solomon Guggenheim, others in the family found her personally difficult, especially his niece Peggy
Peggy Guggenheim
Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim was an American art collector. Born to a wealthy New York City family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with the Titanic in 1912 and the niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who would establish the Solomon R...
. After Guggenheim died, the family expelled her from the board of directors.
When the museum was completed, von Rebay was not invited for the opening. She never set foot in the museum she helped create.
Embittered, von Rebay retreated from public life and spend many years at her estate in Westport, Connecticut
Westport, Connecticut
-Neighborhoods:* Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices....
. She continued to meet many artists, including Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely-abstract works. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics...
and Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
.
After her death in 1967, she was buried according to her wishes in her family grave in Teningen
Teningen
Teningen is a municipality in the district of Emmendingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Elz, 15 km north of Freiburg....
, Germany.
Legacy and honors
- 2004, the German documentary filmmaker Sigrid Faltin made the film The Guggenheim and the Baroness: The Story of Hilla Rebay.
- In 2005, a companion book Die Baroness und das Guggenheim Hilla von Rebay – Eine Deutsche Künstlerin in New York was published.
- In 2005, nearly forty years after her death, the Guggenheim Museum honored von Rebay with a special exhibition on her role in the foundation, and her art. It opened in New York and traveled to Europe. Part of the exhibition was devoted to von Rebay's intricate collage portraits, as well as her abstract art.
- The Hilla von Rebay Foundation was established in her name at the Guggenheim Museum. It offers stipendStipendA stipend is a form of salary, such as for an internship or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from a wage or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work performed, instead it represents a payment that enables somebody to be exempt partly or wholly from waged or salaried...
s to summer interns who are currently enrolled graduate students.
Further reading
- Joan M. Lukach, Hilla Rebay – In the Search of the Spirit in Art, New York: George Braziller, 1983
External links
- Guggenheim Museum | Hilla von Rebay collection
- Smithsonian Archives | Interview with Hilla von Rebay
- ORF | Hilla von Rebay
- The Guggenheim and the Baroness: The Story of Hilla Rebay, Documentary film website.
- Hilla von Rebay, Memorial website, TeningenTeningenTeningen is a municipality in the district of Emmendingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Elz, 15 km north of Freiburg....