The exhibition „Erling Neby in the Arithmeum“ provided a personal view of concrete and geometric constructivist art as seen by a Nordic collector. Over a period of thirty years, Neby has been building up this collection in Oslo, and today it is unequalled anywhere in the world.

The central theme of the Neby Collection is Nordic concrete art, and artists from all the Scandinavian countries are represented with particularly typical works: Lars G. Nord-strom (Finland), Paul Osipow (Finland), Gunnar G. Gundersen (Norway), Robert Jakobsen (Denmark), Olle Baertling (Sweden), Bjorn Ransve (Norway), and Arne Malmedal (Norway). The Neby Collection, however, also covers the „classic“ concrete artists: Auguste Herbin, Jean Gorin, Ilya Bolotowsky, and Bourgoyne Diller, and also has some early works by Victor Vasarely, Jesus Rafael Soto, Aurelie Nemours, John McLaughlin, and Francois Morellet. Furthermore, this exhibition comprised not only a selection from the Neby Collection, but also additional works of art by Ilya Bolotowsky and Jean Gorin from the Arithmeum Collection which is in the process of being built up.

We extend our sincere thanks to our sponsors, in particular the Foundation for Art and Culture of the State of Nordrhein-Westfalen, and the Art Foundation of the Sparkasse Bonn. This exhibition bore evidence to the fact that the long and dark Nordic winters are not necessarily dismal and colorless, and that the Scandinavian geometric constructivist art in particular, with its bright colours, sets new standards that are second to none in purity and succinctness.