Living Moments - N°4 Edition 2017

www.private-residences.net 7TaTYR 8ZXPY_^ 103 Umzug gab auch die Tatsache, dass sich in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten die Maximilianstraße von einer Kunst- in eine Modestraße verwandelt hat. Das neue Kunstareal rund um die Pinako- theken biete hingegen die idealen Be- dingungen für eine Galerie, so Thomas. Seit demGründungsjahr der Galerie hat sich vieles geändert – auf dem Kunst- markt, aber auch im Leben jenseits der Kunst. Raimund Thomas hat seine Ge- danken darüber im Vorfeld der Verlei- hung des Art Cologne-Preises wie folgt resümiert: »So ein Ereignis wie diese Preisverleihung lässt mir bewusst wer- den, was sich in diesem zurückliegen- den halben Jahrhundert alles ereignet hat – von der Schreibmaschine bis zum Computer, von Zero über Pop Art bis zur heutigen Stilpluralität – und was ich selber alles bewegt habe – von der be- scheidenen Anfangsgalerie in einem lo- kalen Umfeld hin zu einem Unterneh- men von internationalem Rang.« Participation in international art fairs has a long tradition in the GalerieThomas. For example, he, as a founding member, has stayed true to Art Cologne, the successor of Art Market Cologne, since the beginning. As one of the leading international galleries, Thomas regularly appears at significant art fairs through- out the world – for example, the TEFAF in Maastricht, the Art Basel, the Art Basel Miami and the Art Basel Hong Kong or the Armory Show in New York. This success story started in 1961. At that time Raimund Thomas, then a student of architecture, developed the idea of be- coming a gallerist.With all his belongings he headed for London and New York, camped some time in his caravan at the gates of Paris in order to learn the tools of becoming a gallerist. For complemen- tary theory he listened to art-history lectures. In 1964, Raimund Thomas even- tually opened the Galerie Thomas on 25 Maximilianstrasse in Munich. Despite the less open-minded environ- ment in Munich he was already exhibiting artists of the international avant-garde in the 1960s and 1970s – among them Yves Klein, Cy Twombly, Eduardo Chillida, Piero Manzoni, and also Gerhard Richter, Joseph Beuys, Josef Albers and Gotthard Graubner. The late 1960s were charac- terised by Pop Art, including an exhibition of the “Nudes” by TomWesselmann.“At a time when the exhibition with the hero images of Baselitz was closed by the public prosecutor, an exhibit with the “Nudes”byWesselmannwas a risk indeed”, Raimund Thomas remembers. Rather early, Thomas placed much em- phasis on the works of German ex- pressionism and classical modernism. The focus was on the “Blue Rider”, the “Bridge” and the Bauhaus. Artists like Max Pechstein, August Macke, Gabriele Münter, Ernst Heckel, Christian Rohlfs, Otto Mueller and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner have since been inseparably connected with the programme of the gallery. The personal conversation is of the highest priority – whether it is in gallery rooms, at art fairs or with the collectors on site. Galerie Thomas Foyer · Galerie Thomas Foyer rechts on the right: "Ohne Titel" (SFF.1651), 1991 © Sam Francis Foundation, California/Bildrecht,Wien, 2016 "Untitled" (SFF.1651), 1991 © Sam Francis Foundation, California/Bildrecht,Wien, 2016 Sam Francis "WhenWhite", 1963-1964 © Sam Francis Foundation, California/Bildrecht,Wien, 2016 advertisement