Harald Szeemann

Harald Szeemann (11 June 1933 – 18 February 2005) was a Swiss museum director, curator and organiser of exhibitions.

Exhibition catalogues

• Art suisse au XXe siècle / Schweizer Kunst im 20. Jahrhundert / Arte svizzera nel XXo secolo, Lausanne: Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, 1964, 132 pp. (French)//(German)/(Italian)

• Weiss auf Weiss, 1966. (German)

• Formen der Farbe, Bern: Kunsthalle Bern, 1967. [1] (German)

• Science Fiction, Bern: Kunsthalle Bern, 1967.

• Freunde + Freunde. Friends + Fruend. Karl Gerstner, Diter Rot, Daniel Spoerri, André Thomkins und Freunde, Stuttgart: Hansjörg Mayer, 1969, 200 pp. [2] (German)

• Live In Your Head: When Attitudes Become Form: Works-Concepts-Processes-Situations-Information, ed. Harald Szeemann, Bern: Kunsthalle Bern, 1969, [164] pp. Curated by Harald Szeemann. Video documentation. Exh. photographs. [3] [4] (English)/(German)/(French)

• Happening & Fluxus: Materialien, ed. Hans Sohm, Cologne: Kölnischer Kunstverein, 1970, [340] pp. Exh. curated by Hans Sohm and Harald Szeemann; held at the Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, 6 Nov 1970-6 Jan 1971. [5] (German)

• documenta 5. Befragung der Realität – Bildwelten heute, 2 vols., eds. Harald Szeemann, Marlis Grüterich, Katia von den Velden, and Jennifer Gough-Cooper, Kassel: documenta and Bertelsmann, 1972, 64+80 & 740+ pp. (German)

• Großvater: Eine Ausstellung und eine Einladung zur Subskription, Bern: Galerie Toni Gerber, 1974. Exh. brochure. (German)

• Junggesellenmaschine / Les machines célibataires, eds. Jean Clair and Harald Szeemann, Venice: Alfieri, 1975, 236 pp. Curated by Harald Szeemann and Jean Clair. (German)/(French)
  • Le Macchine Celibi / The Bachelor Machines, New York: Rizzoli, 1975; repr., Vienna: Springer, 1999. (Italian)/(English)
  • De jonggezellenmachines, Brussels: Vereniging voor tentoonstellingen van het Paleis voor Schone Kunsten, 1975, [28] pp. (Dutch)

• Monte verità: antropologia locale come contributo alla riscoperta di una topografia sacrale moderna, eds. Gabriella Borsano, Anna Della Valle, Claire Halperin, Ingeborg Lüscher, and Harald Szeemann, Locarno: Dadò, and Milan: Electa, 1978, 183 pp. [6] (Italian)
  • Monte verità. Berg der Wahrheit: lokale Anthropologie als Beitrag zur Wiederentdeckung einer neuzeitlichen sakralen Topographie, Milan: Electa, 1978, 191 pp. (German)

• Der Hang zum Gesamtkunstwerk. Europäische Utopien seit 1800, Aarau: Sauerländer, 1983, 511 pp. Review: Artforum, Rein (Kunstforum). (German)

• Zeitlos. Kunst von heute im Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, ed. Harald Szeemann, Munich: Prestel, 1988, 232 pp. Video documentation.

• Einleuchten Will, Vorstel Simul in HH, eds. Harald Szeemann and Carsten Best, Hamburg: Christians, 1989, 289 pp. Curated by Harald Szeemann. (German)

• LightSeed: Cy Twombly, Wolfgang Laib, Michel Verjux: An Exhibition, Tokyo: Waturi-Um, 1990, 115 pp. Curated by Harald Szeemann. (English)/(Japanese)

• Visionäre Schweiz, ed. Harald Szeemann, Aarau: Sauerländer, 1991, 304 pp. (German)
  • Suiza visionaria, Madrid: Museo Nacional Reina Sofía, 1992, 314 pp. (Spanish)

• Joseph Beuys: Ausstellung, Zürich: Kunsthaus, 1993, 316 pp. (German)
  • Joseph Beuys: exposición, Madrid: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, 1994, 320 pp. (Spanish)

• Austria im Rosennetz / Wunderkammer Österreich, 2 vols., eds. Jessica Beer (v.1) and Peter Noever (v.2), Vienna: Springer, Vienna: MAK-Oesterreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst, and Zürich: Kunsthaus, 1996, 336 & 336 pp. Curated by Harald Szeemann. [7] (German)
  • Austria im Rosennetz: visionair Oostenrijk, Brussels: Vereniging voor Tentoonstellingen in het Paleis voor Schone Kunsten, 1998, 336 pp. TOC. (Dutch)
  • Austria im Rosennetz: l'Autriche visionnaire, Brussels: Palais des Beaux-Arts, 1998, 336 pp. (French)

• Epicenter Ljubljana, ed. Mika Briski, Ljubljana: Moderna galerija Ljubljana, 1997, 112 pp. Curated by Harald Szeemann. (Slovenian)/(English)

• L'Autre. 4e Biennale d'art contemporain de Lyon, Lyon: Réunion des Musées nationaux, 1997, 221 pp. TOC. (French)

• D'apertutto / Aperto over all / Aperto par tout / Aperto über all. La Biennale di Venezia, 48a esposizione internazionale d'arte, 2 vols., eds. Harald Szeemann and Cecilia Liveriero Lavelli, Venice: Marsilio, 1999, 407 & 287 pp.

• Blut & Honig. Zukunft ist am Balkan / Blood & Honey: Future's in the Balkans, Klosterneuburg: Sammlung Essl, 2003, 287 pp; 2nd ed., 2004. Curated by Harald Szeemann. Interview with curator. [8] [9] (German)/(English)

• The Real Royal Trip / El real viaje real, ed. Alanna Heiss, New York: P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, 2003, 325 pp. Curated by Harald Szeemann. (English)/(Spanish)

• La bellesa del fracàs, el fracàs de la bellesa / La belleza del fracaso, el fracaso de la belleza / The Beauty of Failure, the Failure of Beauty, Barcelona: Fundació Joan Miró, 2004, 260 pp. (Catalan)/(Spanish)/(English)

• La alegría de mis sueños / The Joy of My Dreams: I. Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla, Sevilla: Funcación BIACS, 2004, 281 pp. Curated by Harald Szeemann. (Spanish)/(English)

• La Belgique visionnaire: c'est arrivé près de chez nous / Visionair België , eds. Barbara Costermans and Claude Fagne, Brussels: Palais des beaux-arts: Fonds Mercator, 2005, 92 pp. Curated by Harald Szeemann. (French)/(Dutch)

Publications

• Anfänge der modernen Buchillustration: die Buchillustrationen der Nabis [1960], Bern: self-published, 1973, 396 pp. Dissertation. (German)

• with Jean-Christophe Ammann, Von Hodler zur Antiform: Geschichte der Kunsthalle Bern, Bern: Benteli, 1970, 191 pp. (German)

• Museum der Obsessionen: von, über, zu, mit Harald Szeemann, Berlin: Merve, 1981, 239 pp. (German)

• Individuelle Mythologien, Berlin: Merve, 1985, 255 pp. (German)

• Zeitlos auf Zeit: das Museum der Obsessionen, Regensburg: Lindinger & Schmid, 1994, 413 pp. (German)

• Écrire les expositions, pref. Michel Baudson, trans. Mariette Althaus, Brussels: La lettre volée, 1996, 158 pp. Selected texts from 1969-1996. (French)

• editor, Beuysnobiscum: eine kleine Enzyklopädie, Dresden: Verlag der Kunst, 1997, 392 pp; repr., Hamburg: Philo Fine Arts, 2008, 392 pp. (German)

• Harald Szeemann: Selected Writings, ed. Doris Chon, Glenn Phillips, and Pietro Rigolo, trans. Jonathan Blower and Elizabeth Tucker, Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2018, 424 pp. Review: grupa o.k. (Art Journal). (English)

Interviews

• "Harald Szeemann Talks to Chinese Artists about Venice, CCAA, and Curatorial Strategies", trans. Karen Smith, in Chinese Art at the Crossroads: Between Past and Future, Between East and West, ed. Wu Hung, Hong Kong: New Art Media, and London: Institute of International Visual Arts, 2001, pp 148-161.

Literature

• Søren Grammel, Ausstellungsautorschaft: Die Konstruktion der auktorialen Position des Kurators bei Harald Szeemann. Eine Mikroanalyse, Frankfurt am Main: Revolver, 2005, 64 pp. Review: Bismarck (Perspective). (German)

• Hans-Joachim Müller, Harald Szeemann: Ausstellungsmacher, Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2006, 168 pp. Review: Bismarck (Perspective). (German)

• Tobia Bezzola, Roman Kurzmeyer (eds.), Harald Szeemann with by through because towards despite: Catalogue of All Exhibitions 1957-2005, Zurich: Voldemeer, and Vienna: Springer, 2007, 759 pp. Review: Bismarck (Perspective).

• Florence Derieux (ed.), Harald Szeemann: Individual Methodology, Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2008, 248 pp. Review: Bismarck (Perspective).

• Simone Soldini, Gianna Ruepp (eds.), Harald Szeemann: il viaggio meraviglioso / Harald Szeemann: The Wondrous Journey. La fabbrica, Mendrisio: Museo d'arte Mendrisio, 2009, [19]+53+[18]+27 pp. (Italian)/(English)

• Stefania Zuliani (ed.), La mostra è aperta: artisti in dialogo con Harald Szeemann, Salerno: Fondazione Filiberto Menna, 2012, 84 pp. (Italian)

• Doris Chon, "Harald Szeemann’s Museum of Obsessions: The Legacy of a Mythological Institution", Getty Research Journal 8, 2016, pp 247-256.

• Harald Szeemann: Museum of Obsessions, eds. Glenn Phillips and Philipp Kaiser, with Doris Chon and Pietro Rigolo, Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2018, viii+406 pp. Catalogue. Review: grupa o.k. (Art Journal).
  • Harald Szeemann: Museum der Obsessionen, Zürich: Scheidegger & Spiess, 2018, 406 pp. (German)

• Max Rosenberg, "Harald Szeemann and the Road Back to the Museum", Getty Research Journal 11, 2019, pp 107-132.

Documentary films

• Harald Szeemann - Ein Portrait, dir. Gaudenz Meili and Hans-Joachim Müller, 1992, 45 min. TV documentary. (German)
• A Closer Look: Being Harald Szeemann, 2013, 10 min. The Getty Research Institute acquires the Harald Szeemann archive.

Retrospectives, recreated exhibitions

• Harald Szeemann: Museum of Obsessions, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, February-May 2018; Kunsthalle Bern, June-September 2018; Kunsthalle Düsseldorf October 2018-January 2019; Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli, February-May 2019; and Swiss Institute, New York, June-August 2019. Review: grupa o.k. (Art Journal).

• Harald Szeemann: Grandfather: A Pioneer Like Us (1974), Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, February-April 2018; Kunsthalle Bern, June-September 2018; Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, October 2018-January 2019; Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli, February-May 2019; and Swiss Institute, New York, June-August 2019. A recreation of Szeemann’s exhibition. Review: grupa o.k. (Art Journal).

Links

• Harald Szeemann papers, 1836-2010, bulk 1957-2005, Getty. Digitised images. Finding aid.
• Profile on ADK (German)
• http://grupaok.tumblr.com/tagged/harald+szeemann
• Wikipedia