Books by Stefan Gronert
Gerhard Richter: Editions 1965-2004: Catalogue Raisonné
by Gerhard Richter, Hubertus Butin, Stefan Gronert
Though Gerhard Richter is one of the most accomplished and best-known contemporary German artists, and his paintings are widely exhibited, his collectorís editions have attracted relatively little public attention. This catalogue raisonné, compiled through intensive research over a period of many years by art historian Hubertus Butin, Richter's former assistant, documents the full range of graphic and photographic editions as well as the artistís books, multiples and editions in oil realized by the artist between 1965 and 2004. This publication presents four-color illustrations of each and every one of these collector's editions. The illustrations, accompanied by basic texts, shed new light on the significance of Gerhard Richter's editions within the context of his complete oeuvre. Richterís painting reflects the influence of his interest in photography, and a closer look at his collector's editions reveals, in a somewhat different way, the extent to which Richter's art is based upon visual reproductions of reality. Through his reflections on the various pictorial motifs as well as the media and technical processes involved in his work, the artist has succeeded in introducing new information to the body of materials that aim to document his production.
Copies
No copies available.
Sigmar Polke: Girlfriends (Afterall Books / One Work)
An illustrated exploration of Girlfriends (1965/66), one of Sigmar Polke's important early paintings.
The artist Sigmar Polke (1941–2010) worked across a broad range of media—including photography, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and film—and in styles that varied from abstract expressionism to Pop. This volume in Afterall's One Work series offers an illustrated exploration of Freundinnen (Girlfriends 1965/66), one of Polke's important early paintings. Taken from a found image of two young women, and using the raster dots also found in mass media reproductions, Girlfriends offers a statement about the use and social function of images.
Stefan Gronert approaches Girlfriends through its deliberate and elusive ambiguity, providing technical detail and historical background that allow some of the work's motivation and depth to become clearer. Gronert analyzes Polke's relationship to his tutors and peers, especially Gerhard Richter; describes the art historical context in which Polke worked; and discusses some of the social and political issues to which Girlfriends refers. Considering such topics as the distinction between Polke and Alain Jacquet in their use of photographed material, between Polke's use of the raster technique and that of Roy Lichtenstein, and the feminist discourse of the time, Gronert draws on a variety of critical interpretations of Polke's work, including some material that has not yet been translated into English.
Copies
No copies available.
Lewis Baltz
A protagonist of the New Topographics movement, Lewis Baltz (born 1945) not only revived American landscape photography, but also revolutionized the photographic pictorial language of the 1970s. His black-and-white images of industrial landscapes, dreary suburban neighborhoods and wastelands introduced radically new motifs, which were debuted in the now legendary 1975 exhibition The New Topographics alongside the work of Robert Adams, Stephen Shore and Henry Wessel, Jr. Made in close collaboration with Lewis Baltz, this volume reproduces such series as The Tract Houses (1969–71), Maryland (1976), Nevada (1977), Park City (1978–80), San Quentin Point (1981–83), The Canadian Series (1985), Candlestick Point (1987–89), Sites of Technology (1989–91) and several others. Essays contextualize Baltz’s work in the larger art and photography climate of the 1970s, and discuss his application of cinematic strategies to photography.
Copies
No copies available.