Artbook Image Gallery

"Seated Woman (Dora)" (1938) is reproduced from Picasso and Paper, published to accompany the "spectacular" exhibition currently on hiatus at Royal Academy of Arts, which The Guardian describes as "nothing less than an accumulation of sacred relics." While nothing can compare to seeing the show in person, this superb 328-page exhibition catalog featuring 400 color reproductions and a host of scholarly essays does transport. And why wouldn't it? Picasso used every paper available to him, regardless of its normal function or archival durability—from antique papers with distinctive watermarks to wallpaper, newsprint and table napkins. He tore and folded paper, illustrated poems and letters, drew on envelopes and hotel stationery, made photographs, etchings, prints and much more. The astonishing range of works gathered here prove that, rather than using paper primarily for preliminary studies, Picasso "invented a universe of art" involving paper in almost any form, in the words of William H. Robinson. "This activity sprang from his inexhaustible compulsion to expand the boundaries of thought and aesthetic experience, and constitutes a significant contribution to the history of modern art."

ABOVE: Pablo Picasso, "Seated Woman (Dora)," 1938. Ink, gouache and colored chalk on paper, 30.1 x 22 in. Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Beyeler Collection. Photo: Peter Schibli © Succession Picasso/DACS 2019.

MoMA's spectacular catalog brings 'Judd' to life

"Untitled" (1991) is reproduced from Judd, published to accompany the first US retrospective of Donald Judd’s sculpture in more than 30 years, on temporary hiatus at MoMA. One of Judd's late works produced in Switzerland—a body of work described by one of Judd's longtime assistants, Jamie Dearing, as "kind of shocking, kind of like when Dylan started playing electric guitar," it is one of 350 color illustrations in a catalog that is as scholarly as it is visually illuminating. "There couldn’t be a better time to revisit an artist who doggedly confronted form, presence, and politics, Aria Dean writes in Artforum, "both on the page and in 'real space.'"

In timely 'Lines,' Shantell Martin seeks to understand "who we are at the core, as people"

Featured image—of Shantell Martin in her Broadway studio customizing a limited-edition bicycle for Martone Cycling Co. in 2015—is reproduced from Lines, Heni's beautifully produced new first-monograph on the artist known around the world for her iconic black-and-white line drawings. "The distinct character of Shantell Martin’s line resonates across her work, whether this line is drawn on paper, the wall or an object, and whether it is found in the art gallery, in the classroom, on stage in a club or on the catwalk of a fashion show," Katharine Stout writes. "Martin’s line is a line of enquiry into the endless possibilities of drawing, into experimental technology for this most primordial of mediums, and into the freedom to express who we are—and through this expression, discover who we are."

IMAGE GALLERY

the art world's source for books on art & culture