Florine Stettheimer at the Lenbachhaus Kunstbau in Munich

The Lenbachhaus Kunstbau in Munich, Germany, is hosting the first international exhibition dedicated to the paintings and theatrical designs of Florine Stettheimer (1871-1944), from September 27, 2014, to January 4, 2015. Although her work has been exhibited posthumously in New York City in three different monographic exhibitions (Museum of Modern Art in 1946, Columbia University in the City of New York in 1973, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1995), this current exhibition will be the first time Stettheimer has been shown outside the United States. A bilingual catalogue has been published to accompany the exhibition.

The Lenbachhaus in Munich is renowned internationally for its collection of works by The Blue Rider artists, an important modernist group active in Munich.  In an effort to introduce European audiences to alternative approaches of modernism, the Lenbachhaus will showcase Stettheimer as one of a series of artists who developed their own distinctive visual languages and pioneered new approaches to art. The city of Munich is also an appropriate venue for this exhibition, as Stettheimer lived her for a few years with her sisters and mother before they were forced to return to New York with the outbreak of World War I.

Columbia University in the City of New York is a major lender to this exhibition. The University holds the largest collection of Stettheimer’s works, including more than 60 paintings, drawings, and decorative arts in Art Properties, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library.  The Stettheimer holdings in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library include sketchbooks, archival  papers, stage props and costumed maquettes.  The Stettheimer collection was a bequest to Columbia’s collections in 1967 from the estate of her sister Ettie, a graduate of Barnard College.

To read more about the exhibition, go to the Lenbachhaus's website. To learn more about Columbia's participation in the exhibition, read this press release.