This highly original collection tracks down the hidden affinities between gestural and geometrical-abstract art as of 1950, with special emphasis on the 1960s and the 1990s. The distinctive selection manifest in the collection not only features celebrated positions, it also represents surprising, lesser-known artists of high quality. Clearly the collectors' passion is for painting. Their collection links representatives of German Informel (Bissier, Winter, Hoehme, Brüning, and others) with Zurich Concrete Art, the ZERO group and minimalist approaches dating from the 1960s. Herbert Zangs and Hans Josephsohn, whose works mediate, as it were, between gesture and abstraction, have been assigned a special status in the collection.
Artists of younger generations continue to engage with this perspective, while also integrating conceptual approaches. As a result, a charming dialogue emerges between Austrian positions (Zitko, Brandl, Bohatsch, Scheibl, Caramelle) and works by Nicola de Maria, Rosemarie Trockel, Alighiero Boetti, Martin Disler or Leiko Ikemura. Finally, Rütjer Rühle, who has so far received little attention internationally, is amply represented in the collection.
By highlighting common points that exist between two strands of a tradition which were always regarded as opposites, both by the artists themselves and by the chroniclers, the Monauni Collection permits a refreshingly non-academic view of a historical debate. The exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein acknowledges the particular quality of this collection, while also testifying to the vitality of private collecting activities in the Principality of Liechtenstein.