Finding 13: Hilla Rebay Catalogue Inscription

This inscription from Hilla Rebay to Solomon R. Guggenheim was found in a catalogue for the 1936 exhibition, Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection of Non-Objective Paintings, which was presented by the Carolina Art Association at the Gibbes Memorial Art Gallery in Charleston. The exhibition was the first of several to showcase Mr. Guggenheim’s collection prior to the 1939 opening of the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, later renamed the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. With the words “Not only art but also the great collector is the advanceguard [sic] of progress,” Rebay expressed her admiration for the man whose collection she helped build and for whom she served as first museum director. The middle panel of the title page includes an image of Rudolf Bauer’s No. 57, Blue Balls.

—Amanda Brown, NHPRC Grant Intern