The Hague, Netherlands.
From Picasso to Sol LeWitt. The artist’s book since 1950
Meermanno Museum, 15 March – 13 July, 2014.
The late nineteenth century was in France the time of the livre de peintre: special, luxurious books which often combined a renowned literary work with original artwork by a contemporary visual artist. Over time text and images in these books increased in visual unity as artists acquired more control over the contents and the final design.
In the fifties a new type of artist’s book emerged, cheap and simply produced with a strong visual character. A publication designed as a whole and which was often made by hand by the artist.
Despite theit modest price this type of artist’s book still only interested a small number of people. Despite this, the artist’s book remained for many (young ) artists a very attractive art form which they could make their own.
The exhibition opens with some classic examples of the livre de peintre, with works by Picasso and Matisse before going on to cover a broad range of artists’ books from the international art world since 1950. Works come from the collections of the Brokken Zijp Foundation of Art, the Royal Library and the Museum Meermanno.
Dieter Roth and Ed Ruscha are considered to be among the most important pioneers of the artist’s book since 1950. Other artists exhibited include Sol LeWitt, Daniel Göttin, Louise Bourgeois, Alberto Giacometti, Ellsworth Kelly, James Turrell, Richard Tuttle, herman de vries, François Morellet, Robert Barry, John Baldessari, Christopher Wool, Paul Good, James Lee Byars, Timothy Ely, Sjoerd Hofstra, Veronika Schäpers, Cy Twombly, Raymond Pettibon, Damien Hirst, David Shrigley, Roni Horn, Gerhard Richter and Fransje Killaars.
Meermanno Museum, The Hague, Netherlands, 15 March – 13 July, 2014