Curated by Ewald Rathke and Toby Kamps

The discrepancy between Wols’s reputation in Europe and stateside is hard to overestimate. A household name there, the French-German Informel artist Wolfgang Schulze (1913–1951) long stood as proof that New York had not stolen the idea of modern art. In the United States, he at best remained obscure, at worst was belittled by the likes of Donald Judd, who issued this jab: “Most Americans, critics and painters alike, are not even sufficiently impressed by Wols’s threat to Pollock’s position to be interested in the argument.” With his first comprehensive exhibition to grace the US, after its debut in Bremen this spring, at Houston’s Menil Collection in the fall, Americans can finally see for themselves. The retrospective’s consideration of Wols’s relations not only to Informel but also to Surrealism—and of his production of not only paintings and watercolors but also photographs—promises a fresh reception, one both international and art historical in scope.

— Christine Mehring