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Arntz (Wilhelm) collection of rare exhibition catalogs and printed ephemera
2002.M.13
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Wilhelm Arntz collection of rare exhibition catalogs and printed ephemera
Creator:
Arntz, Wilhelm F.
Identifier/Call Number: 2002.M.13
Physical Description:
121.67 Linear Feet
(276 boxes, 4 oversize boxes)
Date (inclusive): approximately 1900-1985
Abstract: Collected by the German art expert Wilhelm Arntz, the ephemera document exhibitions, sales and publishing of 20th century
art mainly in Germany, Italy, and France, but also in other European countries, the United States, and South America. Represented
are not only well-established artists but also a profusion of lesser known artists as well as numerous emerging artists who
became well-known after the mid 1980s. Among the institutions are European and American art museums and exhibition venues,
publishing- and auction houses, printing presses, art fairs, and a vast number of art galleries.
Material Specific Details: Most of the pre World War II exhibition catalogs and other rare publications were pulled from the collection and are now cataloged
separately.
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Language of Material: Collection material is predominantly in German, English, French, and Italian, with most other European languages also present.
Organized in three series: Series I. Artists, circa 1900-1985; Series II. Institutions, circa 1900-1985; Series III. Offprints,
circa 1900-1985.
Wilhelm Friedrich Arntz (1903-1985) was a German lawyer, art expert and independent researcher of 20th century art. He was
also one of the early collectors of German Expressionism. Parallel to collecting artworks, he acquired publications on art
and compiled a wealth of archival material, including newspaper clippings, correspondence of artists, art historians and dealers,
and ephemeral items such as invitations to exhibition openings.
Arntz began his professional career in the 1930s as the political editor for the newspaper
Frankurter Generalanzeiger. He was then hired as a foreign correspondent for the HUCK-Verband, a major German newspaper trust in London in the 1930s.
After the war Arntz worked as head of the department of cultural affairs (Kulturreferat) in Stuttgart. In 1947, together with
Robert Norman Ketterer, he founded the auction house Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett where he worked until the mid 1950s as a consultant
and expert on 20th century art. Subsequently, he worked until 1978 for the auction house Kunsthaus Lempertz in Cologne. At
the same time, he served as an expert on forgery in various legal proceedings. As a lawyer he was also involved in cases concerning
property law and restitution of artwork confiscated by the Nazis, as well as insurance, tax matters, copyright law, and protection
of cultural patrimony.
His collection of books, printed ephemera and archival material, known as the Kunstarchiv Arntz, kept in his private home
in Haag, in Bavaria, served as the source of information for his various professional activities. With certain limitations,
he made his collection available to the public and allowed students and colleagues to conduct research in his home.
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Contact
Library Rights and Reproductions .
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was acquired in 1985.
Wilhelm Arntz collection of rare exhibition catalogs and printed ephemera, circa 1900-1985. Research Library, The Getty Research
Institute, Accession no. 2002.M.13
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2002m13
The project was initiated and developed by Isotta Poggi, and continued and finalized by Isabella Zuralski. Between 2005 and
2010 Giovanna Zamboni, Isotta Poggi, and Isabella Zuralski processed and rehoused the collection. Isabella Zuralski established
the final series arrangement and continued processing and writing the finding aid from 2010 until completion in August 2014.
Collected by the German art expert, Wilhelm Arntz, the ephemera documents exhibitions, sales and publishing of 20th century
art mainly in Germany, Italy, and France, and most other European countries, including Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary,
and also in the United States, Mexico and South America.
The predominant portion of the material dates from the 1950s to the early 1980s, but there is also a substantial amount of
material dating from the 1920s and 1930s and from the time before World War I.
Series I includes publications and materials concerning individual artist or architect as well as artists groups and art movements
such as Dada or Futurism. Series II includes publications concerning more then one artist or art-related topics that can be
filed under the name of the gallery, museum, publishing firm or other institution. Series III includes offprints on various
topics, predominantly 20th century art and architecture. Items that could not be filed with any of the three series are filed
unsorted at the end of Series III.
Occasionallty present are original graphics and restrikes, of which some are signed by the artists.
Archival material compiled by Arntz is available for research in the Getty Research Library's Special Collections (accn. no.
840001).
Books and periodicals collected by Arntz are available for research in the Getty Research Library's Special and Core Collections.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Art publishing -- Europe
Exhibition catalogs -- 20th century
Art, Modern -- 20th century
Printed ephemera -- 20th century
Private presses -- Europe
Invitations -- 20th century
Announcements -- 20th century
Artists -- South America -- Exhibitions
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Exhibitions
Artists -- Europe -- Exhibitions
Artists-United States -- Exhibitions
Art museums -- Europe
Art museums -- United States
Art galleries, Commercial -- Europe
Art galleries, Commercial -- United States