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Albers and Morandi: Never Finished

Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Albers and Morandi: Never Finished is a unique catalogue that explores the visual dialogue between two modern art masters, Josef Albers and Giorgio Morandi. Despite never meeting, both artists developed series that examine colour, form, and spatial relationships with Cezanne-like influence. Albers investigates colour interactions, while Morandi’s still lifes treat everyday objects as actors on a stage. The publication accompanies the acclaimed exhibition reflecting on their contrasting yet complementary approaches.
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Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book appeals to art enthusiasts, scholars, and collectors interested in modern art, colour theory, and the nuanced relationship between abstraction and still life. It suits readers intrigued by the work of Albers and Morandi or those keen on exploring innovative artistic dialogues within 20th-century painting.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

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 potential through their distinctive treatment of colour, shape, form, and morphology. They were also both influenced by Cézanne.

As master illusionists and experts in proportion, they tackle similar conceits from different perspectives. Albers focused on the effects of subtle or bold changes and interactions in colour, while Morandi made still lifes that treat simple objects as a cast of characters on a stage, exploring their relationship in space.

Published on the occasion of the critically acclaimed exhibition Albers and Morandi: Never Finished, the book illuminates the visual conversation between these two artists. With the exhibition hailed by The New Yorker's Peter Schjeldahl as "one of the best ... I've ever seen," this publication brings this unusual, thought-provoking pairing to your home.

Gorgeous reproductions are accompanied by a roundtable about form and colour between the exhibition's curator, David Leiber; Heinz Liesbrock, the director of the Josef Albers Museum Quadrat Bottrop, Germany; and Nicholas Fox Weber, the director of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, as well as an essay by the Morandi expert and founder of the Center for Italian Modern Art, Laura Mattioli.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

"Cultured" praises the book for its elegant presentation of how colour and light connect abstraction and representation. Peter Schjeldahl of The New Yorker lauds the exhibition as one of the best he's ever seen, highlighting the refreshing interplay between Morandi’s subtle universe and Albers’ architectural precision. He describes the artists as "brothers in perseverance," recognising their shared intensity and dedication.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781644230596

Publisher: David Zwirner

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 21 October 2021

Country: United States

Imprint: David Zwirner

Illustration: 50

Contributors:

  • Text by Laura Mattioli

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 229.0mm

Height: 254.0mm

Weight: 980g

Pages: 144

About the Author

Josef Albers (1888-1976) is considered one of the most influential abstract painters of the twentieth century, as well as an important designer and educator. Albers was born in Bottrop, Germany, and studied briefly at the Königliche Bayerische Akademie der Bildenden Kunst, Munich, in 1919 before becoming a student at the Weimar Bauhaus in 1920. In 1933, he and Anni Albers emigrated to North Carolina, where they founded the art department at Black Mountain College.

Giorgio Morandi was born in 1890 in Bologna, Italy, where he lived until his death in 1964. From 1907 to 1913, he was enrolled at the Bologna Accademia di Belle Arti, where he later served as the professor of engraving and etching from 1930 until 1956. By 1920, Morandi established the small-scale depictions of still lifes and landscapes that he would pursue throughout his oeuvre, and that were associated with no other school or style but his own.

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