#ileana sonnabend

[gregdotorg]

have you seen me?

Jasper Johns, Figure 4, 1959, 9 x 6 inches, encaustic and collage on canvas, P68 in the catalogue raisonné, lost, perhaps in the post-divorce shuffle between Leo Castelli and Ileana Sonnabend

[abwwia]

Ileana Sonnabend (née Schapira, October 29, 1914 – October 21, 2007) was a Romanian-American art dealer of 20th-century art.

Sonnabend was born Ileana Schapira in Bucharest to a Romanian Jewish father, Mihail Schapira, and his Viennese wife, Marianne Strate-Felber. Ileana Sonnabend received a degree in psychology from Columbia University.

The Sonnabend Gallery opened in Paris in 1962 and was instrumental in making American art of the 1960s known in Europe, with an emphasis on American pop art. In 1970, Sonnabend Gallery opened in New York on Madison Avenue, and in 1971 relocated to 420 West Broadway in SoHo where it was one of the major protagonists that made SoHo the international art center it remained until the early 1990s. The gallery was instrumental in making European art of the 1970s known in America, with an emphasis on European conceptual art and Arte Povera. It also presented American conceptual and minimal art of the 1970s. In 1986, the so-called "Neo-Geo" show introduced, among others, the artist Jeff Koons. In the late 1990s, the gallery moved to Chelsea and continues to be active after Sonnabend's death. The gallery goes on showing the work of artists who rose to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s including Robert Morris, Bernd and Hilla Becher and Gilbert & George as well as more recent artists including Jeff Koons, Rona Pondick, Candida Höfer, Elger Esser, and Clifford Ross.

After Sonnabend died in her Manhattan home in October 2007 at the age of 92, the estate tax return pegged her total worth at $876 million, triggering a $471m tax bill. Her heirs subsequently sold a portion of her postwar-art collection for $600 million—reportedly the largest private sale in history. Although the family had been in talks with the auction houses, they chose to sell parts of the collection privately because of the uncertainties surrounding the financial markets during the 2008 crisis. Via Wikipedia

[mentaltimetraveller]

Frank Stella, Ileana Sonnabend, 1963. Metallic paint on canvas, 184.8 x 325.1 cm.

[theoriesanddocuments]

Sana is preparing to show a large group of small paintings. Katie compared Sana's grid of panels to Byron Kim's Synecdoche, a sort of large-scale group portrait representing the skin color of dozens of individuals. Because the artist has continued to add to the work, it has been displayed in various grid arrangements over the years.

I decided to put together a small survey of other groupings. Some of these are groupings designed by the artist, and some by gallerists and curators. The next few posts present, in no particular order, a few different approaches. This post focuses mainly on the standard grid.

Byron Kim (American b. 1961). Synecdoche 1991. Oil and wax on lauan plywood, birch plywood, and plywood; each panel 10 x 8 inches.. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine. Source.

Andy Warhol (American 1928-1987). Installation of Flowers exhibition, Galerie Ileana Sonnabend, Paris, 1965. Source. Warhol's studio churned out these flower paintings in the mid-1960s, and this installation was clearly designed to overwhelm the viewer with an immersive experience.

Louise Bourgeois (American, born in France, 1911-2010). The Woven Child installed at the Hayward Gallery, London, 2022. Source. I believe the first frame, in the upper left corner, is the "cover" for this portfolio of textile works. I appreciate how that particular frame deviates slightly from the otherwise orderly grid.

Sol LeWitt (American 1928-2007). Installation of exhibition Sol LeWitt at Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1978. LeWitt's compositions are often dominated by square grids, so this display seems appropriate. The tightness of the hanging is almost certainly a curator's decision, but I believe the individual works, many of which are multi-part drawings and photographs, are hung according to the artist's instructions.

Sol LeWitt (American 1928-2007). Installation of 2011 exhibition Photographic Works 1968-2004, Fraenkel Gallery, New York. I found the use of the corner to be of particular interest.

Charline von Heyl (German b. 1960): framed works installed at Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 2012. Source. As I understand it, these works are sold as multi-part groupings, the way they are displayed here.

Roni Horn: You Are the Weather installation, location and date unknown. Source. I've seen this multi-part work installed in different spaces, arranged differently depending on the layout of the room. Linda pointed out that the horizontal line of these nearly-identical photographs is placed low on the wall, with the subject's face below the viewer's eye level.

[worldsandemanations]

Frank Stella, Ileana Sonnabend, 1963. Metallic paint on canvas, 184.8 x 325.1 cm.

[cosmicanger]

Frank Stella, Ileana Sonnabend, 1963. Metallic paint on canvas, 184.8 x 325.1 cm.

[artist-lichtenstein]

Set of Dinnerware Objects: Dinner Plate, Soup Dish, Salad Plate, Side Plate, Saucer, Cup, Roy Lichtenstein, 1966, Tate

Presented by Galerie Ileana Sonnabend, Paris 1967 Size: displayed: 260 x 600 x 500 mm Medium: Ceramic

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lichtenstein-set-of-dinnerware-objects-dinner-plate-soup-dish-salad-plate-side-plate-t00963

[artist-robert-rauschenberg]

Canyon, Robert Rauschenberg, 1959, MoMA: Painting and Sculpture

Gift of the family of Ileana Sonnabend Size: 81 3/4 x 70 x 24" (207.6 x 177.8 x 61 cm) Medium: Oil, pencil, paper, metal, photograph, fabric, wood, canvas, buttons, mirror, taxidermied eagle, cardboard, pillow, paint tube and other materials

http://www.moma.org/collection/works/165011

[slam-modern]

untitled (to Ileana and Michael Sonnabend), Dan Flavin, 1970, Saint Louis Art Museum: Modern and Contemporary Art

https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/44828/

[moma-prints]

Accumulated Vision (Separates): Length Ration (In Perspective) #III, Barry Le Va, 1975, MoMA: Drawings and Prints

Gift of Ileana Sonnabend Size: 38 1/4 x 62 3/4" (97 x 158 cm) Medium: Ink and colored pencil on gray paper overlaid with vellum

http://www.moma.org/collection/works/33494

[frank-stella]

Ileana Sonnabend from the Purple Series, Frank Stella, 1972, MoMA: Drawings and Prints

Size: Composition (irreg.): 10 x 15" (25.4 x 38.1 cm) Medium: Lithograph

http://www.moma.org/collection/works/73471

[mannymuc]

Andy Warhol takes off his glasses and loves his exhibition in Paris at the Ileana Sonnabend Gallery

[art-mogul]

[dikeoucollection]

Dikeou Superstars: Devon Dikeou

RESERVED FOR LEO CASTELLI: SINCE CEZANNE (After Clive Bell)
2010 
Lateral View 
Wall: C-Print Wall Mural of Name Plate Reserving a Table in Perpetuity for the Preeminent Art Dealer Leo Castelli
Floor: 2 Tables and 4 Chairs from the Restaurant Mezzogiorno Photographed at Independent Art Fair in 2010

In 1951 Leo Castelli curated the groundbreaking Ninth Street Show that marked the emergence of Abstract Expressionism, thus beginning a new chapter in the history of art. Six years later he opened his eponymous gallery in New York City that continued this trend of showcasing revolutionary art from America and Europe. Dubbed “the godfather of the contemporary art world” by Dennis Hopper, it is arguable that Castelli would not have found himself in this position without the initial influence and ongoing support of his wife, partner, and friend, Ileana Sonnabend. Together, Leo and Ileana championed the avant-garde, the difficult, the misunderstood art of the 20th century and gave it the visibility and support it needed to succeed. Devon Dikeou created her installations Reserved for Leo Castelli and Reserved for Ileana Sonnabend as an homage to these important figures. Both are exhibited at Dikeou Collection and remind us that, in large part because of them, we are able to experience the complex and progressive dialogues put forth by the variety of contemporary artists represented in the collection.

RESERVED FOR ILEANA SONNABEND: “BUDDHA OR MACHIAVELLI” 
(Brenda Richardson about Ileana Sonnabend as quoted by Calvin Tomkins— The New Yorker)
2010 Ongoing
Wall: C-Print of Name Plate Reserving a Table in Perpetuity for the Preeminent Art Dealer Ileana Sonnabend
Floor: 1 Table and 2 Chairs from the Restaurant Mezzogiorno Photographed at NADA Miami Beach in 2010

Leo Castelli’s gallery moved around over the years and established multiple locations in Manhattan, predominantly centralized in the Upper East Side and SoHo. Though Leo and Ileana divorced in 1959, they remained close associates, and she started her own gallery near one of Leo’s SoHo outposts. Naturally, being in such close proximity, they shared space with one another amicably in both public and private realms. One of these spaces was Mezzogiorno, an Italian restaurant that specializes in Florentine fare where art dealers would wine and dine curators, artists, and collectors. Leo was at Mezzogiorno so often that he joked a table should be permanently reserved just for him, and so it happened. A brass plaque inscribed with “Reserved for Leo Castelli” and the name of the restaurant below was hung on the wall next to a four-top table. Later Ileana was given the same plaque, only her table sat just two, a nuanced jab at women’s status in the business of art. Upon seeing these plaques years later, Devon Dikeou immediately recognized their great symbolic value.

Dikeou’s art aims to define the spaces that act as interfaces between the artist, the context of viewing the art, and the collector. Her interest in the role of liminal spaces that serve as significant yet overlooked areas where important things occur, like major art exchanges at a small neighborhood restaurant, make the “Reserved” plaques the perfect subjects within her scope of practice. Dikeou photographed each of the plaques and printed them in two sizes – one to match the exact dimensions of the real plaque and mural-sized to fill an entire wall. The wall-sized murals are accompanied by dining sets from Mezzogiorno; a table for two for Ileana, and a table for four for Leo. Each of these installations were originally exhibited at art fairs, which Dikeou calls “the most fluid arena of art world market.” Today they exist at Dikeou Collection, another fluid environment but one where monetary exchange is absent, just like the dealers who are absent from their tables. The installation becomes a space where viewers can reflect on the tremendous influence these people had on the art world without overt reference to their wheelings and dealings. As Dikeou notes in her artist statement, “the plaques exist reserving a table in eternity for each art world deity, or perhaps their angels.”

Mezzogiorno has always taken pride in its status as a hub for artists and folks in the fashion and entertainment industries. Their website features an engaging gallery page with photos of their beloved patron, artist drawings, and press archives. Above is a clip from a cartoon published in a 1993 Vanity Fair article about the acclaimed eatery, with Ileana sharing a glass of wine with John Baldessari at her table for two, and Leo canoodling with Umberto Eco, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist.

 -Hayley Richardson

[ruiard]

Dan Flavin - Untitled (to Ileana and Michael Sonnabend)

Blue, yellow and pink fluorescent light, 96 in. / 243.8 cm, 1970

[lycanthology]

its called "untitled (to Ileana and Michael Sonnabend)" by dan flavin and its just. in a corner. and you dont get to see it like this you see it with the lights on surrounded by a bunch of big contemporary pieces and you turn and see this bar of light you can hardly see the color of against the wall and youre like... huh. its interesting because it feels like its surroundings put a lot of definition on the piece without meaning to. but anyways everyone takes seflies in front of this thing

i think everyone thats ever been to the st louis art museum has an opinion on the neon bar of light in the contemporary area. either you feel drawn to it or you think its silly or dumb but you always remember it