Hilla von Rebay

Hildegard Anna Augusta Elizabeth Freiin[1] 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.[1]

Contents

Early life and education

Hilla von Rebay was born in 1890 into a German aristocratic family in Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine, then part of Prussia. 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. Guggenheim, 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.[2]

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, Rudolf Steiner and Marc Chagall.

After her death in 1967, she was buried according to her wishes in her family grave in Teningen, Germany.

Legacy and honors

Notes

  1. ^ Regarding personal names: Freiin was a title, translated as Baroness, not a first or middle name. The title is for the unmarried daughters of a Freiherr. In Germany, however, since 1919 Freiin/Baroness/Freiherr are no titles any more but part of the surname, thus following the given name(s) and not to be translated.

See also

References

  1. ^ Hilla von Rebay at AskArt.com)
  2. ^ Sudjic, Deyan, The Edifice Complex
  3. ^ The Guggenheim and the Baroness: The Story of Hilla Rebay
  4. ^ Die Baroness und das Guggenheim Hilla von Rebay – Eine Deutsche Künstlerin in New York

Further reading

External links