Sonderbund-exhibition

From 25 May to 30 September 1912, the Internationale Kunstausstellung des Sonderbundes Westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler takes place at the Städtische Ausstellungshalle in Cologne. Anton, who is staying in the city on a business trip, is so enthusiastic about the exhibition that he asks Helene to come to Cologne with Bremmer.

Of the four ‘Sonderbund-exhibitions’, the last one in 1912 is the most ambitious and controversial. In addition to the work of German artists from that time, it includes a lot of art from France and other countries, from private collectors and art dealers. The exhibition offers a spectacular overview of early modern art, with masterpieces by Braque, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Kandinsky, Macke, Munch, Picasso, Seurat and Signac.

Also new is the total concept for the exhibition developed by designer Fritz Helmuth Ehmcke, which involves not only the installation with white walls and black dividing lines, but also the catalogue and all other printed matter.

A striking feature of this edition is the large number of works by Vincent van Gogh: a total of 125 paintings and drawings, distributed over five rooms. This makes the Sonderbund-exhibition the first major Van Gogh presentation in Germany and contributes greatly to the interest in and appreciation of his oeuvre. The main lenders of Van Gogh works are Anton and Helene themselves, with 25 paintings and 13 drawings.

Anton and Helene also visit the exhibition to purchase work. Bremmer feasts his eyes. Helene writes to Sam that he was ‘running around here and there […] to discover something’. Still, Helene had hoped that he could tell her more about the works during their visit, because she is reluctant to make discoveries on her own that would lead to an acquisition, which she writes to Sam.

At the exhibition, the trio purchases two paintings by Van Gogh, The lover (portrait of lieutenant Milliet and Still life with plaster statuette. Both works come from the collection of Jo Van Gogh-Bonger. Helene and Anton spend an extra day at the exhibition, which results in the acquisition of the painting Roses by Auguste Herbin and the cast stone sculpture Standing female figure by Wilhelm Lehmbruck. Anton also purchases two paintings at the Sonderbund-exhibition as a gift for Helene on the occasion of their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.