Author: Christiane Wunsch
‘The most expensive photos ever taken’: the space shots that changed humanity’s view of itself
Link to the article
L’Âge atomique – Les artistes à l’épreuve de l’histoire | The Atomic Age Artists put to the test of history
The Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris is inviting visitors to take a new look at the history of modernity in the 20th century via the imaginary world of the
atom. The exhibition is an opportunity to explore the artistic representations sparked by the scientific discovery of the atom and its applications, in particular the nuclear bomb, whose devastating consequences changed the fate of humanity. Bringing together some 250 works – paintings, drawings, photographs, videos and installations – as well as documentation that has often been previously unpublished, the exhibition shows, for the first time in a French museum, the widely differing different stances adopted by artists in the face of scientific advances and the controversies they have given rise to.
Dealing with a subject now more topical than ever, the exhibition is in keeping with the museum’s desire to reflect contemporary cultural and social concerns in its programming.
DANIEL BLAU has contributed 27 photos from our collection to enrich the exhibition
Exhibition Dates:
11 October 2024 – 9 February 2025
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am–6pm
Late closing: Thursday 9:30pm
Info:
Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris
11 Avenue du Président Wilson
75116 Paris
Tel. 01 53 67 40 00
www.mam.paris.fr
Tickets:
Admission
Full rate: 15€
Concessions: 13€
Find more information about tours here
Download press release published by the museum here

Paris Photo 2024
The Brilliance of the Actual View
It is easy to overlook, like forgetting the fact of our breathing: nothing is more often photographed than air.
Take that simple observation, though, and expand it, explode it, play with it – and whole new worlds of possibility reveal themselves. For Paris Photo 2024, DANIEL BLAU aims to do exactly that. Air is our theme, its absence, its alteration.
We look forward to seeing you in Paris.
PARIS PHOTO
Grand Palais
75007 Paris
Booth: B24
Fair Dates:
Public Opening:
November 7 – 9, 2024
Opening Hours:
1 pm – 8 pm
November 10, 2024
Opening Hours:
1 pm – 7 pm

Art Basel 2024
DANIEL BLAU is pleased to present an exhibition of eleven outstanding artists exploring the fissures at the hinge of humanity this year at ART BASEL 2024.
Dan Asher, Georg Baselitz, George Condo, Jean Fautrier, Llyn Foulkes, Antonius Höckelmann, Eugène Leroy, Robert Rauschenberg, Julian Schnabel, Don Van Vliet and Andy Warhol.
Interior and exterior, landscape and mindset, chaos and form: art thrives on tracing the dichotomies of our human existence in the world, and the mid-20th century found its great artists toying with and teasing out the creative potential of our fundamental conflicts with vibrant energy.
Fair Dates:
Vernissage:
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
5 pm – 8 pm
Public Days:
June 13 – 16, 2024
11 am – 7 pm
Booth E16
Messeplatz 10
4005 Basel
Download press release here

Die diesjährige Frühjahrsausstellung von DANIEL BLAU präsentiert zwei Werkkomplexe der renommierten Künstler Alfred Jensen (1903 – 1981) und A.R. Penck (1939 – 2017). Beide sind bekannt für ihr abstraktes Kunstschaffen, das komplexe Konzepte und gesellschaftliche sowie philosophische Ideen vereint.
Klare Linienführung und starke grafische Präsenz prägen ihre Werke ebenso, wie ihre kraftvolle Bildsprache. Sie erzeugen sowohl emotionale, wie intellektuelle Resonanz.
Alfred Jensen, bekannt für seine abstrakten, geometrischen Werke beschäftigte sich intensiv mit mathematischen Theorien, Zahlensystemen oder Kalender-Konzepten, u.a. dem Maya-Kalender. Seine Bilder sind durchdachte Darstellungen von kosmischen Ordnungen und philosophischen Ideen, und zeigen auch seine Auseinandersetzung mit der Farbenlehre Johann Wolfgangs von Goethe auf. Intellektuelle Erforschung und Komplexität treffen auf farbintensive geometrische Formen. Eine Auswahl von pastosen Gemälden und Malereien auf Papier soll einen Überblick über das Schaffen eines der bedeutendsten Vertreter des US-amerikanischen Abstrakten Expressionismus zeigen.
A.R. Pencks acht-teilige Tusche-Zeichnungen „Serie E“ demonstrieren seine Vielseitigkeit in der künstlerischen Ausdrucksform. Die Serie entstand im Jahr 1969 und zeichnet sich durch ihre abstrakten und grafischen Elemente sowie der Farbwahl aus. Penck verwendet in dieser Serie oft einfache Formen, wie Kreise, Quadrate und Dreiecke. Der Buchstabe „E“ stand für Penck für Existenz und Einheit. In ihrer abstrakten Art bilden die Zeichnungen diese Symbolik ebenso ab. Bei genauerer Betrachtung sind alle Zeichnungen durch eine Zäsur in der Mitte des Blattes geteilt. So drückte Penck die Spannung zwischen Kunst und Gesellschaft aus. Auch die Beschäftigung mit politischen Realitäten seiner Zeit, wie der Teilung Deutschlands ist immer wieder Gegenstand seiner Werke.
Die Ausstellung präsentiert Werke der beiden Künstler und ihre einzigartigen Stile und stellt sie in einen faszinierenden Dialog, zwischen Farbe und Form, Geometrie und Theorie.
DANIEL BLAU’s spring exhibition this year presents two sets of works by the renowned artists Alfred Jensen (1903 – 1981) and A.R. Penck (1939 – 2017). Both are known for their abstract pieces which combine complex concepts and social-philosophical ideas.
Clear line strokes and strong graphic presence shape their work as much as their powerful visual language. They resonate emotionally as well as intellectually.
Alfred Jensen, known for his abstract, geometrical works, was focused intensively on mathematical theories, counting systems or calendar concepts – for example, the Mayan calendar. His pictures are considered representations of strange orders and philosophical ideas, and also exhibit his examination of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s teachings on color theory. Intellectual exploration and complexity meet vividly colorful geometrical forms. A selection of paintings in oil and on paper provide an overview of the works of one of the most significant agents of American Abstract Expressionism.
A.R. Penck’s ‚Serie E‘ – a series of eight ink drawings – demonstrate his versatility in artistic expression. The series was made in 1969 and is characterized by its abstract and graphical elements as well as its color palette. In this series, Penck often used simple forms such as circles, squares and triangles. The letter ‚E‘ stands, for the artist, for ‚Existenz und Einheit‘ or existence and unity. Equally, the pictures deconstruct this symbolism through their abstraction. Upon closer inspection, all of the drawings are divided through the middle of the page by a central caesura, used by Penck to express the tension between art and society. His occupation with the political realities of his time, such as the division of Germany, is also a recurring subject in his works.
The exhibition presents works by both artists and their respective stiles, placing them in a fascinating dialogue: between color and form, geometry and theory.
Exhibition Dates:
Spring & Walk
April 13, 2024
presented by Initiative Münchner Galerien zeitgenössischer Kunst
11am – 6pm | mon – fri
Maximilianstraße 26, 80539 München
SPECIAL GUIDED TOUR 5:
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Meeting point:
from 3pm at Daniel Blau, Maximilianstr. 26
Tickets:
from the guide
Duration:
approx. 2 hours
Costs:
15,- € per person
Registration required:
info@muenchner-galerien.de
Tel. +49 (0) 89 288 08 509
Find more information about guided tours here

“Sun is the Hidden Number”, 1965,
gouache on paper cotton board,
127,0 x 101,6 cm, © Alfred Jensen, courtesy Daniel Blau, Munich
Alfred Jensen – A.R.Penck. Geometrie und Theorie in Farbe und Form
Our next exhibition, Farbe und Geometrie (Color and Geometry), will begin on 26 March and feature eleven works: four by Alfred Jensen (1903-81) and eight by A.R. Penck (1939-2017). Both artists are known for their abstract pieces which combine complex concepts with social-philosophical ideas.
Jensen’s work was focused on mathematical theories, numeral systems, Goethe’s teachings on color or the Mayan calendar. His drawings and paintings are considered representations of cosmic orders and philosophical ideas.
In the eight ink drawings from the „Serie E“, Penck uses simple forms such as circles, squares and triangles. Upon closer inspection, all of the drawings are divided by a central caesura. The tension between art and society and Penck’s occupation with the political realities of his time, like the division of Germany, are palpable.
The exhibition places select works by both artists into a dialogue, between color and form, geometry and their theories and demonstrates their clear line strokes and strong graphic presence..
Exhibition Dates:
March 26 – May 7, 2024
11am – 6pm | mon – fri
Maximilianstraße 26, 80539 München
The works in the exhibition are for sale. Please contact us for availability and prices.

“Sun is the Hidden Number”, 1965,
gouache on paper cotton board,
127,0 x 101,6 cm, © Alfred Jensen, courtesy Daniel Blau, Munich
Antonius Höckelmann
DANIEL BLAU, at the Maximilianstraße gallery, is pleased to present a new exhibition of works on paper by the extraordinary German artist Antonius Höckelmann (1937-2000). The exhibition opens today, Thursday 15th February.
Höckelmann studied sculpture, from 1951 until 1957, with Karl Hartung in Berlin, concentrating especially on wood as a material. It was only a gradual process of self-discovery that led him to drawing. His breakthrough came in 1977, with his participation in documenta 6; he returned to Kassel for documenta 7 in 1982, cementing his position in the contemporary art scene with numerous exhibitions throughout the decade, often alongside fellow artists like Georg Baselitz and A.R. Penck. Many of his works resist easy classification, bringing the disciplines of sculpture and painting together in one single piece; he will often combine materials both traditional and strikingly modern, like wood and bronze or Styrofoam and aluminum, in the same sculpture, before covering it in color as well.
The exhibition in the Maximilianstraße gallery spans a vibrant arc of creative years from 1964 until the early 1980s, featuring exclusively works on paper. Höckelmann here employs pastel, charcoal, graphite, and watercolor to conjure forth a host of sculptural and abstract shapes, of pastoral figures and creatures of fable and fantasy. There are echoes of Mannerism and the Baroque, too, lingering motifs from the artist’s time in Italy, and his intense study of those artistic eras. His compositions, charged with an electric sense of tension and suspense, burst with movement and dynamic surfaces, spirals and vegetative forms unfolding the cosmos of his drawings to the audience before them.
The exhibition will run until March 26th, featuring an overview of Höckelmann’s work on paper. The twelve pieces on display are excellent representatives of his art’s power and vitality, each conveying in its own way the power coursing through all his work, in its handling of color and form, of the figurative and the abstract.
Exhibition Dates:
February 15 – March 26, 2024
11am – 6pm | mon – fri
Maximilianstraße 26, 80539 München
The works in the exhibition are for sale. Please contact us for availability and prices.

~ Hooks Deluxe ~
Fish Hooks of the Pacific Islands deluxe box set
15 copies only!
The handmade slipcase contains:
The edition is limited to 15 signed copies, numbered I-XV/XV
Price: 1900 € (excl. shipping & VAT)
Please order your copy, on a first come first serve basis here

Andy Warhol – Daido Moriyama
January 19 – 28, 2024
DANIEL BLAU is pleased to present ten new works by Daido Moriyama, along with seven of Andy Warhol’s drawings from the 1950s, at the 2024 edition of The Winter Show, taking place in New York City from January 19th to 28th.
Andy Warhol moved to New York City in 1949, immediately after earning his bachelor’s degree. He quickly made a name for himself in the sphere of commercial art, making illustrations for advertising campaigns and fashion magazines. The city shaped Warhol’s career, and during his first decade there he allowed himself to follow a dual approach to his art, a dichotomy that can be clearly seen in these drawings. On the one hand, he established his own personal freehand style, instinctive and thoughtful; on the other, he
began creating images that were easily reproducible and in unmistakable conversation with the world of advertising into which he had stepped. It was also during this phase of his career that Warhol developed his ‘blotted line’ technique, which allowed him to present a variety of different versions of his advertising ideas to clients.
Moriyama’s new works are the products of a richly complex process of creation, too. His typical approach to work involves walking through the streets around him, impulsively photographing his surroundings to capture the essence of any place he finds himself in. During his monthlong trip to New York in 1971, Moriyama employed a 35mm “half-frame”
camera, meaning that each negative frame would in fact hold two, halfsized individual exposures. Each ‚complete image‘ shows the subject in two facets captured moments apart. The artist captured over 2,000 images this way.
In 2023, Moriyama used a screen-printing technique to transfer a selection of these dual images onto large, individual canvases. The resulting works showcase Moriyama’s long-standing interest in the concept of “are, bure, bokeh”– roughly translatable as “rough, coarse, out-of-focus” – which, here,illuminates, evoked in shimmering bronzes and blacks, the atmosphere of a New York at night.
Moriyama’s 2023 creations still carry all the spontaneity of his work in 1971. His return to the series after more than fifty years also shows his rethinking of the artistic process and his experimenting with possibilities of repetition. He was surely also inspired by Andy Warhol’s concept of “seriality”. In fact, it was Warhol himself who lured Moriyama to New York in the first place and Moriyama photographed him at the time.
Our Winter Show exhibition for 2024 is able to show how these two artists respond to the city in ways that both diverge and intersect, that distinguish themselves and occasionally overlap. Warhol and Moriyama were both drawn to New York’s zeal for commerce and advertising – Warhol to Madison Avenue, where he found success as a commercial
artist, and Moriyama to the bright lights and neon signs of the city itself (recurring motifs found not only in this series but across his entire oeuvre). The use of street photography, Moriyama’s defining genre, was also a part of Warhol’s artistic process, as was the use of a range of loosely categorizable subjects including cats, cars, and flowers. We can see how these motifs came to engage Moriyama as well as he explored the city, whether wandering the Flower District or the corridors of his hotel. Both artists also clearly felt drawn to pay particular attention to the city’s fire hydrants: Moriyama photographs one in the instants before it is lost in clouds of New York City street steam, while Warhol flanks his hydrants with two women’s cartoonish legs, seemingly leaning against the red iron. Those female feet bear shoes of special noteworthiness: they are drawn in the same style that earned Warhol his job as the ‘sole’ illustrator for the I. Miller shoe company between 1955 and 1957.
DOWNLOAD press release Winter Show 2024
Opening Night Party:
January 18, 2024, 5 – 9 pm
Young Collectors Night:
January 25, 2024, 6 – 9 pm
Connoisseurs Night:
January 26, 2024, 5:30 – 8 pm
Opening Hours:
Friday, Jan. 19, 12 pm – 8 pm
Saturday, Jan. 20, 12 pm – 7 pm
Sunday, Jan. 21, 12 pm – 6 pm
Monday, Jan. 22, 12 pm – 8 pm
Tuesday, Jan. 23, 12 pm – 5 pm
Wednesday, Jan. 24, 12 pm – 8 pm
Thursday, Jan. 25, 12 pm – 5 pm
Friday, Jan. 26, 12 pm – 8 pm
Saturday, Jan. 27, 12 pm – 7 pm
Sunday, Jan. 28, 12 pm – 6 pm
Visit Website: The Winter Show
The 70th edition of The Winter Show will be held in the historic Park Avenue Armory where a breadth of works spanning 5,000 years will be presented by over 68 internationally renowned dealers. Myriad works from paintings and works on paper, fine furniture, and design, to jewelry, and contemporary ceramics and glass will be on view. Famed for its rigorous vetting practices carried out by a committee of 120 experts, the Fair’s exhibitors offer works of the highest standards of authenticity and quality in the industry.
illustration: © 2024 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
and © Daido Moriyama Photo Foundation, Courtesy of Akio Nagasawa Gallery, Tokyo

No Place for a Vacation
DANIEL BLAU is pleased to share that this year’s winter exhibition in the gallery on Maximilanstraße will be “No Place for a Vacation”, a selection of twenty-one NASA- and underwater photographs from the mid-to-late 20th century.
Exhibition Dates:
December 7, 2023 – January 23, 2024 | extended until February 9, 2024
11am – 6pm | mon – fri
Maximilianstraße 26, 80539 München
The works in the exhibition are for sale. Please contact us for availability and prices.
