NEW YORK, NY .- Schoelkopf Gallery – specializing in 19th and 20th century American fine art – announced exclusive worldwide representation of the Max Weber Foundation, a pivotal figure in the history of American modernism. This news comes 110 years after Weber's landmark first solo museum exhibition at the Newark Museum of Art, New Jersey, in 1913, a significant milestone for any American modern artist. Through this representation, Schoelkopf Gallery will share the artist's transformative journey and lasting contributions to the development of 20th century modernism with collectors and the wider public through a series of exhibitions and programs.
MAX WEBER
Max Weber, a Polish-born American painter, is celebrated as a pioneering modernist who profoundly influenced the trajectory of American art in the early 20th century. Through his experimentations in Cubism, Expressionism, and Fauvism in the first decades of the twentieth century, Weber transformed what had previously been regarded as movements unique to Europe’s avant-garde into a style reflective of America’s growing cultural prominence on the world stage. After immigrating to Brooklyn from what was then part of the Russian Empire, Weber attended the Pratt Institute of Art before studying at the presitigious Académie Julian in Paris. There, Weber spent time in Henri Matisse's studio, an experience that deeply informed his artistic vision. After returning to New York in 1909, he taught at the Art Students League and exhibited at the Newark Museum, the Jewish Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Weber’s oeuvre spans styles and genres, demonstrating his intense interest and awareness of contemporary developments in abstraction. While most known for his paintings on canvas, Weber was a prolific artist who practiced in various media, including sculpture, collage, and woodcuts. Weber’s formal dynamism and broad stylistic scope inspired subsequent generations of abstract artists, including his student, Mark Rothko. Since his death in 1961, Weber’s artistic contributions have been assessed by art historians as indispensable to the promotion of abstraction to American audiences, including their acceptance of the genre. Weber’s works are represented in major collections throughout the world, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Detroit Institute of Art; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Spain.
To coincide with this representation, Schoelkopf Gallery is pleased to recommend the recent publication, Max Weber & American Cubism by William C. Agee and Pamela N. Koob, which delves into Weber's groundbreaking contributions to American art.
“My cousin, Joy Weber, spent her life working to preserve and expand access to her father's legacy and to help others better understand the important role Max Weber played in the evolution of modern art. It is a distinct honor for the Weber oeuvre to now be exclusively represented by Schoelkopf Gallery, an amazing steward of this important collection. With both the foundation Joy Weber established and Schoelkopf Gallery's representation of Max Weber's art, we are very excited to begin this next chapter!” --Ilene V. Fishman, President, Max Weber Foundation
