David zwirner books

In his 1989 book on Balthus-the storied and controversial artist who worked in Paris throughout the twentieth century-Guy Davenport gives one of the most nuanced, literary, and compelling readings of the work of this master. Reading it today highlights the change in perspectives on sexuality and nudity in art in the past thirty years. Written over several...

An unprecedented catalogue exploring the affinities and contrasts between Josef Albers and Giorgio Morandi-two of modern art's greatest painters. "Rarely seen together, the artwork of Josef Albers (1888-1976) and Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964) shares many similarities. Although they never met, both artists worked in series as they explored difference and...

Long overlooked in Proust’s posthumously published writings, Chardin and Rembrandt , written when he was only twenty - four years old, not only reemphasizes the importance of visual art to his development, but contains the seeds of his later work. Proposed in 1895 by Proust to the newspaper Revue hebdomadaire (it was rejected), this essay i s much...

There are many myths about Edgar Degas--from Degas the misanthrope to Degas the deviant to Degas the obsessive. But there is no single text that better stokes the fire than Degas and His Model, a short memoir by Alice Michel, who purportedly modeled for Degas. Never before translated into English, the text's original publication in Mercure de France...

Known for her evocative portraits, Diane Arbus is a pivotal figure in American postwar photography. Undeniably striking, Arbus's black-and-white photographs capture a unique gaze. Criticized as well as lauded for her photographs of people deemed "outsiders," Arbus continues to attract a diversity of opinions surrounding her subjects and practice. Critics...

Lineages of the eerie, the strange and the fantastical: from Blake, Goya and Redon to Borremans, Yuskavage and Marshall Endless Enigma: Eight Centuries of Fantastic Art explores the ways in which artists have sought to explain their world in terms of an alternate reality, drawn from imagination, the subconscious, poetry, nature, myth and religion. Endless...

In 1303, Giotto, then considered the preeminent painter in Italy, was commissioned to paint the Arena Chapel in Padua. The resulting Chapel and its panels, detailing the history, birth, life and death of Christ, rank among the greatest artworks ever created. John Ruskin (1819-1900) redefined art criticism in the 19th century through his attention to...

One of the most inventive artists of the twentieth century, Hilma af Klint was a pioneer of abstraction. Her first forays into her imaginative non-objective painting long preceded the work of Kandinsky and Mondrian and radically mined the fields of science and religion. Deeply interested in spiritualism and philosophy, af Klint developed an iconography...

A follow-up book to the popular Making a Great Exhibition, I Am an Artist offers young readers exciting insights into the many ways artists work and the reasons why they make art. Geared to children ages 4 to 8, but with appeal for all ages, this colorful and playful book asks: Who are artists? Why do they make art? What materials do they use? What...

Discover Joan Mitchell's powerful and dynamic work-spotlighted in this book as never before "An entry for one of the best shows of 2022. . . . Mitchell, then in her 50s, reaches peak form in gathering brushstrokes that flicker and burn like auras on fire." -Jerry Saltz, New York magazine This highly anticipated publication focuses on the years 1979...

A teacher to Jacques Lacan, André Breton, and Albert Camus, Koj?ve defined art as the act of extracting the beautiful from objective reality. His poetic text, “The Concrete Paintings of Kandinsky,” endorses nonrepresentational art as uniquely manifesting beauty. Taking the paintings of his renowned uncle, Wassily Kandinsky, as his inspiration,...

Never before translated into English, Rainer Maria Rilke’s fascinating Letters to a Very Young Painter , written toward the end of his life between 1920 and 1926, is a surprising companion to his infamous Letters to a Young Poet , earlier correspondence from 1902 to 1908. While the latter has become a global phenomenon, with millions of copies sold...

Best known for his iconic print Under the Wave off Kanagawa, also known as the Great Wave, Katsushika Hokusai was a revolutionary printmaker. His mastery of ukiyo-e in the nineteenth century has inspired generations of artists since, and his works exposed the world to the delicate beauty and power of Japanese woodblock technique. In addition to his...

Enter the workshop, meet the typographer, and discover the world of letterpress printing. A companion to the beloved title Meet the Lithographer, Meet the Typographer showcases the fascinating evolution and technique of letterpress printing in colorful and engaging illustrations. Armed with little characters made of lead, a typographer reveals the secrets...

An intimate testament to the power of friendship between two creative forces The painter and poet Émile Bernard’s firsthand account of the beloved painter Vincent van Gogh’s life offers deep perspective into the Dutch artist’s process, artistic preoccupations, and difficulties. In the 1890s, Bernard penned prefaces for collections of letters...

Virgina Woolf's collection of writings on visual arts offer a whole new perspective on the revolutionary author. Despite wide interest in Woolf's writings, her circle, and her relationship with the visual arts, there is no accessible edition or selection of essays dedicated to her writings on art. This newest edition in David Zwirner Books's ekphrasis...

The year before he died, in what was one of the most difficult yet prolific periods of his life, Paul Klee created his most surprising and innovative works. In 1939, the year before his death from a long illness and against a backdrop of sociopolitical turmoil and the outbreak of World War II, Klee worked with a vigor and inventiveness that rivaled...

Lebensztejn is one of France’s best - kept secrets. A world - class art historian who has lectured and taught at major universities in the United States, his work has remained almost entirely in French, his American audience limited to a sma ll but dedicated group of cognoscenti. First introducing the Manneken Pis ? the iconic little boy whose stream...

"Criticism is our censorship...." So begins one of the greatest invectives against criticism ever written by an artist. Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) wrote "Racontars de Rapin" only months before he died in 1903, but the essay remained unpublished until 1951. Through discussions of numerous artists, both his contemporaries and predecessors, Gauguin unpacks...

A selection from the memoir of Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, the renowned eighteenth-century French portraitist and one of the most important women painters in art history In her memoir, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun offers a candid and thoroughly enjoyable account of her life and art. She relates her encounters among the royalty and aristocracy...

Most known for her bold and darkly painted portraits, Brooks was revolutionary in her feminist renderings of women in resistance. Openly queer, she challenged conceptions of gender and sexuality in her art, which also served as her refuge. While many of her male counterparts were disfiguring and cubing their subjects—often women—Brooks gave personhood...

Summoning Pearl Harbor is a mesmerizing display of linguistic force that redefines remembering. How do words make the past appear? In what way does the historian summon bygone events? What is this kind of remembering, and for whom do we recall the dead, or the past? In this highly original meditation on the past, renowned art historian Alexander Nemerov...

"The Rail is the best publication of its kind in New York?and it keeps getting better." –Paul Auster Since 2000, The Brooklyn Rail has been a platform for artists, academics, critics, poets and writers in New York and abroad. The monthly journal’s continued appeal is due in large part to its diverse contributors, many of whom bring contrasting and...

A moving biography, told in vivid illustrations, this graphic novel features key moments in the life of Swedish artist and pioneer of abstract painting Hilma af Klint (1862-1944). Long-underrecognized, af Klint's sensational rediscovery continues to take art audiences by storm. Artist Philipp Deines traces the story of now world-famous af Klint's unique...