Picasso, Kandinszkij, Klee At Fine Arts Museum Until 27 January

At this time they purchased their first pictures, paintings by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, which today are regarded as being among the most significant compositions of early Cubism. They engaged intensively in the art of their era, including its popularisation and introduction – Hermann Rupf was art and music critic for the Bern daily paper Berner Tagwacht for over 20 years. They often purchased the pieces of their collection immediately, in the same year that they were made.

Hermann Rupf had a life-long friendship with the Parisian art dealer and gallery owner, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, for whom he was one of the very first clients, and with whose assistance he also managed to visit Picasso’s atelier. The Rupf couple were also in constant contact with Paul Klee from 1913, nurturing the connection and supporting the artist with their purchases of his paintings.

The couple – in the absence of heirs – established the foundation bearing their name in 1954, with the purpose of preserving and expanding the collection, which is kept at the Kunstmuseum in Bern. Thanks to subsequent acquisitions by the foundation the collection, which originally consisted of 300 pieces, has expanded to include 900 artworks.

The foundation that maintains the collection, the Hermann und Margit Rupf-Stiftung, is celebrating it’s fiftieth anniversary and through this exhibition a glimpse is offered into the collection – including the most significant pieces, such as les Fauves (Derain, Friesz), the Cubists (Braque, Picasso, Gris and Léger), as well as the works of Paul Klee and Kandinsky.

The event is made even more special as this is the first time that the collection has been displayed as a travelling exhibition. Following displays in Bern and Grenoble, the Museum of Fine Arts is the third venue, where audiences in Budapest can become acquainted with the most distinguished compositions of the Rupf-collection in the summer of 2007."

Source: Budapestinfo.hu