Vivian Endicott Barnett – författare

Explore the œuvre of Erich Heckel, one of the most important German Expressionist painters of the twentieth century.Erich Heckel, 1883–1970, was one of the co-founders of the Künstlergruppe Brücke (Artists’ Group Bridge), established in Dresden in June 1905. He remained part of the group until it disbanded in May 1913. Despite his seminal role in the establishment of this critical early manifestation of German Expressionism, he has not garnered the same acclaim as his fellow Die Brücke artists such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. As a result, there is a dearth of literature available on him in English and he has never had a solo exhibition in an American museum.This important publication, which accompanies a show at the Neue Galerie New York, aims to redress this oversight. The texts presented in this lavishly illustrated monograph will focus on Heckel’s early career and cover topics ranging from his involvement with Die Brücke; the works he created during his idyllic summers in the Friesian beach resort of Dangast; his military service during World War I; and his bold and expressive woodcuts.Emphasis is placed on his portrait and landscape paintings and his vibrant pictures of bathers, which merge both genres. The authors will address the work he made in Dresden, Berlin, and northern Germany, in addition to his output while serving in Flanders during the war.

Volume Two

Vasily Kandinsky was born in Moscow in 1866 and, at the age of thirty, decided to study painting in Munich. Although he travelled extensively, Kandinsky lived primarily in Germany until 1914 and again from 1922-1933, when he taught at the Bauhaus. He moved to Paris in 1934 and continued to draw and paint until his death in 1944. The two-volume catalogue raisonne of Kandinsky's drawings publishes many drawings for the first time and presents new insights into the artist's creative process. This second volume is devoted to Kandinsky's thirty-eight sketchbooks that have remained intact. Intended as a companion to Volume One, it illustrates and documents all the sketchbook pages with drawings. The sketchbooks belong primarily to the Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich and to the Musee National d'Art Moderne at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Many of the drawings, which date from 1889 to 1943, have never been published before. Ms. Barnett contributes a text on Kandinsky's sketchbooks, an aspect of his work that has not been previously studied.In addition there is an appendix of rare wood sculptures and decorative objects that Kandinsky created as well as an appendix with new information and color reproductions of paintings and watercolours included, but not illustrated, in previous volumes. The two volumes on the drawings complete the series of catalogues raisonnes of Kandinsky's work. Indispensable for scholars, collectors and art lovers, they follow the same format and high standard as the previous volumes on the oil-paintings and the watercolours.