–Title Exhibition: THE HITCHCOCK COLLECTION: MATISSE – PICASSO – CHAGALL
-Artists: Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall
–Opening Night: Sunday 19 April, 5 pm with reservation
– Dates: 19 April to 3 May 2026
– Venue: Arthall, 8, triq Agius de Soldanis, Victoria, Gozo.
– Opening hours: Wednesday/ Thursday/Friday/Saturday: 10:00 -13:00 and 17:00-19:00
Sunday: 10:00-12:00; Monday/Tuesday: closed
– Website and Email: arthallgozo.com; arthallgozo@gmail.com
-Facebook/Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/ArtHallGozo/ @arthallgozo
DESCRIPTION
The late Ingeborg Mehren-Hitchcock is the central figure behind this remarkable collection of Modern Art. This exhibition presents a curated selection of eight artworks—lithographs, etchings, and pochoirs—by some of the most influential artists of Modernism: Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Marc Chagall.
Ingeborg Mehren-Hitchcock (1926-2026) carefully assembled an extraordinary body of work during the 1950’s and 1960’s—the flourishing period of Modernism in Paris and New York. The high value of these cornerstone pieces of Modern Art lies in the rarity of the selection, which exists outside standard numbered editions. All works were created during the artists’ lifetimes, and most include pencil signatures, references to special editions, and documented provenance.
These highly coveted artworks embody a unique convergence of art and history. When art meets history, collectors become beacons of legacy—guardians of culture and vital links in a chain connecting past and future. Often described as “bulletproof,” such blue chip artworks retain their pedigree intact.
BACKGROUND: THE HITCHCOCK COLLECTION
Ingeborg Mehren‑Hitchcock was a pioneering entrepreneur and businesswoman whose unique—and uniquely courageous—story reflects her search for beauty and meaning amidst the tumultuous labyrinth of the 20th Century.
Born in Moravia to an established Viennese family of mixed ethnicity, she narrowly escaped the Nazi occupation and horrors of World War II, settling with relatives in the United States. After completing her university studies and working as a lecturer and accomplished stage actress, she eschewed serious offers from Broadway to pursue opportunities in international commodities trade.
Still in her early twenties, her first major business success came during the great steel shortage of the late 1940s, when she was the only businessperson able to arrange steel imports into the United States. In the following years, her business activities brought her to Central and South America and ultimately back to Europe.
In the mid‑1950s, she briefly moved to Paris, where her partner, Fernando Puma (Friedman), an accomplished modern artist and publisher of Seven Arts magazine, introduced her to the burgeoning cultural circle of the era, which included personal acquaintances with such artistic and literary luminaries as Pablo Picasso, Dorothy Parker, and Henry Miller. Her sincere passion for modern art continued after Puma’s untimely passing at age 36.
In the 1960s, Ingeborg returned to the United States, from where she achieved unparalleled success at a time when the term “businesswoman” did not yet exist in the contemporary lexicon. She introduced over 60 United States products to Europe, including the first USDA beef, the first American turkey, and the first ruby red grapefruits. Her cooperation with the firm of Tropicana introduced her “Hitchcock” line of fruit juices, which are still available in stores today.
For Ingeborg, increasing success meant the ability to devote more resources to her expanding art collection, which continued to grow after her marriage to United States Secretary of Agriculture and Special Ambassador Prof. Dr. George L. Mehren. After living in Washington, D.C., and Panama, the couple resettled in Manhattan, where Ingeborg again became deeply involved in the New York art scene of the 1960s and acquired the most significant additions to her collection.
In 1969, her husband was selected by Nelson Rockefeller and Jack Heinz as the first President of the U.S. Agribusiness Council—a position that saw the couple travel on official missions and meet with leaders in more than 36 countries over the following three years. Ingeborg used the assignment as an opportunity to expand her collection further, establishing an Asian antiques collection alongside her fine‑arts palette.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Ingeborg expanded her activities to include significant wine and beverage imports into the United States. In the 1990s and 2000s, she became involved in film and television production, dividing her time between Europe and Hollywood, while also chairing numerous philanthropic and charitable events based in Luxembourg. In later life, she devoted more time to her passion for art and opened two “hobby” galleries—each called Belle Epoque—in Wiesbaden, Germany, and Maastricht in the Netherlands, finally finding a sense of peace.
Of course, navigating her 100‑year journey from penniless refugee to marketing pioneer and fine‑arts patron brought prominent companionships and friendships that included many of the most notable names of the twentieth century. World leaders such as U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, President George Bush Sr., President George Bush Jr., Vice Presidents Humphrey and Mondale, German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard, and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran were among her associates. She also maintained relationships with Nobel Peace Prize winners Prof. Norman Borlaug and Prof. Muhammad Yunus, as well as cultural icons such as Pablo Picasso, Orson Welles, and Sir Peter Ustinov, while remaining connected to notable families including the Rockefellers, Heinz‑Kennedys, H. L. Hunt family, the Hohenzollerns, Habsburgs, and Romanovs.
But ultimately, she was never changed by her success. Instead, she changed the terms of success.