Independent 20th Century, the Mise en Abyme of Art Fairs
Despite the mind-boggling amount of spectacular art on view, I was reminded at each turn that the Breuer Building has been turned into an art mall.
Independent 20th Century is an art fair nestled within an auction house that resides in a building once serving as a museum. This quintessential example of self-referential art, known as a mise en abyme, highlights the current state of the art world. The fifth edition of Independent’s modern art fair commenced on September 24 at the Breuer Building in Manhattan, a Brutalist landmark acquired by Sotheby’s in 2023.
Originally home to the Whitney Museum of American Art from 1966 to 2014, the Breuer Building later hosted the Metropolitan Museum of Art's contemporary galleries and the Frick Collection temporarily during renovations. The imposing structure, reminiscent of a museum's past, now hosts a plethora of "undiscovered" treasures, captivating the attention of collectors.
Among the impressive collection are works by late women artists who were not adequately recognized during their lifetimes. One such artist is Manina, an Austrian-Italian Surrealist whose paintings feature mythic visions of femininity. Despite exhibiting with Magritte at the Hugo Gallery in New York and showing at the Venice Biennale in the 1960s, Manina remains relatively unknown, partly due to the death of her only daughter, who left her with no estate.
Her paintings, priced between $40,000 and $160,000, are a testament to the fair's mission to "reframe the canon" of the past century's avant-garde. Works by Rosalyn Drexler, a Pop artist, are also featured, with her painted sculptures made from plaster, wood, and found objects. These sculptures, displayed at the Guggenheim in 1965, were overlooked for her paintings, which she began creating after her gallery closed.
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