Reflecting on the past year, 2022 has provided a momentous period for the Carl Heidenreich Foundation, ushering in new acquisitions and fresh scholarly perspectives while also bringing sad news of the passing of two important advocates for Heidenreich’s work, Emanuel Wolf and Monica Smith.

Carl Heidenreich, *Untitled* (Inventory no. 2188), 1963–64. Mixed media on paper. 34 x 25.5 inches. Unframed.

Acquisitions

The year began with the acceptance of two works-on-paper donated in December 2021 by board president Richard Buxbaum. The two works (listed in the catalog numbering system as no. 2185 and 2188) were painted in mixed media on paper between 1962–64 and are exemplary of Heidenreich’s late abstractions.

Untitled (Inventory no. 2188) is a powerful work, composed of a graphic, gestural loop in black paint circling within the frame of the paper. Its frenetic gestural movement is typical of other Abstract Expressionist practices (think of Cy Twombly or Pollock) yet the more strident form is layered beneath a vaporous translucency that is distinct to Heidenreich’s own hand. The work, primarily black and blue in color, presents a turbulent maelstrom rippling with the tension and tumult of paint applied quickly, as if, as Heidenreich stated, “it must be written in ONE movement” (Heidenreich, Reflections, 3).

In its cyclic form, Untitled is a poignant work to mark the end of one year and the beginning of a new one.

2022 also saw the acquisition of an oil painting and two works-on-paper by the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University. We are proud to have these works represented in the Eskenazi Museum’s stellar collection of postwar American artists. You can read about the acquisition here.

Scholarship

Much work was accomplished this year toward the publication of the forthcoming volume Karl/Carl: Three Takes on Heidenreich, which is now in the final stages of design. The publication features essays by Kathryn Barulich, Alla Efimova, Christopher Squier, and Jackie Valle, as well as reprinted articles discussing Heidenreich’s work by Anne Wagner and Hannah Arendt and reminiscences of her father by Monica Smith. Alongside these, the Heidenreich Foundation is pleased that scholar Rachel Schreiber has contributed an introductory essay to the project. We look forward to sharing the publication in print in the new year.

In addition, earlier this year Spanish Civil War scholar Andy Durgan published his book, Voluntarios por la Revolución (Barcelona: Laertes S.L. de Ediciones, 2022). The book focuses on the members of the POUM in both the Lenin International Column as well as the Batallón de Choque; Heidenreich was a member of the latter battalion and is featured frequently throughout the book. Read about Heidenreich’s place in Durgan’s history here and watch Durgan’s (English-language) lecture at the Orwell Society in October of this year at the link here.

Monica Smith with her father Carl Heidenreich.

In Memoriam

The Foundation fondly remembers Emanuel Wolf, who passed away in February of this year, and Heidenreich’s daughter, Monica Smith, who died on August 13.

Emanuel (or Manny) Wolf was a businessman and film producer, as well as an enthusiastic and steadfast collector. After moving away from New York, he lived for many years with his wife Patricia Recendez in Carlsbad, California. As a dedicated supporter of Carl Heidenreich’s career, he began collecting many of the artist’s paintings beginning in the 1960s and, upon Heidenreich’s death in 1965, purchased the artist’s estate in its entirety.

Monica Smith (1929–2022) was the only daughter of Carl Heidenreich and Lejah (Lia) Kagan. Born in Berlin, Germany, Smith witnessed World War II firsthand. As a child, she was forced into hiding alongside her mother and later was sent to stay with her grandparents in Berneck, when the Allied bombings made life in the cities dangerous. During the war, her father was forced into exile, and they would later reunite after the war, when she moved to the United States. Smith died in Washington State, where she lived for many years.

We send our condolences to the families of both Emanuel Wolf and Monica Smith.