7164 - Gerd Rosen Guest Book 1945–1958

Gerd Rosen Guest Book 1945–1958 31 watercolors and drawings by various artists in different techniques, some of which are collages, as well as 1 woodcut, on 57 sheets of handmade paper, some of which are mounted. In a guestbook with a parchment cover, accompanied by 17 posters from the Rosen Gallery. 1945–1958. 39.8 x 29 cm (book) or up to 33.5 x 46 cm (posters). All works are signed or monogrammed, mostly dated (except for two), some with dedications to Gerd Rosen, and include a handwritten introduction by Edwin Redslob dated December 31, 1945. An outstanding, artistically designed guestbook of the legendary Gerd Rosen Gallery and thus a rich testament to the artistic awakening of the postwar Berlin avant-garde. Rosen founded the gallery just a few months after the end of the war, in August 1945, together with art collector Max Leon Flemming and painter Heinz Trökes. Officially, the gallery existed until 1962; however, it experienced its most important and decisive period in the years leading up to 1948 on Kurfürstendamm. Even in its first weeks and months, the gallery laid a crucial foundation for the further development of German art after 1945. As the first private German gallery after the war, it became a cultural and social hub in the completely devastated art metropolis of Berlin. In addition to young artists, the early exhibitions primarily featured artists who had previously been labeled “degenerate” and defamed. Thanks above all to its stylistic openness and lack of a rigid program, the gallery captivated all those culture-hungry people who had long been denied access to art, literature, and music. In addition to the exhibitions, art-historical lectures and talks were held that drew such large crowds that, as Heinz Trökes recalled years later, water was literally running down the walls. The selection of artists was the responsibility of the respective artistic directors—initially Heinz Trökes, then Hans Uhlmann, followed by Rudolf Springer and Walter Frankenstein. After the currency reform, tensions began to arise between the gallery owner and the artists, and in the summer of 1948, Karl Hartung, Jeanne Mammen, Hans Thiemann, Heinz Trökes, Hans Uhlmann, and Mac Zimmermann collectively parted ways with Gerd Rosen. Financial difficulties arose for him, so the newly established antiquarian bookshop, as well as art and book auctions, gained in importance. When Gerd Rosen died in 1961, the gallery closed just one year later. Most of the staff moved to Galerie Bassenge. What remained, however, was the outstanding significance of the Rosen Gallery for Berlin’s avant-garde art scene, whose leading figures and unique artistic personalities are featured in this book, accompanied by richly designed, comprehensively detailed works of art: Alexander Camaro, Jean Cocteau, Paul Dierkes, Else Drießen, Edgar Ehses, Wolfgang Frankenstein, Bernhard Heiliger, Werner Heldt, Karl Hofer, Otto Hofmann, Hans Jaenisch, Carl-Heinz Kliemann, Juro Kubicek, Hans Kuhn, Fritz Kuhr, Curt Lahs, Heinrich von Luckner, Jeanne Mammen, Karl Maeder, Hermann Max Pechstein, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (woodcut), Herbert Spangenberg, Friedrich Stabenau, Paul Strecker, Hans Thiemann, Heinz Trökes, Hans Uhlmann, Theodor Werner, Woty Werner, Mac Zimmermann, and others. All 17 exhibition posters from the Gerd Rosen Gallery are included with the guestbook. Provenance: Estate of Gerd Rosen Grisebach, Berlin, Auction November 25, 2004, Lot 340 Private collection, Berlin - Please request condition reports for the lots, as the condition is usually not specified in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.