James Rondeau – författare

Donna and Howard Stone, two of Chicago’s premier art patrons, have collected works of art in all media for more than 30 years, building one of the most distinguished private collections of contemporary art in the country. Much of what they have acquired relates to advanced Minimalism and Conceptualism in the art of the 1960s and 1970s, and the various kinds of artistic practices that these movements inspired in contemporary art. Contemporary Collecting is a compelling and detailed look at the entire collection and highlights pieces included in the exhibit, which features works by artists Dan Flavin, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Ellsworth Kelly, Sol LeWitt, Gerhard Richter, Robert Ryman, and Franz West. Included in the catalogue are an introduction to the impressive collection by James Rondeau, an essay by Judith Russi Kirshner on notable works in the collection, and an in-depth interview with Donna and Howard Stone about their history as collectors.Distributed for the Art Institute of ChicagoExhibition Schedule:The Art Institute of Chicago(06/25/10-09/19/10)

Examines both the art-historical framework of Tomma Abts’s painting as well as its deep philosophical and psychological dimensionsWith a rigorous approach and self-imposed limitations to both scale and composition, Tomma Abts (b. 1967) has reinvigorated painterly abstraction and its relevance within contemporary art. Using a fixed canvas size and a vertical format, Abts deploys basic formal elements such as arcs, circles, planes, and stripes to create powerful works that are at once subtle and eccentric. This extraordinary book, designed in collaboration with the artist herself, is a substantial and deeply insightful treatment of her career to date and features sixty works made over the past decade. Essays not only contextualize Abts’s work within an art-historical framework of methods, process, and style, but also examine her paintings’ philosophical and psychological dimensions and their embodiment of a creative process that transcends the specifics of any particular work.   Distributed for the Art Institute of ChicagoExhibition Schedule:Serpentine Galleries, London(06/06/18–09/09/18)  Art Institute of Chicago(10/18/18–02/17/19)

An updated selection of key paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago, featuring works from around the globe and dating from ancient Egypt to the present dayThe Art Institute of Chicago, one of the most beloved and important museums in the world, houses an extraordinary collection of objects from diverse places, cultures, and time periods. This beautiful catalogue opens the doors of the museum to readers, presenting an expansive selection of painted works from around the globe, introduced insightfully by James Rondeau, president and director of the Art Institute. New color photography accompanies entries written by a team of curators, art historians, and educators, which put the works into context. The book showcases a dazzling range of paintings, including an Egyptian funeral portrait, an ancient Mexican wall mural, Chinese scroll paintings, Japanese painted screens, and works by artists such as Caillebotte, Cassatt, El Greco, Gauguin, Homer, Hopper, Johns, Lichtenstein, Matisse, Mitsuoki, Monet, Morisot, Motley, O’Keeffe, Picasso, Pollock, Rembrandt, Richter, Rubens, Sargent, Seurat, Tiepolo, Turner, Van Gogh, Warhol, Whistler, and Wood; contemporary artists featured include Kerry James Marshall, Wanda Pimentel, and Kazuo Shiraga.Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago

An in-depth exploration of Shaw’s most recent work: the ambitious, twenty-one-panel painting Paradise Lost London-based artist Raqib Shaw (b. 1974) creates fantastical yet profoundly personal works that draw upon his Indian heritage and his deep knowledge of art history. This book explores the twenty-one-panel painting Paradise Lost, Shaw’s most recent work and magnum opus. Premiering in an installation at the Art Institute of Chicago, the painting presents a dramatic narrative—from the loss of an idealized Kashmiri childhood to disillusionment, hedonism, destruction, rebirth, and, ultimately, peace. Stunning new photography with close details and installation views of the work offers a glimpse of Shaw’s unique technique, involving industrial enamel paints that result in a luminous, cloisonné-like surface. Essays explore Shaw’s sprawling autobiographical work through the lens of his multiple Kashmiri, Indian, and British identities and examine the artist’s storytelling practice, drawing connections among European art and texts, including Milton’s “Paradise Lost” and Dante’s Divine Comedy, and identifying themes of exile, mourning, and the art of painting. This finely wrought publication offers the perfect introduction to the artist through his most ambitious work to date. Distributed for the Art Institute of ChicagoExhibition Schedule:Art Institute of Chicago(June 7, 2025–November 15, 2026)

A showcase of two hundred of the Art Institute of Chicago’s iconic works from around the world and across human time  From ancient Roman statuary and Chinese ceramics to medieval metalwork and contemporary paintings, Highlights of the Art Institute of Chicago presents two hundred of the museum’s signature works. Selected from a world-class collection of nearly 300,000 objects, this publication encompasses the full range of artistic media, spanning print, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, video, and cultural objects. An illustrated timeline explores the Art Institute’s rich history, contextualizing its architecture and foundational collections within the city.  Offering an exciting variety of perspectives, texts by the museum’s curators and by artists, architects, and specialists inspire readers to make new and unexpected connections among some of the world’s best-known works of art, such as Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, Grant Wood’s American Gothic, Georges Seurat’s Sunday on La Grande Jatte, and Katsushika Hokusai’s Great Wave. Readers will find answers to some of the Art Institute of Chicago’s most frequently asked questions about the Thorne Miniature Rooms, the many Stacks of Wheat painted by Claude Monet, and more.  Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago houses some of the most celebrated paintings from the 19th century to the present. Included in this collection are numerous masterpieces of realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Surrealism, Cubism, Abstract Expressionism, and contemporary art. Today a number of these paintings are revered as icons of modern culture, emblems of the inspired experimentation that has taken place on both sides of the Atlantic, and around the world. For the last century, the Art Institute has supported the achievements of the most distinguished artists from Europe and America, acquiring and exhibiting now-beloved works of Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Georgia O'Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, and others. This folio is presented as both an introduction to this collection and as a survey of the styles, subjects, and themes of Western art of the last two centuries, from the linear classicism of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres through the optical studies of Claude Monet and the Impressionists; from the lyrical, colourful abstractions of Vasily Kandinsky to the fractured picture planes of Pablo Picasso and the Cubists; from the enigmatic compositions of Salvador Dali and the Surrealists to the media-appropriated Pop-art portraits of Andy Warhol. These magnificent paintings eloquently narrate the discussions of the nature of art, quality, innovation, style, and form that have defined the modern era in art history.

Marking an important moment in the Art Institute of Chicago’s 136-year history, this book documents an exceptional gift to the museum: the Edlis/Neeson Collection, consisting of 44 stellar works of contemporary art. Among the highlights are major paintings by some of the 20th century’s best-known artists, including Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Cy Twombly, and Andy Warhol. Also included in the gift are paintings, photographs, and sculptures by icons of contemporary art such as Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and Cindy Sherman.  This catalogue places the Edlis/Neeson Collection in direct dialogue with works already in the Art Institute’s holdings. An essay by James Rondeau situates the gift in the context of the museum’s history and uses it to illustrate the growth and development of Pop Art. Most importantly, this book celebrates a transformative gift that allows the Art Institute to claim the most important collection of modern and contemporary art in any encyclopedic institution in the world.Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago