Inge Asenbaum Collection

Inge (Ingeborg) Asenbaum (née Wald) was born in Vienna on January 6, 1925. Her mother's family had their roots in German-speaking Bohemia; her father came from a Jewish Hungarian family that had converted to Protestantism. After the completion of her schooling, she studied acting until 1943.

After the war, in 1947, she married Herbert Asenbaum, whose family were art dealers. In 1952 the young couple opened an antique shop on Kärtner Strasse, one of the premier business addresses in Vienna; while running the shop, Asenbaum developed a deep interest in antique jewelry and European design from the turn of the 20th century. She was among the first to assemble a collection of Viennese Jugendstil, an early modern German style echoing that of Art Nouveau in France and Belgium. In 1972 the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna (now known as MAK) named her a consultant for Jugendstil designs.

In 1973 Asenbaum opened the legendary Galerie am Graben, a center and hub for contemporary avant-garde jewelry. In the beginning, she financed exhibitions there for young and unknown jewelry artists through the sale of antique jewelry and art objects from the turn of the 20th century. Over time, her activity as gallerist allowed Inge Asenbaum to build up a highly significant collection focused on Central European jewelry in the second half of the 20th century. In addition, she supported artists in the former Eastern bloc countries and gave them opportunities to show their works in the West, collaborating on many exhibitions and injecting many of the artists she supported into the international museum scene. See the press release announcing the acquistion for more information.[url=https://www.dma.org/press-release/dallas-museum-art-acquires-collection-modern-and-contemporary-jewelry-featuring-more]https://www.dma.org/press-release/dallas-museum-art-acquires-collection-modern-and-contemporary-jewelry-featuring-more[/url]

Content from DMA Press Release.