Charmion von Wiegand (American, 1983)

Charmion Von Wiegand (American, 1896–1983) is a De Stijl style painter. She began her art career as a writer and art critic in New York. Von Wiegand studied journalism, theatre, and art history at Columbia University. She served as editor of Art Front and wrote articles for The New Masses, New Theatre, ARTnews, and Arts Magazine. Apart from writing, she also made landscape paintings.

When Piet Mondrian (Dutch, 1872–1944) arrived in the United States, von Wiegand arranged to interview him for an article in The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. A close relationship formed between the two artists, and von Wiegand began to change her painting style completely. She believed that there was an intuitive and spiritual aspect of Neoplasticism explored by Mondrian that she wanted to explore as well. She became a member of the American Abstract Artists in 1941 and exhibited with them in 1948. She began making collages, such as Transfer to Cathay, using colored paper, tickets, menus, matchbooks, and handwritten notes arranged in a geometrical composition. This work is currently in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

During the 1960s, von Wiegand moved away from De Stijl and became interested in Buddhism. Although she still believed in the principals she learned from Mondrian, she began to make paintings using spiritual symbols and experimenting with automatic drawing. The Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach, FL, presented her first retrospective in 1982. In 2007, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery exhibited Offering of the Universe–An Artist’s Path from Mondrian to Mantra, which served as a survey of von Wiegand’s spiritual paintings and works on paper from the late 1950s through the 1970s. Her works can be found in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and The Whitney Museum of Art. The artist died in 1983. Von Wiegand’s estate is represented by the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery.

Timeline

1896
Born: Chicago, IL
1920
Attended Barnard College and Columbia University School of Journalism, New York, NY
1926
Began to paint
1929
Moved to Russia
1932
Returned to New York, NY
1941
Joined the American Abstract Artists group
1951–1953
President, American Abstract Artists, New York, NY
1980
Elected as member, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
1983
Died: New York, NY

Exhibitions

2010
Constructive Spirit: Abstract Art in South and North America, 1920s–1950s, The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
2009
The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860-1989, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Back to the Future: Alfred Jensen, Charmion von Wiegand, Simon Gouverneur and the Cosmic Conversation, Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, IL
Daughters of the Revolution: Women in Collage, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York, NY
2008
New York Cool: Painting and Sculpture from the NYU Art Collection, Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, NY; Palmer Museum of Art, Pennsylvania State University, PA; University of Iowa Museum of At, Iowa City, IA; Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME; Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN
2007
Charmion Von Wiegand: From Mondrian to Mantra, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
2006
Paper Works by Abstract Masters, Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York, NY
2005
Another View: New York School, Opalka Gallery, The Sage Colleges, Albany, NY
2004
Mood Indigo: The Legacy of Duke Ellington - A Look at Jazz & Improvisation in American Art, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY
2003
Charmion Von Wiegand: Improvisations, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
2001
1950-1965: Works on Paper, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY
2000
Charmion von Wiegand: Spirituality in Abstraction, 1945-1969, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1998
Charmion von Wiegand: Spirit & Form, Collages, 1946-1962, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
Defining the Edge: Early American Abstraction, Selections from the Collection of Dr. Peter B. Fischer, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
1996
Abstraction Across America, 1934-1946, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY
1993
Charmion von Wiegand: In Search of the Spiritual, Joseloff Gallery, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT (solo)
1992
Between Mondrian and Minimalism: Neo-Plasticism in America, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1985
Contrasts of Form:Geometric Abstract Art, 1910-1980, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
1982
Charmion von Wiegand: Her Art and Her Life, Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL (solo)
1977
Paris - New York, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
1973
Retrospective, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (solo)
Post-Mondrian Abstraction in America, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
1962
The Art of Assemblage, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Geometric Abstraction in America, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1961
Howard Wise Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1956
John Heller Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1954
Citadella d’Arte Internazionale e d’Avanguardia, Ascona, Switzerland (solo)
Zoe Dusanne Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1952
American Watercolors, Drawings and Prints, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
1948
Rose Fried Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1947
American Abstract Artist Exhibition, Riverside Museum, New York, NY
Rose Fried Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1945
The Women, Art of This Century, New York, NY
1942
Rose Fried Gallery, New York, NY (solo)

Literature

2000
Charmion von Wiegand: Spirituality in Abstraction, 1945-1969. New York, NY: Rosenfeld Gallery, 2000 (catalogue)
1998
Charmion von Wiegand: Spirit & Form, Collages. New York, NY: Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, 1998 (catalogue)