Olivier Berggruen

Efter andra världskriget började Theodor Teto Ahrenberg (1912-1989) att skapa en av de mest ambitiösa och egensinniga privata samlingar av modern konst som funnits; en samling som alltjämt i stort sett är okänd. Den innehöll närmare tusen verk av etablerade mästare som Matisse, Picasso och Chagall, och av banbrytande yngre konstnärer som Kantor, Baertling och Tinguely. Ahrenbergs komplexa och personliga samling formades av hans övertygelse om att han inte bara var samlare utan även katalysator någon som underlättade för utställningar, samarbeten och uppdrag, och använde konsten för att motsätta sig konservatism och självbelåtenhet. Samlingen beslagtogs 1962 av de svenska myndigheterna, under omtvistade förhållanden, och skingrades sedan. Det fanns också långt gångna planer på att skapa ett nytt konstmuseum av världsklass, ritat av Le Corbusier, på vattnet utanför Norr Mälarstrand. Även dessa planer skingrades. Ahrenberg byggde sedan upp en ny och än mer progressiv samling som lyfte fram konstnärer ur 60-talets avantgarde, såsom Christo, Arman, Lucio Fontana och Niki de Saint Phalle. Med hjälp av ett rikt bildmaterial och korrespondens, varav mycket aldrig tidigare har publicerats, utforskar denna bok på ett uttömmande sätt Ahrenbergs fascinerande samlingar och liv.

This is the first book dedicated to the work of Swiss-based artist Harumi Klossowska de Rola (b. 1973), which accompanies an exhibition. The book is filled with her iconic designs of bronze sculptures, screens, and benches, as well as examples of haute joaillerie, sketches, and items from her family s collection of decorative arts and antiques. Art has always been a part of Klossowska de Rola s life since the time she spent at Villa Medici, the residence of the French Academy in Rome, with her father, the celebrated artist Balthus, and her mother, Setsuko Ideta, a Japanese sculptor and artist. Her multicultural roots, alongside the creative aura of her family, endowed her with a sharp sensitiveness toward the ephemeral and the fleeting. She draws inspiration from various sources including nature (wild animals, plants, and trees); Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology; African art; and Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi. Klossowska de Rola currently lives and works at the Grand Chalet de Rossiniere, the largest chalet in Europe, near Gstaad, Switzerland. Beyond the environs is a menagerie of wild creatures that find sanctuary in their surroundings. For her large-scale sculptures, Klossowska de Rola begins sketching and molds them into form in clay, then they are sent to the foundry of skilled craftsmen in France and Switzerland. She then finishes them with touches of patina and final details in her studio. In addition to bronze, she often works with organic materials such as wood, alabaster, and stone.

Picasso: Seven Decades of Drawing surveys Pablo Picasso's prodigious career as a draftsman, including over 40 examples on loan from private collections spanning nearly 70 years of the artist's long and cele-brated career. The book showcases drawings in a wide range of media, from works in charcoal and crayon to coloured pencil, collage or papiers colles, graphite, gouache, ink, pastel, and watercolour. Some of the drawings on loan are rarely on view and they provide insight into the evolution of his iconic paintings, such as Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and Guernica, while others stand alone as virtuoso, independent works, highlighting Picasso's mastery of line, form, and medium. The book ultimately examines how drawing serves as the vital thread connecting all of Picasso's art.

Focusing on one of Matisse's greatest bodies of work and his last artistic creations, this flexi edition of essays and reproductions provides scholarship on this important period.