Thomas F. Schneider

From the press release: The famous 20th century German author Erich Maria Remarque was an art collector! This fact is almost unknown to the public and has been neglected by researchers so far. This book on Remarque as an art collector opens new perspectives for studies in the fields of literature, art and history. Remarque's contacts in Switzerland and in America, especially New York, read like a Who's Who? of the art scene. Remarque's collections could be seen as permanent loans, for example at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Kunsthaus Zurich. Thus, his time in exile comes to new light. Two chapters of the book deal in particular with Remarque's time spent in the United States. Remarque mainly collected paintings by French 19th century artists. His particular love belonged to Cezanne and Degas. One of the first paintings he bought was Van Gogh's The Railway Underpass at Arles. He was no special friend of contemporary art, yet he possessed a few modern drawings by Henri Matisse, Paul Klee and Pablo Picasso. Amongst about 150 paintings, Remarque's art collection also contained ancient and Asian carpets, Roman, Greek and Egyptian objects of art as well as rococo furniture. Some works of art from Remarque's collection are listed for the first time in this volume, and a reproduction of Cezanne's watercolor Jeunes arbres devant un mur is reproduced in color for the first time. English summary: After the success of his novel "All Quiet on the Western Front," Erich Maria Remarque began collecting art and became the owner of a remarkable collection. During his American Exile, he was able to expand his collection even further. Among the paintings were known impressionists such as Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh, Renoir, and Daumier. Following Remarque's death in 1970, the collection was gradually sold and remains scattered around the world. The articles in this anthology deal with the collection itself and core questions about art and art trade in exile. At the same time, they add a profound contribution to today's Remarque-research. The anthology collects articles written in German and English. German description: Dieses Buch dokumentiert die eindrucksvolle Gemaldesammlung, die sich Erich Maria Remarque nach dem Erfolg von Im Westen nichts Neues aufgebaut hatte und dann im amerikanischen Exil erweiterte. Darunter sind bedeutende Gemalde fuhrender vorrangig franzosischer Impressionisten wie Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh, Renoir und Daumier. Nach dem Tode Remarques 1970 wurde die Sammlung sukzessive veraussert und in alle Welt zerstreut. Die Beitrage setzen sich vertiefend mit der Kunstsammlung und zentralen Fragen nach Kunst und Kunsthandel im Exil sowie deren Bedeutung im Fall Erich Maria Remarques auseinander. Mit der Dokumentation und der Kontextualisierung dieser bedeutenden Sammlung leistet das Buch einen gewichtigen Beitrag zur Remarque-Forschung.

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