The Sonnabend Collection
REMAI MODERN 102 Spadina Crescent E, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7K 0L3

Gilbert & George, "BERRIES," 1985
12 panels, 241 x 150 cm. Courtesy of Antonio Homem and the Sonnabend Collection Foundation. © Gilbert & George
The Sonnabend Collection at Remai Modern features more than 100 pieces by 67 artists, including iconic works by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Candida Höfer, among many others.
This will be the Collection’s first exposure in Canada, and its most comprehensive presentation to date in North America. Developed through the vision of influential art dealer Ileana Sonnabend (1914-2007), her husband Michael Sonnabend (1900-2001), and their adopted son Antonio Homem, the Collection is among the most significant private holdings of modern and contemporary art in the world.
Through their galleries in Paris and New York, the Sonnabends established an international presence and fostered creative exchanges and new audiences for American artists in Europe and vice versa. Often, they championed artists early in their careers. They anticipated and influenced developments in art including Pop, Minimalism, Conceptualism, Nouveau Réalisme, Arte Povera, Neo-Expressionism, Neo-Geo, Photo Conceptualism and beyond.
The exhibition is curated by Homem and organized by Remai Modern in partnership with the Sonnabend Collection Foundation. Homem will share his experience of working alongside Ileana Sonnabend in a talk at the museum on October 5 at 2 PM.
A parallel program on opening weekend showcases two performances by avant-garde dancer, choreographer and filmmaker Yvonne Rainer, on October 5 at 7 PM and October 6 at 2 PM. Now in her 80s, Rainer continues to provoke and surprise. Continuous Project: Sixty Years was created this autumn specifically for Remai Modern and marks her first performances in Saskatchewan. It is a work in which — as the title suggests — Rainer has disinterred and re-combined ideas from a long life in the field of dance.
Rainer’s work often intersected with the works of artists on view in the exhibition. This is a rare opportunity to see one of the most important artists working in dance of the past half-century.
The Sonnabend Collection at Remai Modern gives viewers the opportunity to explore seven decades of artistic development through a wide variety of mediums, including painting, sculpture, performance and photography. From Pop to Minimalism to Neo-Geo, the exhibition offers insight not only into how artists were inspired by one another, but how they often broke the conventions of the styles and movements that came before them.
The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue, which is available at Remai Modern’s Art & Design Store and remaimodern.org. Visitors can also learn more about the exhibition at visitsonnabend.ca.
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