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Arntz (Wilhelm) collection of rare exhibition catalogs and
printed ephemera
2002.M.13
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Title: Wilhelm Arntz collection of rare exhibition catalogs and printed
ephemera
Date (inclusive): approximately 1900-1985
Number: 2002.M.13
Creator/Collector:
Arntz, Wilhelm F.
Physical Description:
121.67 Linear Feet
(276 boxes, 4 oversize boxes)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
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.
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Language: Collection material is
predominantly in German, English, French, and Italian, with most other European languages
also present.
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
.
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
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was acquired in 1985.
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.
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.
Scope and Content of Collection
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.
Organized in three series:
Series I.
Artists, circa 1900-1985;
Series II. Institutions, circa 1900-1985;
Series III. Offprints, circa 1900-1985.
Art publishing -- Europe
Art, Modern -- 20th century
Private presses -- Europe
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
Exhibition catalogs -- 20th century
Printed ephemera -- 20th century
Invitations -- 20th century
Announcements -- 20th century
Arntz, Wilhelm F.