Joseph Brummer (1883 – 14 April 1947) was a Hungarian-born art dealer and collector who exhibited both antique artifacts from different cultures, early European art, and the works of modern painters and sculptors in his galleries in Paris and New York. In 1906 he and his two brothers opened their first gallery in Paris, the Brummer Gallery. At the start of World War I, they closed the gallery and moved to New York City. Joseph alone opened his next gallery in 1921 in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Biography

Joseph (originally József) Brummer was born in

Sombor Sombor ( sr-Cyrl, Сомбор, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the West Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city has a total population of 41,814 (), while its adminis ...

, then in Hungary (now

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

), in 1883. He studied applied arts in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

from 1897 on, and continued these studies in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

from 1899 on. Afterward, he studied at Munich before starting on his own as an artist in Budapest and Szeged. Together with his brothers Ernest (1891-1964) and Imre (died 1928), he moved to Paris in 1905. In 1906, Brummer and his brothers opened the Brummer Gallery in Paris at the Boulevard Raspail, where they sold African art, Japanese prints and pre-Columbian, mainly

Peruvian Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...

art, alongside contemporary paintings and sculptures. During the autumn of 1908, he shared a studio space at Cité Falguière with

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

sculptor Joseph Csaky, who was also from Szeged and Budapest.Edith Balas, 1998, ''Joseph Csaky: A Pioneer of Modern Sculpture''
American Philosophical Society Brummer studied sculpture under Jules-Felix Coutan,

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

and in 1908

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

. He also attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, and thus got to know contemporary artists. In 1911, Brummer married the Swedish ceramist and painter Beata Mårtensson. At the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Joseph Brummer closed in Paris and moved to New York City. In 1921 he reopened a gallery at 43 East Fifty-Seventh Street in

. He specialized in medieval and Renaissance European art, and Classical, Ancient Egyptian, African, and pre-Columbian objects, but also hosted some of the earliest exhibitions of modern European art in the United States. It stayed in business until 1949, two years after Joseph's death. A major part of his private art collection was bought by the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

in 1947. A second part of the Joseph Brummer art collection, still over 2400 lots, was sold in 1949 by Parke-Bernet Galleries. The final part, 600 pieces that remained in the family, were eventually inherited by Ernest Brummer's widow, Ella Bache Brummer. They were sold in Zurich in October 1979. Their value was estimated at $10 million. From 1931 until 1948, Brummer had owned the Guennol Lioness; in 2007 it was the most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction. In 1909 Brummer had his portrait painted by

Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Gug ...

. and by Anne Goldthwaite in 1915. In 1993, the Rousseau portrait was sold by Christie's for £2,971,500 ($4,421,592). It is currently owned by the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

Gallery

The

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

branch of the Brummer Gallery was opened in 1914 by Imre and Joseph Brummer. Joseph and his brothers Ernest were among the most significant art dealers of the first half of the 20th century, dealing in a broad range of art that spanned from classical antiquity to modern art. Their collection included many works from the Middle Ages, Pre-Columbian America, and Renaissance and Baroque decorative arts. Following Joseph Brummer's death in 1947, the gallery closed down in 1949, and its collection was auctioned off over the next three decades.

Exhibitions

This is an incomplete list of the exhibitions of modern art in the Brummer Gallery in New York. *1921, 4 to 23 April:

Maurice Prendergast Maurice Brazil Prendergast (October 10, 1858 – February 1, 1924) was an American artist who painted in oil and watercolor, and created monotypes. His delicate landscapes and scenes of modern life, characterized by mosaic-like color, are ...

*1921, May: "Works by French and American artists including paintings by Jennie Van Fleet Cowdery", including two works by

Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French people, French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionism, Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially femininity, fe ...

*1921, 24 October to 21 November: Anne Goldthwaite *1921, 28 November to 24 December: Frank Burty *1922, 3 to 21 January: Peggy Bacon and Alexander Brook *1922: sculptures by

and Manolo Hugué, and paintings by

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...

, André Derain,

Maurice Utrillo Maurice Utrillo (; born Maurice Valadon; 26 December 1883 – 5 November 1955) was a French painter of the School of Paris who specialized in cityscapes. From the Montmartre quarter of Paris, France, Utrillo is one of the few famous painters of ...

, Marie Laurencin and Pascin *1922 December 15 to 1923, 13 January: Auguste Rodin (paintings and sculptures) *1923: 17 January to 10 February: Pascin *1923, 17 March to 14 April:

Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American Realism (visual arts), realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artist ...

*1923: Bernard Karfiol *1923, 22 October to 10 November: Toshi Shimizu *1923, 15 December to 1924, 5 January: Works by Max Jacob *1924, 25 February to 22 March: Henri Matisse *1924: Hermine David *1924: José de Togores *1924, 4 to 27 December:

Georges Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , ; ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough ...

*1925, January:

Roger Fry Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 – 9 September 1934) was an English painter and art critic, critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent ...

*1925, February: Walter Pach *1925, 2 to 21 March 1925:

Michel Kikoine Michel Kikoïne (; , ''Michail Kikóin''; 31 May 1892 – 4 November 1968) was a Lithuanian Jewish-French painter who belonged to the Ecole de Paris art movement. Life Kikoine was born in Rechytsa, present-day Belarus. The son of a Jewish b ...

*1925: Bernard Karfiol (second exhibition at Brummer) *1926, 18 January to 13 February: Aristide Maillol *1926, 17 November to 15 December: Sculptures by

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism ...

. *1927, 17 January to 12 February: Béla Czóbel *1927, 14 February to 12 March: Bernard Karfiol (third exhibition at Brummer) *1927, March to 9 April: Eugène Zak *1927, late: First personal exhibition of works by Charles Despiau *1928, 1 to 25 February: John Storrs *1928, 27 February to 24 March: Gaston Lachaise *1928, 26 March to 21 April:

Jacques Villon Jacques Villon (July 31, 1875 – June 9, 1963), also known as Gaston Duchamp, was a French Cubist and Abstract art, abstract painter and printmaker. Early life Born Émile Méry Frédéric Gaston Duchamp in Damville, Eure, Damville, Eure, ...

, paintings *1929, 16 February to 16 March: A. S. Baylinson and Morris Kantor *1929, 18 March to 13 April: Jane Berlandina *1929, 28 March to 12 April:

Raymond Duchamp-Villon Raymond Duchamp-Villon (5 November 1876 – 9 October 1918) was a French sculptor. Life and art Duchamp-Villon was born Pierre-Maurice-Raymond Duchamp in Damville, Eure, in the Normandy region of France, the second son of Eugène and Lucie Duch ...

, sculptures *1929, May: Michel Kikoine (second exhibition at Brummer) *1929, 1 to 28 November: "Portraits of Maria Lani by Fifty-One Painters", featuring work by Chaïm Soutine,

Kees van Dongen Cornelis Theodorus Maria "Kees" van Dongen (26 January 1877 – 28 May 1968) was a Dutch-French painter who was one of the leading Fauves. Van Dongen's early work was influenced by the Hague School and symbolism and it evolved gradually into a ...

, Georges Rouault,

Pierre Bonnard Pierre Bonnard (; 3 October 186723 January 1947) was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist gr ...

, Rodolphe-Théophile Bosshard, Charles Despiau, Henri Matisse,

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...

, André Derain, and others *1929, 30 November to 13 December: collection of Albert Eugene Gallatin, including work by

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

, Man Ray,

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

André Masson André-Aimé-René Masson (; 4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Biography Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brus ...

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

, Joseph Stella, and a 1906 self-portrait by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

*1929, 14 December to 1930, 31 January:

Othon Friesz Achille-Émile Othon Friesz (6 February 1879 – 10 January 1949), who later called himself Othon Friesz, a native of Le Havre, was a French artist of the Fauvist movement. Biography Othon Friesz was born in Le Havre, the son of a long line of ...

, Paintings *1930, 1 to 28 February: Max Jacob (second exhibition at Brummer) *1930, 8 to 31 March: Jane Berlandina (second exhibition at Brummer) *1930, 1 April to 3 May: Georges Rouault *1930, 20 October to 20 November: Jacques Villon (second exhibition at Brummer) *1930, 22 November to 20 December: Pierre Roy *1931, 5 January to 7 February: Henri Matisse, sculptures *1931, 13 to 28 February: Anne Goldthwaite (second exhibition at Brummer) *1931, 16 March to 18 April: Théophile Steinlen *1931, 13 October to 7 November: Marcel Mouillot *1931, 9 November to ?: Charles Dufresne *1932, 9 to 29 February: Arthur Everett Austin, Jr. *1932, 5 March to 5 April:

Josep Llorens i Artigas Josep Llorens i Artigas (16 June 1892 – 11 December 1980) was a Spanish ceramic artist known for his collaboration with Joan Miró. He is credited with relaunching ceramics as a European art form. Life Artigas was born in Barcelona on 16 June ...

*1932, November to 10 December: Maurice Marinot, glass *1932, 13 December to ?: 18th century French drawings, from the

Richard Owen Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomy, comparative anatomist and paleontology, palaeontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkabl ...

collection *1933, 3 January to 28 February: Aristide Maillol (second exhibition at Brummer) *1933, 4 March to 15 April: Pierre Roy (second exhibition at Brummer) *1933, October to November: 18th and 19th century French drawings from the Richard Owen collection (second part), including works by

Antoine Watteau Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised 10 October 1684died 18 July 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French Painting, painter and Drawing, draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour ...

Gustave Moreau Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism ...

and Théophile Steinlen *1933, 17 November to 1934, 13 January: Sculptures by Constantin Brâncuși (second exhibition at Brummer). *1934, 24 February to 15 April: Pablo Gargallo *1934, 5 November to 29 December: Charles Despiau (second exhibition at Brummer) *1935, 5 January to 28 February: André Dunoyer de Segonzac *1935, 15 March to 11 May: Mateo Hernandez *1935, October:

Marguerite Zorach Marguerite Zorach (née Thompson; September 25, 1887 – June 27, 1968) was an American fauvism, Fauvist Painting, painter, textile artist, and graphic designer, and was an early exponent of modernism in America. She won the 1920 Logan Medal of t ...

*1935, 2 December to 1936, 31 January: first US exhibition of

Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Lithuanian-born French-American Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, domi ...

*1936, 2 March to 4 April: Béla Czóbel *1936, 9 November to 1937, 2 January: André Derain *1937, 25 January to 20 March: Ossip Zadkine *1937, 1 November to 31 December: François Pompon *1938, February and March: Léon Hartl *1938, 7 to 28 November: Charles Dufresne (second Brummer exhibition) *1938: 7 November to 1939, 7 January: Henri Laurens

Notes

External links

The Brummer Gallery Records
over 13,000 digitized object cards from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
Walters Art Museum
objects with provenance from Joseph Brummer
Metropolitan Museum of Art
objects with provenance from Joseph Brummer
The Frick Collection
research information
Article on The Brummer Gallery Records
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries.
Documenting the Gilded Age: New York City Exhibitions at the Turn of the 20th Century
A New York Art Resources Consortium project. Brummer Gallery exhibition catalogs.
Oral history interview with Dr. John Laszlo, 2015 Dec. 6
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives, New York. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brummer, Joseph 1883 births 1947 deaths People from Sombor Hungarian emigrants to France Hungarian art dealers American art dealers Hungarian art collectors American art collectors

Biography

Gallery

Exhibitions

Notes

Further reading

External links