Artistic authorship is fundamental to how we interpret and value artworks. The figure of the solitary, creative genius underpins the symbolic and monetary values we ascribe to artworks; yet artistic authorship, like ownership, is often contested and unstable. This interdisciplinary collection of essays, written from legal, art historical and art market perspectives, critically examines the construction and iteration of the artist-author both during the lifetime of the artist and beyond – when artistic authorship is stewarded by others, including artists’ estates, foundations and museums.

Drawing on current cases and past legal disputes, this important anthology addresses enduring issues that have become central to the contemporary art world, such as the collision between artists’ rights and the rights of the owners of artworks, the problems of authentication and who has the final authority to determine authenticity, and the role of artists’ estates as legacy guardians.

A real mirror of 20th century creation, Chess Design presents an exceptional documentation on chess games made by artists, designers, architects, and craftsmen: chessboards themselves, but also artist’s drawings, execution plans and photographs of archives.

By presenting nearly 300 of these chessboards chronologically, the author offers a new perspective on the history of art and its evolution. Art Nouveau, Secession, Surrealism, Fluxus, Pop Art, most of the great movements that are born and follow one another in the Fine Arts find an echo with these chessboards and the 16 pieces that animate them. These chess games also reflect the evolution of techniques and materials used during this period: wood, glass, ceramics will give way, from the 1950s, to steel, plastic and composite materials.

At the border between the plastic arts and the decorative arts, these chessboards are made by big names in the art scene, design or architecture – Alexandre Rodchenko, Jean-Michel Frank, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Alexander Calder, or, more recently, Yoko Ono, Robert Filliou, Yayo Kusama, Victor Vasarely, Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry or Damien Hirst – as by anonymous people. The synthesis offered by the author constitutes a valuable and innovative historian’s work, supported by iconography that is both rich and mostly unpublished.

Text in English and French.

For a large part of his life, Jackie Kurltjunyintja Giles Tjapaltjarri (ca 1935-2010) led a nomadic existence, travelling across large tracts of and later spending time in small communities in Australia’s vast Western Desert region.

Jackie Giles was renowned as a man of great erudition and a powerful healer, Maparnjarra in his native Ngaanyatjarra language. The powers of these traditional healers include the gift of seeing into the bodies and even the spirits of others. In the 1990s, Jackie Giles started painting with acrylic on canvas. Mr Giles, as he was often called, combined an intimate knowledge of his land with his own oneiric visions to build what became a significant personal oeuvre. These paintings celebrate the Tjukurpa (Dreaming), which pervades the land and is a cornerstone of its identity.

Built around labyrinthine patterns and monumental shapes, these dynamic, rhythmical compositions allude to the esoteric, sacred subject matter of the Dreaming. The intense, striking works that make up this awe-inspiring oeuvre manage to link two dimensions: Ngaanyatjarra cosmology and the rapidly changing modern world.

Text in English and French.

Samuel John Peploe, John Duncan Fergusson, George Leslie Hunter and Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell – a set of radical artists who enlivened the Scottish art scene with the fresh vibrancy of French Fauvist colours. Despite only exhibiting together on three occasions in their lifetimes, and the term ‘The Scottish Colourists’ being coined retrospectively, the four shared much common ground. They were all born in Scotland in the 1870s, and at various different times each visited France to experience the burgeoning avant-garde scene, returning to Scotland brimming with new ideas. The influence of French painting – from Manet to the Impressionists, Matisse to Cezanne – stayed with them all.

Each of the Scottish Colourists achieved recognition during their lifetimes but fell out of favour by the Second World War, before being rediscovered in the 1950s. By the 1980s, they were widely recognised for their contribution to Scottish art, breathing new life into the scene, and leading the way for the next generation of artists.

This book brings together both popular and rarely seen imagery along with new research to take a fresh look at the fascinating and international lives of the four artists.

Reality Check shows an overview of a decade of Dutch realism in painting, photography, video, sculpture, installations, drawings and graphics. On the basis of over 50 artists – young and old, established and recently graduated – Sito Rozema – curator at Museum MORE – outlines the latest developments in realism in the Netherlands. What is it in our time that prompts the contemporary artist increasingly opt for a figurative visual language to explore reality? The catalogue, the participating artists themselves have their say: what does realism mean to them?

Text in English and Dutch.

A collaboration with the world’s most powerful NGOs, including UNESCO’s GEM Report, Mother Nature in the Bardo explores the impact between art, culture, and the environment. The book illuminates the innate connections between creativity and nature and inspires crucial conversations about humanity’s relationship with nature, sustainability and climate change. Bringing together historical and contemporary artworks from over 100 renowned international artists, galleries, institutions, estates and foundations, Mother Nature in the Bardo speaks to the most critical global dialogues of our time.

In 2024, the Preis der Nationalgalerie goes to Pan Daijing, Dan Lie, Hanne Lippard, and James Richards, the first time the award has gone to four artists. This new format for presenting the award looks at the exhibition as a collective conversation, seeking to expand the collection of the Nationalgalerie through the acquisition of four new productions. The prize-winners produce new works which will then be shown in this joint exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof. Pan Daijing works with sound, performance, installation, choreography and film, the art of Dan Lie addresses questions of ecology and non-human life forms, Hanne Lippard primarily uses her voice as her artistic medium, while the film-maker James Richards combines experimental techniques with a finely tuned sense for spatial arrangement.

This is the seventh in a series of publications accompanying presentations of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. It comprises a curatorial essay by Sam Bardaouil, an extensive interview with the artists by Agnes Rameder, as well as essay contributions by Tom Engels on Pan Daijing, Wong Binghao (Bing) on Dan Lie, Estelle Hoy on Hanne Lippard and Kristian Vistrup Madsen on James Richards.

Text in English and German.

As elsewhere in the world, mountains have been instrumental in defining identities in Switzerland. The theme has not ceased to fascinate artists and mountain landscapes have attracted photographers since the earliest days of the new art, when masterful work was produced during the last decades of the nineteenth century. Today mountain chains are seen differently, recognised as having an unsettling fragility in the face of their occupation by human beings. What remains of the myths linked to mountains? Are mountains still a source of inspiration for today’s artists? How do perceptions of them shift as their populations disappear, and references are increasingly centred on an urban existence? High Altitude provides some of the answers to these questions. This book has been conceived as a companion to the Swiss photography festival, Alt. +1000, held in Rossinière, a well-known village in the foothills of the Alps. High Altitude features works of contemporary photographers who record mountains in their various and multiple states: spectacular, sublime, domesticated, constructed (even artificial!) and frightening. Young artists from around the world, many of whom live far from a mountainous environment, celebrate and challenge deeply-rooted myths, and each in his own way tries to interpret this elusive landscape. The famous landscape photographer Olaf Otto Becker (Germany 1959), renowned for his views of Greenland, has been invited to make a portrait of a natural park situated close to the festival. He was chosen for the breathtaking beauty of his work, a beauty that nonetheless reminds us that nature is being radically modified by climate change. Unspoiled nature versus mountains altered by man is the theme interpreted by talented artists, whose visions are far removed from those of tourist postcards. Text in English and French.

Constantin Brancusi (1876–1957), one of the most influential artists of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism, is also referred to as the patriarch of modern sculpture. From A as in Africa to S as in Studio, D as in Dance, F as in Furniture or R for Reflections, this lavishly illustrated volume takes the open form of a dictionary to present Brancusi’s celebrated art in its full richness. More than 110 entries contributed by leading Brancusi specialists form a complete panorama of his career, from his native Romania to Paris, where he established himself in 1903, and to the United States, where his work was on display for the first time at New York’s legendary 1913 Armory Show.

Published in conjunction with a major exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the book sheds new light on Brancusi’s creative process, his relationship with materials, his use of film, photography, and drawing, and his taste for music. It also addresses the global reception of his work and analyses the views on it taken by the writers and critics of his time. Moreover, it explores as well the significance of Brancusi’s art today, highlighting its resonance with contemporary artists.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) is undoubtedly one of the most significant and influential architects ever. To the present day, his designs and realised buildings, as well as his thinking and writings, continue to initiate many controversial debates on the achievements and failures of modern architecture. Yet not only architects and urban designers have been inspired or appalled by Mies. This new book demonstrates that his influence reaches far beyond the boundaries of professional architecture. Almost Nothing collects work by 100 painters, sculptors, photographers, film directors, designers, cartoonists, and architects who comment on the buildings, designs, and statements by, or images of, the legendary architect. The works also form a 100-fold re-interpretation of Mies van der Rohe’s life and oeuvre. New York-based architect and writer Christian Bjone in his accompanying text provides rich background information on the individual artists and the depicted art works. The book’s title refers to a statement by Mies himself on one of his celebrated masterpieces, Crown Hall on IIT campus in Chicago, which ingeniously combines simplicity with complexity.

The shared medium of Katharina Hinsberg and Monika Gryzmala is drawing. The exploration of the line is central to the work of both artists. Many of these artworks transcend the traditional boundaries of the genre and, in their dynamic reach, take on an almost sculptural quality. While Katharina Hinsberg’s lines dissect space with meticulous clarity, Monika Grzymala’s imposing bundles of lines penetrate space with an eruptive power. The two artistic approaches are being shown together for the first time in the joint exhibition Between One Line at the Kunsthalle Mannheim. The accompanying catalogue was created through an ongoing dialogue between the two artists. Two sketchbooks formed the basis; the artists worked in them alternately, each visually “interrupting” one another, constantly striving to confront their colleague’s preliminary drawing work with their own understanding of the line, and exploring their artistic potential through a collaborative practice.

Text in English and German.

Through the early works of Andy Warhol and Eduardo Paolozzi, this book traces the development of their deep obsession with the machine. Looking at the way that both artists began in the late 1940s and the years following, the book illustrates their fascination with popular culture and the methods that they used in creating their art. Common to all their methods of making works was their hand-made quality. Only in the 1960s did the artists make the step to mechanical means to create their own artworks, resulting in the iconic images that are integral to our culture. As Warhol said of himself, there is only surface, with nothing underneath.

Published to accompany an exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, this catalogue presents a broad selection of works by Picasso, the great master of modern art, in an effort to stimulate a reflection on his influence and interaction with such leading Spanish artists as Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, Juan Gris, María Blanchard and Julio González: art reflecting on art and on the relationship between the real and the surreal, the artist’s heartfelt involvement in the tragedy of unfolding history, the emergence of the monster with a human face, and the metaphor of erotic desire as a primary source of inspiration for the artist’s creativity and world vision. Picasso and Spanish Modernity showcases works by Picasso and other artists, ranging from painting to sculpture, drawing, engraving from the collection of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. The works of art include such celebrated masterpieces as the Portrait of Dora Maar, Horse’s Head and The Painter and the Model by Picasso, Siurana, the Path by Miró, along with Picasso’s drawings, engravings and preparatory paintings for his huge masterpiece Guernica.. Included are the biographies of all the artists featured: Pablo Picasso; Aurelio Arteta; Rafael Barradas; María Blanchard; Francisco Bores; Eduardo Chillida; Martín Chirino; Pancho Cossío; Leandre Cristòfol; Salvador Dalí; Óscar Domínguez; Equipo 57; Ángel Ferrant; Pablo Gargallo; Julio González; Juan Gris; José Guerrero; Antonio López; Maruja Mallo; Manuel Millares; Joan Miró; Manuel Ángeles Ortiz; Jorge Oteiza; Pablo Palazuelo; Benjamín Palencia; Alfonso Ponce de León; Alberto Sánchez; Antonio Saura; José Gutiérrez Solana; Joaquim Sunyer; Antoni Tàpies; Josep de Togores; Joaquín Torres-García; José Val del Omar; Daniel Vázquez Díaz; Esteban Vicente.

Masks evoke scenes of carnival or African tribal rites, we may be thinking of death masks of famous people, theatre and fashion, cosplay, disguise, and of protection. They represent some of the most ancient and most controversial objects of our cultural history. Today’s artists look beyond the mere object, they are interested also in the social, cultural, and political meanings of masks. This book, published in conjunction with an exhibition at Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau in fall 2019, explores their appearances in contemporary art. Artists at all times have been attracted by masks and their symbolism. Through works by distinguished Swiss and international artists and concise texts the book demonstrates manifold approaches to the topic of masks. With contributions by Yasmin Afschar, Daniel Berndt, Hendrik Bündtge, Emily Butler, Wendy Chang, Michelle Cotton, Peter Fischer, Claire Hoffmann, Olivier Kaeser, Melitta Kliege, Susanna Koeberle, Elsy Lahner, Leo Lencsés, Bettina Mühlebach, Lena Nievers, Lucia Rey, Hermant Sareen, Jörg Scheller, Madeleine Schuppli, Angela Strecken, and Thomas D. Trummer.

Published to accompany the exhibition Mask: In Present-Day Art at the Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland between 1 September 2019 and 5 January 2020.

Text in English and German.

“The subtle forms and modelled curves and planes in a skeleton were to George Stubbs what a symphony is to a musician.” — Oxford Companion to Art

“The most unique thing of its kind ever compiled. This heroic effort, an epic of the eighteenth century, is as great and unselfish a work as anything could be.” — Sir Alfred Munnings

George Stubbs was one of the most original artists Britain has produced, and it is easy to forget how much his success was based on rigorous scientific observation. In 1756 he rented a farmhouse where he erected scaffolding to hold the cadavers of horses as he dissected and drew. After 18 months, Stubbs produced the drawings for The Anatomy of the Horse, which he later etched. The result was sensational. Scientists from all over Europe sent their congratulations, amazed at the perfection of the work. The Anatomy remained a textbook for artists and scientists for over a century, and its strange, spare beauty continues to fascinate.

This edition is taken from the 1853 printing, the last to use Stubbs’ original plates. The full Stubbs’ commentary is included for the veterinarially minded. Extensive texts by Constance Anne Parker and Oliver Kase place Stubbs’ work in the context of his life and times, and of 18th-century medical science.

In recent years, having received a considerable boost by social media, a young and dynamic scene has emerged that is dedicated to what has become known as queer tattooing. This special community, which is growing steadily, has been born out of a desire to break with the hierarchies and patriarchal structures of traditional tattoo art. It aims to create safe, tolerant, and inclusive spaces where queer, nonbinary, and trans people can experiment away from the mainstream and develop their own individual styles and techniques.

In their work, many tattoo artists break free from the destructive, heteronormative, and capitalist ideals of beauty, creating a visual language that subverts the long tradition of cultural appropriation which characterises the traditional tattoo scene. Their designs reveal a unique creative flair for queer iconography.

This book is the first comprehensive introduction to this vibrant and diverse queer tattoo community. It presents 50 international tattoo artists with the help of extensive portraits, texts, and series of images.

In the last twenty-five years contemporary art in Scotland has grown from a tiny and tightly knit scene to a globally recognised centre of artistic innovation and experiment. Generation Reader provides the first collection of key documents from the period including essays, interviews, critical writing and artists’ own texts. This publication will fill a significant gap in the scholarship of the period and provide a resource for the future, an illustrated guide to the ideas, events and debates that shaped a generation. The selected archive texts from the period will sit alongside some newly-commissioned writing which includes essays by the novelist Louise Welch and by Nicola White, Dr Sarah Lowndes, Francis McKee, Professor Andrew Patrizio and Julianna Engberg. GENERATION is a landmark series of exhibitions tracing the remarkable development of contemporary art in Scotland over the last twenty-five years. It is an ambitious and extensive programme of works of art by more than 100 artists at over 60 galleries, exhibition spaces and venues the length and breadth of Scotland between March and November 2014.

Located in the heart of Brussels, the Art et Margins Museum, an outsider art museum, questions art and its borders. Its collection has been built up since the mid-1980s with self-taught artists, art workshops for psychiatric patients and for those with learning difficulties. Its temporary exhibitions, at the rate of three per year, bring together artists from both sides of the margin, questioning the boundaries of art and its very definition. The museum’s anniversary year is an opportunity to propose a book richly illustrated with visuals, specially produced by a team of professionals, and to take stock of its rich collections of works by outsider artists built up over time.

Text in English, French, and Dutch.

After Tour Paris 13, a spectacular new project has come into being in Paris. The elevated section of metro line 6 now passes through an “open-air museum” all along the Boulevard Vincent Auriol: Boulevard Paris 13 with its immense murals, executed by the greatest international artists, and which can be viewed as if in a gallery of a gigantic museum.
You can enjoy or repeat this unparalleled experience through a richly illustrated book that relates the genesis and making of the project!

Text in English and French.