Born into a prosperous banking family in Mannheim, Germany in 1884, Kahnweiler embarked on a journey as a stockbroker in the family firm that led him to Paris. There, he made daily excursions to the Louvre, a brief stroll from the Bourse, and fell spellbound by the tangible experience of studying paintings that previously existed only in books. Driven by a relentless passion, he began collecting art and opened his first gallery at 28 rue Vignon in the spring of 1907.
Kahnweiler’s approach to art was nothing short of an adventure. He sought out the most challenging and ridiculed artists from the very beginning, with a keen interest in the Fauves such as Maurice de Vlaminck, André Derain, and Braque. However, it was his early recognition of the Cubist revolution that solidified his reputation.
Through his careful selection of which Cubists to exhibit and which to decline, Kahnweiler essentially defined and shaped the movement. He even signed exclusive contracts with its four originators: Braque, Picasso, Juan Gris, and Fernand Léger. Armed with two Spaniards and two Frenchmen, this German dealer swiftly embarked on a quest to spread the revolutionary impact of Cubism worldwide. He courted influential collectors such as the Russian Sergei Shchukin, Swiss Hermann Rupf, and Czech Vincenc Kramář, and partnered with the likes of Alfred Flechtheim in Düsseldorf, the Thannhausers in Munich, and Alfred Stieglitz and the Washington Square Gallery in New York. While his contracts safeguarded his position as the sole channel for bringing the Cubists to the market, Kahnweiler saw them as gestures of unwavering faith and an effort to protect the artists from financial burdens. He maintained this role until 1914.
At the onset of the Great War, Paris was a perilous place for Germans like Kahnweiler. He was branded an enemy of the state, and his gallery and its contents were seized by the French government. He lost everything and spent the duration of the war in neutral Switzerland, penning critical essays on Cubism and composing his book-length study on the movement, titled Der Weg zum Kubismus (The Rise of Cubism), which was published in 1920. Despite returning to Paris that year and establishing a new gallery with a French partner, Galerie Simon at 29 rue d’Astorg, Kahnweiler was unable to reclaim his confiscated stock. The French government dispersed his collection, which included over 1,200 works by Braque, Picasso, Gris, and Léger, at bargain prices, leading to a series of humiliating auctions between 1921 and 1923. Kahnweiler’s hardships continued when he was once again in danger during the Nazi occupation of Paris in 1941, this time for being Jewish. To protect himself, he “Aryanized” the firm by transferring ownership to his stepdaughter, Louise Leiris, and waited out the rest of the war in the South of France. After the war, he returned to the “Galerie Louise Leiris” and worked alongside Louise until his passing in 1979.
While most of his artists had to abandon him during World War I, Kahnweiler eventually reconciled with Picasso and became the artist’s primary dealer once more in his later years. Despite their vastly different temperaments (Picasso being passionate and bohemian, while Kahnweiler was serious and reserved), they had formed a close bond at a critical time in both their lives and in art history. Fellow dealer Heinz Berggruen recalled, “He liked to smile, but not to laugh,” but added that Kahnweiler was not the type of art dealer to rely on charm to conduct his business. What Picasso had given him was far more valuable: an art to defend with both intellect and love.
www.ftn-books.com has the Centre Georges Pompidou book on his exhibition now avaiable.
This gave me a whole new perspective. Thanks for opening my eyes.