Archive Journeys: Reise | The Art Scene, UK/US relationships

A decade of revolution | UK/US relationships | Artist critics

UK/US relationships

London is full of USA art-world right now: Lucy Lippard, Robert Rosenblum, Henry Geldzahler, Claes Oldenburg (whose show opens at the Hayward) Dan Flavin (on his way to and from Venice and John Weber's ins and outs), Ed Ruscha (doing prints for Alecto, and in/out of Venice), Robert Graham, Ken Noland, etc. etc.etc. - I'm trying to avoid it all by burrowing in the British Museum Reading Room and sorting out my head.

Letter from BR to Diane Waldman, 19/6/70

A defining feature of the art history of the 1960s and 1970s was its internationalism. American artists and critics travelled to Europe to promote and discuss their work, and European artists were represented in exhibitions in the States.

Barbara Reise's role in encouraging discussion and cultural exchange, and cementing links between artists of her adoptive home in the United Kingdom and American artists, was one of her most important achievements.

Pages from BR's passport showing European visas
© Tate Archive 2003

Letter from Barbara Reise
to Sol LeWitt
© Tate Archive 2003

Although she moved to the UK on a Fulbright Scholarship to study J.M.W. Turner, Barbara Reise was quickly drawn into the British contemporary art scene. Just three months after arriving in the country, she was invited to lecture about post-war American art at the Midland Group Gallery in Nottingham. In a letter to friends back home she provides a lively account of the experience:

Naturally I had a ball. I learned more about American art trying to explain it to the English than I had even known before, got into some good arguments, met some wonderful people, talked without notes and with a full belly of wine and steak, got invited to Birmingham to talke [sic]...and travelled back to London the next day with a whole new perspective on the British.

Letter from BR to 'Ones', 10 Nov 1966

As well as disseminating information about American art in lectures (in her teaching role at Coventry art school as well as frequent guest lectures at venues such as the Institute for Contemporary Art in London), Reise also encouraged American artists to lecture in the UK. In this letter to Sol LeWitt, Barbara discusses various artists writing for Studio International magazine and at the end, asks Sol if he would come to Coventry Art School to lecture or do a studio visit.

Barbara used her many contacts with artists and curators in the US and UK, to gain exposure for artists whose work she admired, recommending artists to galleries, suggesting exhibitions, and encouraging useful dialogue between her influential friends. One such friend was Lucy Lippard, the well-known feminist art critic, author and theorist.

Not so long ago, the British tended to view American culture as a somewhat deplorable offshoot of their own. We looked to them like Britons gone wrong. Nowadays, It's we Americans who like to think of the British as halting followers of leads and trends set here. Particularly in the contemporary visual arts, and especially if these have an avant-garde character, we are apt to assume that British achievement is shaped by American thinking.

From the foreword by Geno Baro in the Exh.Cat. 4 British Painters, Betty Parsons Gallery, October 1967

Letter from Barbara Reise to Lucy Lippard

Page from Barbara Reise's 1969 calendar showing artists' exhibitions and talks

Reise worked hard to ensure a regular exchange between the UK and US museums and galleries. In the following correspondence to Norbert Lynton at the Arts Council, she goes into detail about several exhibition ideas featuring British and American artists such us Richard Long and Carl Andre.

In 1971, just before the opening of the Guggenheim International Exhibition in New York, a large work by Daniel Buren was withdrawn without the artists consent. Shortly afterwards, the Guggenheim cancelled the Hans Haacke exhibition, and just over a month later, the Tate Gallery was forced to temporarily close the Robert Morris exhibition due to over-enthusiastic interaction with the sculptures by the public.

Such responses illustrate the anxiety major institutions felt at this time, when dealing with art of this nature. In response, Barbara Reise wrote an article A tale of two exhibitions: The aborted Haacke and Robert Morris shows in 1971, while she was working in the UK for Studio International whose editor was Peter Townsend. The essay, which included interviews with Guggenheim curator Edward Fry and Director Thomas M. Messer, formed part of a two-month article which examined the way two galleries on either side of the Atlantic dealt with the exhibition demands of different artists.

Letter to Norbert Lynton at the Arts Council

FACT FILE

Barbara Reise and E.J. Power

On arriving in the UK, Barbara was recommended by Barnett Newman to contact the collector and businessman E.J. Power. Power, a business man and well-known art Collector, would have been in his sixties when Barbara first dined with him in 1967, and by then he had already amassed a tidy fortune from his successful businesses making radio and television sets. He was exceptional in his foresight when purchasing art, being one of the few collectors to respond to new American paintings, indeed his financial help was vital in supporting Barnett Newman early in his career. Power's influence was not only financial; he orchestrated meetings of artists and critics and actively offered his knowledge of contemporary art to the benefit of institutions, exhibitions and public debate. He worked closely with the ICA, and later became a Trustee of the Tate Gallery.

I really felt like a Noble savage myself when I was introduced as "Miss Reise, of America" to the other 5 guests - all of whom had titles.

Letter from Barbara Reise to Professor Reff, 1/9/67