Joan Miró, Le lézard aux plumes d’or (detail), 1971, artist book, 14 ½ x 20 x 1 7/8 in © 2013 Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Artistic Relationships: Partners, Mentors, Lovers

The Bechtler collection includes the works of several artists who knew each other well, who often exhibited together and learned from each other in the context of shared stylistic movements, personal experiences and intellectual inquiry. In some cases their approach to art would eventually differ over the years, nonetheless their work and their contributions to the field remained forever linked.

On view February 16 through August 26, 2013 (extended from the original closing date of July 29), Artistic Relationships: Partners, Mentors, Lovers is an exhibition of 85 works by artists such as Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, Fernand Léger and Le Corbusier who were not only connected by the creative spirit but also by personal circumstances. On view are paintings, prints, textiles and sculpture from the Bechtler collection that reflect the twentieth century’s experimentation with abstract art and the human figure and which reveal a remarkable variety of approach, intent and result.

Artistic Relationships: Partners, Mentors, Lovers marks the first time that works by celebrated British artist Henry Moore are on view in the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. The works include six prints from the museum’s permanent collection and one small-scale sculpture on loan from founding museum patron Andreas Bechtler. Also on view for the first time in the museum are works from the permanent collection by French avant-garde painter Jean Dubuffet.

Artist parings in Artistic Relationships: Partners, Mentors, Lovers:

Friendships

Jean Dubuffet and Karel Appel
Joan Miró and Alexander Calder
Fernand Léger and Le Corbusier
Alfred Manessier and Gustave Singier
Jean-Paul Riopelle and Sam Francis

Teachers/Students

Roger Bissiere and Maria Helena Vieira da Silva
Bernard Meadows and Henry Moore
Victor Pasmore and Bridget Riley 

Couples

Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth
Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle
Hans Hartung and Anna-Eva Bergman

Joan Miró Le lézard aux plumes d’or, Ca. 1956 lithograph on paper 14 1/2 in. x 20 in. x 1 7/8 in. © 2013 Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Sam Francis Composition: Yellow and Red, Ca. 1956 Watercolor and gouache on paper 23 x 30 5/8 inches © 2013 Sam Francis Foundation, California / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Jean Paul Riopelle Composition, 1956 Oil on canvas © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SODRAC, Montreal