Reinhardt, Ad

Important archive of 90 love letters, handwritten love notes, illustrated cards, postcards and found-paper scraps, most of them signed ("A" or "Ad") sent to his former student and lover the artist Olga Scheirr.
The archives contains about 50 autograph letters, postcards, notes and poems, and about 40 original drawings, reproductions of artworks, clipped articles, cut-out paper hearts, all from 1954 to 1967.
Superb condition, in custom made display cases.

Exhibited Woodward Gallery, In the Mind of Me, 2009, and at the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, Easthampton, 2010

Perfect condition, in custom made cases.
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“If you’re in my mind and I lose my mind, do I lose you?”

Touching and passionate correspondence from the minimalist artist Ad Reinhardt to his former student Olga Sheirr.

In these approximately one hundred documents, Reinhardt showed himself to be a warm, romantic, sweet, attentive and also hot-headed lover. The correspondence begins in the early 1950’s with news from his travels and invitations for lunches or drinks. The letters and postcards soon become more intimate, and their relationship begins to blossom into a  romance at the end of summer, 1954. Reinhardt starts to write more passionaty, and some of the letters take on the qualities of poetry. He seems to be inspired by the name "Olga" and creates around it his unique hieroglyphic calligraphy. In November 1954, the letters “O.L.G.A.” are “love letters in the sand”. On 20 December 1954, he develops a series of pictograms which include human-faces and a stylized alphabet,  including nine variations on the word “LOVE”. “OLGA” means “LOVE” in every figure.

In 1955, Olga travels to Ohio. Reinhardt sends her postcards laying bare his obsession: “OLGA IN OHIO LONE LOVE”. In others, he draws a garland with her name encircling the card or makes a female nude with the letters of her name.

In spring 1955, Reinhardt travels in Asia, where the local art inspires the drawings he sends his lover. The texts of the letters begin to change into automatic poetry where successions of words show the pain of his separation from her and the unhappiness caused by the very real possibility of Olga getting married: “Its not nothing and not all and not all or nothing at all but something sometime not much and not all bad but good and as things go take them easy does it chin up cheer up things are lousy all over as far and near as I can see but don’t let my thoughts on thing tell you not to get some fun out of things anythings everythings schmbusiness schmarriage schmschool schmart schmsex schmsei gesund as long as your schmelty in my arms schsleep schwork schplay get some sun fresh air accept life you’re the eternal woman and you’re always in the minds of me”.

The love story has its ups and downs, especially from Olga's side. He sometimes expresses his jealousy and his obsession: “Olga, who’d you see in bloomingdales what is more interested in you than I am? Who the Blooming-bloody-airdale kept you from me blue-Monday? Who the blooding-bloomy-bastad comes between us? (…)Who the buzzing-brandy-and-benedictine-boozing-buzzard detoured you from your work to my pleasure?”. A break-up seems to occur in 1958 but the relationship picks up again in 1959. He sends her little cut-out paper hearts and attempts to write her a real love letter: “Someday soon I’ll have to sit down and write you a real love letter, now that you’re not a fantasy, now knowledge, proof that I did not dream you up, there you are, real, concrete, and I look at you all the time and since I see you how always I ought to see you more”. After another probable break-up, love remains and in 1966, a year before his sudden death, he still sends her passionate love letters, comparing her to the greatest women: “O I love you / (…) /when I’m with Sophia Loren / in the movies / I think of you / when I’m with Ava Gardner / I think of you / when I’m with the goddesses Devi or Kali / I think of you (…)”.