Heiner Friedrich

Heiner Friedrich—art dealer, collector, promoter, patron, museum founder—has, more than anyone else, shaped and enhanced the artistic landscape of the second half of the 20th century on both sides of the Atlantic. As of the 1960s he presented American artists— Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, Walter De Maria, Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly—in his Munich gallery and promoted European artists—Joseph Beuys, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Georg Baselitz—in the US. In 1972 he founded the Dia Art Foundation with his future wife Philippa de Menil. For over sixty years now and in an unmatched series of activities he has been establishing lasting artistic sites open to the public. On the occasion of Heiner Friedrich’s 80th birthday, this festschrift—in the form of a conversation with curator Corinna Thierolf and illustrated by 113 pictures of “his” artists and their works—reflects his career and pays tribute to his enormous contribution to 20th-century art.