Joseph Leo Koerner

An art historical epic for dangerous times What do artworks look like in extreme cases of collective experience? What signals do artists send when enemies are at the city walls and the rule of law breaks down, or when a tyrant suspends the law to attack from inside? Art in a State of Siege tells the story of three compelling...

In this visually stunning and much anticipated book, acclaimed art historian Joseph Koerner casts the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel in a completely new light, revealing how the painting of everyday life was born from what seems its polar opposite: the depiction of an enemy hell-bent on destroying us. Supreme virtuoso of the bizarre, diabolic, and outlandish, Bosch...

Caspar David Friedrich and the Subject of Landscape, Second Edition by Joseph Leo Koerner explores the work of Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840), the greatest painter of the Romantic movement in Germany. Friedrich was perhaps Europe's first truly modern artist. His melancholy landscapes, often populated by lonely wanderers, represent experiments towards a radically subjective art. This compelling and highly original book,...