Introduction
A new perspective on the Hermann and Margrit Rupf Collection: Hitherto unpublished archive material reflects for the first time the precarious years between 1933 and 1945, when in spite of adverse circumstances Rupf and Kahnweiler maintained their close contact, corresponded about art or conversed about everyday matters such as powdered milk and illnesses. From 1940, it was a correspondence “in the shadow of the crematoria,” as Kahnweiler later put it.
The Rupf Collection is closely linked to the history of the gallery owner and Cubist advocate Kahnweiler. Rupf's activity as a collector began around 1907, as the first client of Kahnweiler's gallery in Paris. Thanks to his lifelong friendship with the collector couple from Bern, Kahnweiler survived the worst crises of the time.
The exhibition casts light on the collection with particular reference to this friendship in extraordinary times.
Imprint
Kahnweiler & Rupf. A Friendship between Paris and Bern
Kunstmuseum Bern
22.11.2024–23.3.2025
Curators: Susanne Friedli and Konrad Tobler
Assistant Curator: Christopher Kilchenmann
Exhibition catalogue: Kahnweiler & Rupf. A Gallerist and His Collector, 1933–1945, edited by Hermann und Margrit Rupf-Stiftung, Hatje Cantz Verlag, Berlin 2024. With contributions from Michael Baumgartner, Susanne Friedli, Peter Kropmanns, Luise Mahler, Konrad Tobler, Nina Zimmer and Stefan Zweifel
Digital Guide
Umsetzung: NETNODE AG
Projektleitung: Andriu Deflorin, Cédric Zubler
An exhibition by
Hermann und Margrit Rupf-Stiftung
With the support of
Kunstmuseum Bern
Hodlerstrasse 8–12, 3011 Bern
+41 31 328 09 44
info@kunstmuseumbern.ch
kunstmuseumbern.ch/KahnweilerRupf