Carmen Gimenez

A beautifully produced monograph on one of the greatest sculptors of the twentieth century, comprising a critical essay, a superb selection of colour plates, and invaluable documentation of the artist's writings, interviews, bibliography and exhibition history. Trained as an engineer, Alexander Calder made his first sculpture when he was twenty-seven. Moving to Paris in 1926 he began working abstractly in wire, wood and sheet metal, and his first exhibition of mobiles (a term coined for his work by Marcel Duchamp) was held there in 1932. His works are characterized by their dynamism and often combine a huge sense of scale with movement and weightlessness. Calder has become world renowned for his enchanting biomorphic mobiles and often monumental non-moving stabiles. Calder: Gravity and Grace is a retrospective of this major American sculptor, who during his lifetime, perhaps more than any other artist, achieved popular acclaim as well as the art world's respect. The book includes works from his entire career, along with his own writings, interviews with a range of art historians and friends and texts by authors including Jean-Paul Sartre, Fernand Leger, Jacques Prevert and Amedee Ozenfant. Also shown are many documentary photographs of him and his studio by major photographers including Ugo Mulas, Inge Morath and Herbert Matter. A chronology, comprehensive bibliography and full exhibition history complete the book's documentary value.

Picasso Black and White examines the artist's lifelong exploration of a black and white leitmotiv through some 110 paintings and a selection of sculptures and works on paper. Picasso continued the tradition of engaging the color black that had been employed throughout a centuries-long history of Spanish painting by fellow artists Jose de Ribera, Diego Velazquez, Francisco de Zurbaran, and Francisco de Goya. Moreover, he made highly effective use of isolated black, white, and gray hues in a nod to monochromatic grisaille painting and to drawing, line, and form. As this volume attests, the recurrent motif of black and white appears throughout Picasso's oeuvre, including his blue and rose periods, his investigations into Cubism and Surrealism, his interpretations of historical subject studies for his celebrated painting Guernica, World War II, and an homage to old masters, as well as the powerful paintings of his last years. Featuring reproductions of more than 150 works, this book examines the extraordinary complexity and power of these expressive artworks, which purge color in order to highlight their formal structure. Including essays by leading Picasso scholars, this book is a unique and coherent perspective on one of the world's most innovative and influential artists.