Karsten Schubert - Böcker

From the opening of The Louvre to the launch of Tate Modern and beyond, this accessible and succinct publication traces the development of the museum concept – encompassing curatorial, scholarly, political and cultural spheres – and its evolving role within society. In the first section, Schubert looks at the complex history of the museum in specific cities at critical moments, for instance New York between 1930 and 1950 as the Metropolitan Museum of Art expanded and the Museum of Modern Art was founded. The second section focuses on the success and unprecedented development of the museum in the 1980s and 1990s in Europe and the United States, highlighting the need for cities and institutions to revise their programmes in response to a surge of interest in the arts. The final section looks at the museum’s predicament nearly a decade after The Curator’s Egg was originally published in 2000, exploring the museum's evolution in a post-9/11 environment.

Recounting an art dealer’s recuperation from major surgery in the famous Claridge’s Hotel in London, this idiosyncratic (and semi-autobiographical) novel interweaves reality with fantasy. Room 225–6 follows the author-character ‘The Protagonist’ – accompanied by his beloved terrier ‘The Bitch’ – around London’s Mayfair as he hosts endless art world gatherings and tea parties for twenty, and visits a multitude of local galleries and shops.Incorporating multi-layered voices and devices, the distinctive narrative introduces the reader to a memorable host of characters – from the ‘The Political Prisoner’ to ‘The Little Mondrian’ – in a tale filled with humour of observation and incident. Bringing to life this frightening yet extraordinary period in one man’s life, it is at once honest, satirical, idiotic and bold. Room 225-6 is sold to benefit the Oracle Cancer Trust (oraclecancertrust.org), the UK’s leading national charity dedicated to funding head and neck cancer research.

This publication spotlights the celebrated modern artist Piet Mondrian’s early career, a prolific period that saw the artist focus on figurative landscape painting. Primarily made during the artist’s time in Amsterdam at the turn of the twentieth century, Mondrian's dense, small-scale paintings depict the surrounding Dutch landscape – notably irrigation ditches, canals and farm buildings. The compositions are characterised by complex interactions of light and dark planes, which the artist forms through thick, pigmented strokes of green and brown paint. Marking the last decade of the artist’s engagement with figurative painting, Mondrian's exploration of the interrelationships between colour and space during this period forms the basis for his subsequent abstract works, whilst reflecting the artist’s lifelong interest in nature.

The essays range from biographical and career overviews to detailed analysis of specific aspects or themes that occur throughout Riley’s career. The selection reflects a rich body of work, which sustains the interest of important authors, as evidenced by multiple pieces by Éric de Chassey, Lynne Cooke, Robert Kudielka, Paul Moorhouse and Richard Shiff. Together, this volume of essays tells the story of an artist whose art has continuously evolved over nearly six decades.Most of the critical texts have been written in close consultation with the artist, the result of long conversations, studio visits and archive access. Largely commissioned on the occasion of particular exhibitions, these essays track and trace Riley’s focus and influences at different moments in time. Each essay builds upon the next, with more recent authors clearly responding and referencing earlier discourse. The result is a collection of great breadth and cohesion.An important resource, About Bridget Riley represents a monumental body of research and analysis by some of the most important art historians of today. It also offers the opportunity for the reader and the viewer to approach Riley from a plethora of perspectives to form their own view, much reflecting Riley’s own particular approach to art history. As John Elderfield puts it: ‘Effectively, Riley makes a pact with the viewer, through the medium of the painting, that they will collaborate in eliciting from a particular painting a particular sort of mobile visual array. And, when the viewer stops looking at the painting, it will therefore be as if leaving something that continues to go on.’