joseph scissorhands: Heinz Berggruen: A Dealer and His Collection

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) - Nu Bleu, Sauteuse de Corde, 1952

It has to have been about 17 years since my last visit to Musée de l’Orangerie despite having gone to Paris nearly every year since. A visit to this exhibition was the main reason for my trip to the French capital this autumn. I saw it as a rare chance to view an important collection of 20th C. art exhibited outside of its usual home - the Berggruen Museum in Berlin. Like that of the Shchukin Collection normally based in Russia which I also saw in Paris in 2017 (here), the Berggruen is a collection amassed by German dealer-collector Heinz Berggruen (1924-2007), and has travelled to Musée de l'Orangerie because of the 2022 closure of the Berggruen Museum for extensive renovations. Berlin's loss is Paris' gain though for a season. There are certain parallels between Shchukin and Berggruen and the nature of their collecting. Both of course were led by their own personal tastes in art, and seem to fall into those categories of collecting whereby they collected for the pure joy of having things they love surrounding them daily, and also for investment purposes where both would trade paintings to enrich or enhance their collections. Shchukin and Berggruen also cultivated the company and friendships of certain artists (Matisse for Shchukin, and Picasso for Breggruen). They used these friendships as an entrée into a social world where they would meet and learn from other collectors such as Gertrude Stein and her brothers. Heinz Berggruen had an interesting life, born in Berlin then emigrating to the US where he started out as an art critic before joining the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It was whilst here that he bought his first work of art - a watercolour by Paul Klee for $100. Klee's art would fascinate Berggruen for the rest of his life. After the War Berggruen moved back to Europe and eventually moved to Paris where he opened a small bookshop specialising in illustrated books and lithographs. Here he met many artists, poets, collectors, and critics and was introduced to Pablo Picasso. He then began to sell the artist's prints and paintings. Having opened a gallery, Berggruen became an important dealer in art "becoming his own best client" amassing an exceptionally important personal collection specific to his personal tastes, which includes 165 works by the likes of Braque, Giacometti, Matisse and Klee, as well as 85 pieces by Picasso. The whole collection has been valued at $450 million. Berggruen retired from his gallery business in 1980 and concentrated on expanding his own collection. The selection of artworks consisting of paintings and sculpture exhibited here, although representing a fraction of the Berggruen collection, was much bigger in scope than I expected. It was an embarrassment of riches, and almost overwhelming in its breadth. There was a wealth of top quality pieces by the likes of Picasso and Braque in their Cubist phases and beyond, sculptural figures by Giacometti, cut paper collages by Matisse and an abundance of colourful watercolours by Klee. I usually make a note of the names of the artwork to caption the pictures for the blog but the sheer weight of the crowds in the gallery spaces at the end of a busy day made this too arduous a task, so please just enjoy the pictures below.

The following are just a few selected Modigliani paintings from the Musée de l’Orangerie's permanent collection which perfectly complemented the temporary Heinz Berggruen collection.

Having viewed the permanent collection I then went up to see Monet's stunning Waterlily series of paintings - Les Nymphéas. These paintings were executed between 1916 and 1926 and left as a gift for the French nation as a symbol of peace at the end of World War I. The galleries housing Les Nymphéas are intended to provide "a peaceful meditation" in the heart of the city in accordance with Monet's wishes. The paintings are just overwhelmingly atmospheric and immersive in scale, the galleries housing them are so calming and serene. Experiencing this space and amazing artworks was the perfect end to my visit to the Musée de l’Orangerie.