The Sonnabend Collection at Remai Modern



Organized by Remai Modern and the Sonnabend Collection Foundation. Curated by Antonio Homem.
Remai Modern presents The Sonnabend Collection. Developed through the vision of influential art dealer Ileana Sonnabend (1914-2007), her husband Michael Sonnabend (1900-2001), and their adopted son Antonio Homem, the collection is among the most significant private holdings of modern and contemporary art in the world.
The Sonnabend Collection at Remai Modern features over 100 works by 67 artists, spanning seven decades of artistic production beginning in the 1950s. This will be the first exhibition of the Collection in Canada, and its most comprehensive presentation to date in North America. Curated by Homem, the exhibition takes visitors on a personal journey of extraordinary encounters with some of the most iconic artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Jeff Koons.



Ileana Sonnabend, born in Romania, was renowned for her intuition and exceptional eye for artists who would go on to become highly influential.
Ileana and her first husband Leo Castelli opened Castelli Gallery in their own sitting room in the late 1950s. Ileana encouraged the exhibition of artists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, later followed by then-unknowns Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
Though they remained partners in art throughout their lives, Leo and Ileana’s marriage ended in 1959. Ileana went on to marry Michael Sonnabend, with whom she opened Galerie Ileana Sonnabend in Paris in 1962. The gallery’s first New York location opened in 1970.


“I had the idea that the gallery had a function to inform… when I find something of interest that is totally unknown, I want to make it known.”
—Ileana Sonnabend

© SOCAN (2019)
The Sonnabend Gallery established an international presence, fostering creative exchanges and new audiences both in Europe and America. The gallery frequently championed artists early in their careers, anticipating and influencing developments in art, including Pop, Minimalism, Conceptualism, Nouveau Réalisme, Arte Povera, Neo-Expressionism, Neo-Geo, Photo Conceptualism and beyond. Above all, the Sonnabends believed in and supported the artists they exhibited and collected.
The Sonnabend Collection can be seen as an extremely personal account, a reflection of one family’s deep, unwavering belief in art and artists. At the same time, the collection provides a remarkable record of material, conceptual and philosophical shifts in American and European art from the second half of the 20th century.
Ileana’s work as a gallerist, patron and collector made an indelible impact on the contemporary art world, which continues even after her death in 2007. With a deep, unwavering commitment, the Sonnabends granted artists the opportunity to push boundaries, defy expectations and exhibit work that was difficult to sell.
Robert Rauschenberg
Jim Dine
John Chamberlain
James Rosenquist
Mario Schifano
Christo
Arman
Michelangelo Pistoletto
George Segal
Claes Oldenburg
Tom Wesselmann
Andy Warhol
Roy Lichtenstein
Donald Judd
Robert Morris
John McCracken
John Baldessari
Sol LeWitt
Mel Bochner
Barry Le Va
Peter Halley
Clay Ketter
Mario Merz
Gilberto Zorio
Giovanni Anselmo
Pier Paolo Calzolari
Guilio Paolini
Jannis Kounellis
Keith Sonnier
Bruce Nauman
Anselm Kiefer
Jörg Immendorff
Ryan Roa
Haim Steinbach
Ashley Bickerton
Jeff Koons
Gilbert & George
Bernd and Hilla Becher
Christian Boltanski
Vito Acconci
Piero Manzoni
Boyd Webb
William Wegman
Andrea Robbins and
Max Becher
Anne and Patrick Poirier
Luigi Ontani
Philip Haas
Richard Artschwager
Terry Winters
Carroll Dunham
Rona Pondick
Robert Feintuch
Peter Fischli
and David Weiss
Candida Höfer
Elger Esser
Lawrence Beck
Clifford Ross
Matthias Schaller
Experience Seven Decades of Art in Constant Flux
→

After Abstract Expressionism

Pop Art

Nouveau Realisme

Minimalism

Conceptual Art

Arte Povera

Anti-Form

Neo Expressionism

Neo-Geo

Photo Conceptualism