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Art Collector Heinz Berggruen Dies at Age 93
When Heinz Berggruen returned in 1996 to the city he had fled under Nazi repression 60 years earlier, he brought with him an unparalleled collection of works by 20th century artists, some of whom like Picasso and Matisse had also been his friends. Later in what he called a “gesture of reconciliation,” Berggruen sold his collection, which also included works by Klee and Cézanne, to the Foundation Prussian Cultural Heritage for a fraction of its actual value, thus ensuring it would remain in the city of his birth. Berggruen died in Paris on February 23 at age 93. In the Museum Berggruen, where over 1.5 million people have visited the permanent exhibit “Picasso and His Times,” a condolence book was opened to the public. The collection he brought to Berlin in a generous act of philanthropy will maintain his memory and at the same time commemorate his wish for reconciliation, Chancellor Angela Merkel wrote in a letter of condolence to Berggruen’s widow. “Borne by his passion for art and with his own charm, wise intuition and patient insistence, he became a friend and supporter of significant artists of the early 20th century. At the same time, he was able to create one of the most exciting and exquisite collections of this genre.” Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also recalled Berggruen’s memorable personality and contributions. “We owe a lot to Heinz Berggruen – he reconciled himself with Germany and his native city of Berlin in an admirable and very personal way and gave us one of the most beautiful museums of classic modern art.” Path to collector and dealer Heinz Berggruen was born to a German-Jewish family in Berlin in 1914. After studying literature and art history in Berlin, Grenoble and Toulouse, he first set out to become a journalist. As a consequence of the increasing anti-Semitic repressions, he emigrated to the United States in 1936, where he received a fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley and later worked as an art critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. Berggruen purchased his first artwork, a watercolor by Paul Klee, in 1940 and kept it throughout his life as a good luck charm. In the early 1940s, Berggruen became a curator at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. During World War II, he was a sergeant in the US Army and served in Europe. After the war, he briefly worked as a co-editor for the German art magazine Heute before moving to Paris to work on the staff of the American UNESCO delegation. He then settled down as an art dealer in Paris and opened his gallery in 1947. Berggruen became closely acquainted with many major European artists during this time, among them Picasso and Matisse, whose works along with those of Cézanne and Klee made his private collection one of the most important collections of 20th century art in the world. Berggruen closed his gallery in 1980 and decided to devote his time entirely to building up his own art collection. Return to Berlin In the early 1990s, Wolf-Dieter Dube, then general director of the Foundation Prussian Cultural Heritage, began talking with Berggruen about bringing his collection to Berlin. Finally, in 1996, Heinz Berggruen moved back to his native city and brought with him well over 100 masterpieces of 20th century art. Its new home was a mansion that the city had renovated and outfitted expressly for this purpose across the street from Charlottenburg Palace. The collector sometimes occupied an apartment on the top floor of what became known as the Museum Berggruen, now a part of the Berlin State Museums, and could sometimes be seen visiting his artworks and showing guests around. Berggruen was beloved in Berlin and his wisdom made him a moral authority well beyond the art world, said Peter-Klaus Schuster, general director of the Berlin State Museums. “Heinz Berggruen has infinitely gifted the Berlin State Museums—through his works, through his intellectual presence and his charming personality,” Schuster said. "The masterpiece of his collection, given to the custody of the Nationalgalerie, is for us his utmost and binding legacy.” February 27, 2007 Link
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