Kirjahaku

This publication provides a comprehensive introduction to the works of the two artists, Xu Jiang and Shi Hui, both professors at the Academy of Art in Hangzhou. As nature constitutes the focal point for both of these artists, yet their approaches and interpretations are fundamentally different, it takes the form of a dialogue.

The Haukohl Family stands in the wake of a lasting tradition of European and American collecting practices for the benefit of future generations. Published to accompany an exhibition at the Luxembourg National Museum of Art, October 2018 to February 2019. For six generations the Haukohls have collected art, rare books, drawings, sculpture and textiles. It has been the fulfilling result of a Milwaukee-based American Midwestern family who has had equal determination and always with an eye towards acquiring fine art for the benefit of the future generations. This book presents masterworks of Italian painting and sculpture from the 16th through 18th centuries drawn from the largest private American collection of Florentine Baroque painting, featuring works by key artists such as Cesare Dandini, Jacopo da Empoli, and Francesco Furini.

The Chinese artist Deng Guo Yuan has spent his entire life dealing with the theme of the garden. He interprets this theme against the background of the knowledge of the Chinese tradition. In the Chinese philosophy of Daoism it is regarded as a 'way', 'method' or 'principle'. It is the highest reality and the highest mystery, the primordial unity, the cosmic law and the absolute. Text in English and German.

Gottfried Helnwein is known for his hyper-realistic images and his photo portraits of celebrities such as Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Andy Warhol, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Marilyn Manson and the band Rammstein. In his provocative images, he articulates themes of violence and abuse in ways that are as compelling as they are shocking. In particular, children, whose innocence, naivety and tenderness he brings into focus, are projection surfaces for him. From Wagner and Nietzsche, a stringent arc develops to Hitler’s propaganda machinery, the staged epic mass marches of the SS, and leads in Helnwein’s case not least to his great Carl Barks admiration, whereby he himself fits Mickey Mouse into the context of Nazi rule. This book is dedicated for the first time to this level of reflection in Helnwein’s work and first summarises those dark paintings in which the image is developed out of blackness and deep blue (as a romantic keynote) and leads over to the atrocities of the Nazi regime, in that in particular the experiments on imprisoned persons and those segregated into psychiatric wards underpin the racial ideology. Text in English and German.

Over the past six decades, Sean Scully has been connected with the most diverse geographical locations, be it his many years of living in London, New York, Barcelona, Mooseurach, Berlin or Aix-en-Provence. In addition, he is constantly inspired by international exhibition projects and trips – such as to Morocco, Mexico and the island of Eleuthera. His restless attitude and always being keen to remain on the move, has left deep traces in his artistic work. Géographies therefore, focuses on Scully’s life stages and travels, the places where he lives, works and which particularly inspire him through 35 paintings, as well as watercolours, pastels and drawings by the artist. Many of his abstract compositions reflect his perception of urban space, the dynamic rhythm of the big city or the liberating calm of nature. During the last nine years, Sean Scully has returned to figuration and formed a very personal credo that goes beyond the individual to something more universal. Text in English and German.

Although now poised for widespread popularity in China, abstract art still has a special status compared to figurative art. Its appeal in recent years has been increased by photographic artist Xiao Hui Wang and installation artist Wang Xiaosong, who seem "Western" in China and "Asian" to the West. Introspection analyses the latest works by these two renowned artists.