Frederick Kiesler and the Censored Critique by Marc Dessauce
In 1996, a retrospective at the Centre Pompidou excluded Marc Dessauce's critical essay on Frederick Kiesler. The 34-year-old French academic based in New York accused Kiesler of borrowing ideas from Marcel Duchamp and fostering an unclear artistic perspective. Dessauce's essay, titled "Machinations: Essai sur Frederick Kiesler, l'histoire de l'architecture moderne aux États-Unis et Marcel Duchamp," was published by Sens & Tonka but garnered minimal attention. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 42. The article contends that the decision to censor Dessauce was unfair and emphasizes that Kiesler's contributions, such as the Endless House and the Art of This Century gallery—opened by Peggy Guggenheim on October 20, 1942—should be evaluated on their own merits.
Key facts
- Marc Dessauce's essay on Frederick Kiesler was censored from the 1996 Centre Pompidou catalog.
- Dessauce accused Kiesler of plagiarizing Marcel Duchamp and other artists.
- Dessauce's essay 'Machinations' was published by Sens & Tonka in 1996.
- Dessauce died in 2004 at age 42.
- Kiesler's City in Space was exhibited at the 1925 Paris Exposition.
- The Art of This Century gallery opened on October 20, 1942, at 30 West 57th Street, Manhattan.
- The gallery had four specialized rooms: surrealist, abstract, kinetic, and daylight.
- Kiesler's display methods included removing frames, using wires, movable arms, and peepholes.
Entities
Artists
- Frederick Kiesler
- Marc Dessauce
- Marcel Duchamp
- Peggy Guggenheim
- Théo van Doesburg
- Le Corbusier
- Konstantin Melnikov
- Piet Mondrian
- J.J.P. Oud
- Bruno Zevi
- Hilla Rebay
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi
Institutions
- Centre Pompidou
- Sens & Tonka
- Art of This Century
- Guggenheim Museum
- Artribune
Locations
- New York
- Manhattan
- 30 West 57th Street
- Paris
- France
- United States
- Vienna
- Catania