Elizabeth Cowling

A pioneering study of how Picasso, Braque, and Gris engaged with the pictorial tradition of illusion and deception in their influential Cubist works The age-old tradition of pictorial illusionism, known as trompe l’oeil (“deceive the eye”), employs visual tricks that confound the viewer’s perception of reality and fiction, truth and falsehood. This radically new take on Cubism shows how Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Juan Gris both parodied and paid homage to classic trompe l’oeil themes and motifs with wit and invention. More than one hundred illustrated works juxtapose Cubist paintings, drawings, and collages with related compositions by the old masters. Essays based on new research explore connections between the Cubists and the trompe l’oeil specialists of earlier centuries and their games of creative one-upmanship. The informed and engaging texts trace the changing status of trompe l’oeil over the centuries, reveal Braque’s training in artisanal trompe l’oeil techniques as an integral part of his Cubist practice, examine the materials used in Gris’s collages, and discuss the previously unstudied trompe l’oeil iconography within Cubist still lifes—including newspapers, word puns, pictures-within-pictures, imitation wood grain, and tools of the trade. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (October 20, 2022–January 22, 2023)

The latest issue of the Cahiers d'Art revue is devoted to Pablo Picasso and the various techniques he employed, offering an exceptional, intimate look at the artist in his studio. Through rare and previously unpublished photographs by such photographers as Edward Quinn, Lucien Clergue, Lee Miller, and David Douglas Duncan, this issue of the renowned arts publication provides a captivating perspective on the concept of the artist at work. Through this rich and detailed exploration of the artist's practice and environments, the issue also sheds new light on the creative process as a whole. The revue is comprised of seven chapters, each devoted to a particular technique demonstrated in the photographs, alongside texts by noted historians such as Elizabeth Cowling, C cile Godefroy, Ann Hindry, Brigitte Leal, Marilyn McCully, and V rane Tasseau. Each chapter is followed by an interview with a contemporary artist, including Miquel Barcel , George Condo, Sheila Hicks, William Kentridge, Jeff Koons, Robert Longo, and Tatiana Trouv . They have been invited to comment on the technique under discussion, in Picasso's work and in their own, as well as on their connection to the artist. The revue also highlights Picasso's relationship with former Cahiers d'Art publisher Christian Zervos through the reproduction of key articles on Picasso published during the artist's lifetime.

This book brings together over 160 of the finest surrealist artworks by legendary artists including Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, Rene Magritte, Joan Miro and Man Ray. The works hail from the four renowned and extraordinary private collections of Edward James, Roland Penrose, Gabrielle Keiller and Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch, and together offer a superb overview of surrealist art. Ten essays explore the different origins, historical contexts and creative urges behind these collections. Artworks, perhaps more than anything else that one can acquire, are objects of desire and surrealist artworks even more so. The sheer quality of the works acquired (and, in the case of the Pietzsches, still being acquired) is astonishing and, while passionate about their private visions, all the collectors have been mindful of contributing something to the public good. The collections complement each other to an extraordinary degree and allow us to follow some of the artists' careers from beginning to end. By uniting them, exciting new juxtapositions emerge along with a fuller and richer picture of the surrealist movement as a whole. AUTHOR: Dawn Ades has curated numerous international exhibitions on Surrealism and Dada. She is a Fellow of the British Academy, a former trustee of Tate and was awarded a CBE in 2013 for her services to art history. Elizabeth Cowling is Honorary Fellow in History of Art at the University of Edinburgh. She was the principal author of 'Surrealism and After: The Gabrielle Keiller Collection' (1997). Prof Dr Hubertus Gabner is Director of the Hamburger Kunsthalle. Annabelle Gorgen-Lammers is Exhibition Curator at the Hamburger Kunsthalle. Keith Hartley is Chief Curator and Deputy Director at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh. Saskia van Kampen-Prein is Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. SELLING POINTS: . This book brings together some of the world's finest surrealist artworks from four renowned and extraordinary private collections . Many of the works featured have rarely been seen in public . By bringing together works from these collections, the oeuvres of the artists are presented in a new light and some of their careers seen from beginning to end 200 colour images