Julia Voss

How is art criticism to be understood within an expanding artistic field? A look at its history and its manifestations within globalized conditions shows the variety of the genre, of the criteria and of the styles of writing. This reader is an attempt to bring a diverse range of art-critical voices and perspectives into conversation with each other, with texts from the 18th century to the present. The editors Beate Söntgen and Julia Voss have invited colleagues from various geographical and intellectual backgrounds to present and discuss the art critics of their choice, choosing one example from their respective bodies of work to comment upon. How have these writers approached art criticism? Which styles do they employ? What makes them extraordinary? What can we learn from their writings today, and why is it important in its contemporary context? Texts by: Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, Denis Diderot, Takashi Kashima, Patrick Mudekereza, Annemarie Sauzeau-Boetti, Bertha Zuckerkandl and many more Comments by: Juli Carson, Yuriko Furuhata, Isabelle Graw, Angela Harutyunyan, Monica Juneja, Wolfgang Kemp, Florencia Malbran, Yvette Mutumba, Azu Nwagbogu, Sarah Wilson and many more

Published on the occasion of Karin Kneffel’s exhibition Haymatlos at Dirimart (13 November 2020–17 January 2021), this trilingual catalogue explores themes of memory, displacement, and belonging. The 19 paintings on view establish a dialogue between Germany and Turkey through the notion of heimatlos—statelessness—probing how the past is recalled, altered, or transformed, leaving ambiguous traces in the present. Kneffel engages with the legacies of three exiled figures who lived in Istanbul: architect Bruno Taut, sculptor Rudolf Belling, and designer Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky. Their iconic works—the Bosphorus house designed by Taut, Belling’s Inönü sculpture and Skulptur 49, and Schütte-Lihotzky’s pioneering Frankfurter Küche—reappear under Kneffel’s painterly veil of drops, bubbles, and brushstrokes, questioning whether the world is ever truly familiar. Enriched with an essay by Julia Voss, along with studio and installation views, the catalogue situates Haymatlos within Kneffel’s broader practice and her celebrated retrospective STILL in Germany. Text in English and Turkish and German.

The paintings of Sibylle Springer (born 1975, lives in Bremen) focus on the role of women in the art world of the digital age. For her portrait series Feed, she has painted 40 female artists to date, based on staged photographs from their Instagram feeds. "Is social media an instrument of emancipation, or does it even lead to new forms of objectification?" (Kohout) In Wait for It, Springer copied pop stars from the internet, but used a silver paint that oxidizes the canvases, thus aging the eternally youthful icons before our eyes-- precisely what digital image control seeks to prevent. In her more recent textile objects, Springer interweaves female artists of the past and present. This informative book accompanies her exhibition at the Kunstverein Bremen.

Dieses Open Access essential enthält eine Sammlung praxisnaher Fallstudien, die auf realen Beispielen von Innovatorinnen basieren und einen Einblick in die vielfältigen Rollen von Frauen in Innovationsprozessen geben. Ein besonderes Augenmerk liegt auf der Vermittlung eines breiten Innovationsbegriffs. Zugleich wird herausgearbeitet, wie bedeutend es ist, Innovatorinnen und ihre Leistungen sichtbar zu machen.

This book explores the works of one of Sweden’s most esteemed artists, Hilma af Klint, alongside others in her artistic circle – and examines their inspirational influence on contemporary artists working today.Swedish Ecstasy tells the story of renowned Swedish artist Hilma af Klint and her artistic circle as the country sought to reconcile religious beliefs with scientific advances at the turn of the 20th century. While Sweden has often been characterized as a Protestant nation of great engineers and entrepreneurs, the country’s spiritual life has long been governed by a less official current, visible in its art and literature. In the early 20th century, mysticism and esoteric speculation ran through the works of some of Sweden’s most important artistic and literary figures. This book explores these mystic visions and their meaning with this intellectual and spiritual milieu. Contemporary artists Cecilia Edefalk, Carsten Ho¨ller, Christine O¨dlund, Daniel Youssef, and Lars Olof Loeld contribute essays that show how these artworks continue to inspire today.

“Revelatory and sublime…Her work remains conceptually open enough for viewers to draw their own conclusions, insert their own meaning and feel transported to other glorious worlds.” —The New York Times One of the most inventive artists of the twentieth century, Hilma af Klint was a pioneer of abstraction. Her first forays into her imaginative non-objective painting long preceded the work of Kandinsky and Mondrian and radically mined the fields of science and religion. Deeply interested in spiritualism and philosophy, af Klint developed an iconography that explores esoteric concepts in metaphysics, as demonstrated in Tree of Knowledge. This rarely seen series of watercolors renders orbital, enigmatic forms, visual allegories of unification and separateness, darkness and light, beginning and end, life and death, and spirit and matter. Published on the occasion of the exhibition Hilma af Klint: Tree of Knowledge at David Zwirner New York in 2021 and David Zwirner London in 2022, this catalogue features a text by the art historian Susan Aberth examining af Klint’s spiritual and anthroposophical influences. With a conversation between the curator Helen Molesworth and the US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo discussing connections between Tree of Knowledge and native theories about plant knowledge, the publication broadens the scope of philosophical interpretations of af Klint's timeless work. Also included is a newly commissioned essay by the celebrated af Klint scholar Julia Voss, a contribution by the artist Suzan Frecon, and a text by art historian Max Rosenberg that further develops the conversation around why af Klint’s work was not recognized in its time.

A highly anticipated biography of the enigmatic and popular Swedish painter. The Swedish painter Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was 44 years old when she broke with the academic tradition in which she had been trained. While her naturalistic landscapes and botanicals were shown during her lifetime, her body of radical, abstract works never received the same attention. Today, it is widely accepted that af Klint produced the earliest abstract paintings by a trained European artist. But this is only part of her story. Not only was she a successful woman artist, but she was also an avowed clairvoyant and mystic. Like many of the artists at the turn of the twentieth century who developed some version of abstract painting, af Klint studied Theosophy, which holds that science, art, and religion are all reflections of an underlying life-form that can be harnessed through meditation, study, and experimentation. Well before Kandinsky, Mondrian and Malevich declared themselves the inventors of abstraction, af Klint was working in a non-representational mode, producing a powerful visual language that continues to speak to audiences today. The exhibition of her work in 2018 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City attracted more than 600,000 visitors, making it the most-attended show in the history of the museum/institution. Despite her enormous popularity, there has not yet been a biography of af Klint-until now. Inspired by her first encounter with the artist's work in 2008, Julia Voss set out to learn Swedish and research af Klint's life-not only who the artist was but what drove and inspired her. The result is a fascinating biography of an artist who is as great as she is enigmatic.

A moving biography, told in vivid illustrations, this graphic novel features key moments in the life of Swedish artist and pioneer of abstract painting Hilma af Klint (1862–1944). Long-underrecognized, af Klint’s sensational rediscovery continues to take art audiences by storm. Artist Philipp Deines traces the story of now world-famous af Klint’s unique life and groundbreaking oeuvre through five chapters featuring her development as an artist, her family background, and her relationship to the spiritual. Highlighting how she came to her distinctive paintings, her spiritual quest, and the friends who helped her, this is a story of the strength it took af Klint to continue as an artist against all odds. Beautifully drawn, brightly colored, and well-researched, this graphic novel is a new way of looking at the story of an artist. Referencing Julia Voss’s new biography of af Klint, Deines presents an accessible and lively introduction for many ages. Biography, art history, and contemporary narrative style merge and complement each other in these magnificent visual worlds.

For a long time, few people knew about spiritualism’s impact on the birth of abstract art. But when the Swedish art historian Sixten Ringbom’s book The Sounding Cosmos was published in 1970, the writing of history changed forever. Through his research on Wassily Kandinsky, one of the pivotal figures in modern art, Ringbom could show, among other things, how theosophy and esoteric teachings were absolutely essential to the development of non-figurative painting. This discovery generated great debate, and the book was both celebrated and controversial. To this day, it is an art history classic that continues to be discussed, especially since people’s views of both art and religion are continuously changing. In recent years, the attention given to Hilma af Klint has increased interest in the significance of the spiritual, and in turn has focused new light on Kandinsky and others in the first generation of abstract painters. The Sounding Cosmos is now being published for the first time in a new edition with a new design that gives space to Kandinsky’s colourful paintings. The original text has been supplemented with a new foreword by Daniel Birnbaum and Julia Voss.

Hilma af Klint skapade mer än tusen målningar, skisser och akvareller och har revolutionerat måleriet. Redan före Kandinsky och Mondrian målade hon abstrakta verk. Hon drog sig medvetet tillbaka från den manligt dominerade konstvärlden, och hon visste att hon var före sin tid: vid sjuttio års ålder bestämde hon att hennes bilder skulle få visas först tjugo år efter hennes död.Återupptäckten av den svenska konstnären Hilma af Klints verk är den största konsthistoriska händelsen under senare år. Utifrån ett gediget forskningsarbete berättar nu Julia Voss historien om denna ovanliga konstnärs liv, krossar många klichéer och myter och tecknar också en bild av en epok som i en världspolitiskt omvälvande tid inte bara revolutionerade konsten.

Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) was a German-born biologist, naturalist, evolutionist, artist, philosopher, and doctor who spent his life researching flora and fauna from the highest mountaintops to the deepest ocean. A vociferous supporter and developer of Darwin’s theories of evolution, he denounced religious dogma, authored philosophical treatises, gained a doctorate in zoology, and coined scientific terms which have passed into common usage, including ecology, phylum, and stem cell. At the heart of Haeckel’s colossal legacy was the motivation not only to discover but also to explain. To do this, he created hundreds of detailed drawings, watercolors, and sketches of his findings which he published in successive volumes, including several marine organism collections and the majestic Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature), which could serve as the cornerstone of Haeckel’s entire life project. Like a meticulous visual encyclopedia of living things, Haeckel’s work was as remarkable for its graphic precision and meticulous shading as for its understanding of organic evolution. From bats to the box jellyfish, lizards to lichen, and spider legs to sea anemones, Haeckel emphasized the essential symmetries and order of nature, and found biological beauty in even the most unlikely of creatures. In this book, we celebrate the scientific, artistic, and environmental importance of Haeckel’s work, with a collection of 300 of his finest prints from several of his most important tomes, including Die Radiolarien, Monographie der Medusen, Die Kalkschwämme, and Kunstformen der Natur. At a time when biodiversity is increasingly threatened by human activities, the book is at once a visual masterwork, an underwater exploration, and a vivid reminder of the precious variety of life.

Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) was a German-born biologist, naturalist, evolutionist, artist, philosopher, and doctor who spent his life researching flora and fauna from the highest mountaintops to the deepest ocean. A vociferous supporter and developer of Darwin’s theories of evolution, he denounced religious dogma, authored philosophical treatises, gained a doctorate in zoology, and coined scientific terms which have passed into common usage, including ecology, phylum, and stem cell. At the heart of Haeckel’s colossal legacy was the motivation not only to discover but also to explain. To do this, he created hundreds of detailed drawings, watercolors, and sketches of his findings which he published in successive volumes, including several marine organism collections and the majestic Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature), which could serve as the cornerstone of Haeckel’s entire life project. Like a meticulous visual encyclopedia of living things, Haeckel’s work was as remarkable for its graphic precision and meticulous shading as for its understanding of organic evolution. From bats to the box jellyfish, lizards to lichen, and spider legs to sea anemones, Haeckel emphasized the essential symmetries and order of nature, and found biological beauty in even the most unlikely of creatures. In this book, we celebrate the scientific, artistic, and environmental importance of Haeckel’s work, with a collection of 300 of his finest prints from several of his most important tomes, including Die Radiolarien, Monographie der Medusen, Die Kalkschwämme, and Kunstformen der Natur. At a time when biodiversity is increasingly threatened by human activities, the book is at once a visual masterwork, an underwater exploration, and a vivid reminder of the precious variety of life.

Explore Ernst Haeckel, the 19th-century artist-biologist who found beauty in the most unlikely creatures. This collection features 300 prints from his most important publications, including the majestic Kunstformen der Natur and his catalogues of marine life. These exquisite images are a scientific, artistic and environmental masterwork.

The 2018 exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future, introduced the general public to the abstract mystical masterpieces of Swedish painter Hilma af Klint (1862–1944). Based on a seminar held at the Guggenheim Museum at the opening of this acclaimed exhibition, this volume compiles the insights of the seminar’s contributors alongside reproductions of works, archival photographs and images from af Klint’s journals. Hilma af Klint: Visionary explores the social and spiritual movements that appeared at the turn of the 20th century, inspiring the pioneers of modernism and abstract art: Kandinsky, Mondrian, Malevich and af Klint. What was the zeitgeist that inspired such an eruption in abstract art? What were the conditions that created Hilma af Klint? Academics and experts Julia Voss, Tracey Bashkoff, Isaac Lubelsky, Linda Dalrymple Henderson and Marco Pasi each take a different approach. Voss analyzes af Klint's biography, pinpointing five important events in her life; Bashkoff presents her connection to Hilla Rebay and her plans for the building of a temple; Lubelsky traces the origins of theosophy in New York; Henderson examines the occult and science; and Pasi considers esotericism’s changing role in culture.

Hilma af Klints verk har tagit den internationella konstvärlden med storm, mer än hundra år sedan de första verken skapades. Kring det förra sekelskiftet påverkade ockulta religiösa rörelser som teosofi och antroposofi de tidiga modernisterna Kandinsky, Mondrian, Malevich och Hilma af Klint. Vilken tidsanda inspirerade en sådan plötslig artistisk utgjutelse? Denna antologi baseras på seminariet som hölls när Guggenheimmuseet i New York öppnade sin mycket omtalade och historiskt mest välbesökta utställning Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future i oktober 2018.

Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) was a German-born biologist, naturalist, evolutionist, artist, philosopher, and doctor who spent his life researching flora and fauna from the highest mountaintops to the deepest ocean. A vociferous supporter and developer of Darwin’s theories of evolution, he denounced religious dogma, authored philosophical treatises, gained a doctorate in zoology, and coined scientific terms which have passed into common usage, including ecology, phylum, and stem cell. At the heart of Haeckel’s colossal legacy was the motivation not only to discover but also to explain. To do this, he created hundreds of detailed drawings, watercolors, and sketches of his findings which he published in successive volumes, including several marine organism collections and the majestic Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature), which could serve as the cornerstone of Haeckel’s entire life project. Like a meticulous visual encyclopedia of living things, Haeckel’s work was as remarkable for its graphic precision and meticulous shading as for its understanding of organic evolution. From bats to the box jellyfish, lizards to lichen, and spider legs to sea anemones, Haeckel emphasized the essential symmetries and order of nature, and found biological beauty in even the most unlikely of creatures. In this book, we celebrate the scientific, artistic, and environmental importance of Haeckel’s work, with a collection of 450 of his finest prints from several of his most important tomes, including Die Radiolarien, Monographie der Medusen, Die Kalkschwämme, and Kunstformen der Natur. At a time when biodiversity is increasingly threatened by human activities, the book is at once a visual masterwork, an underwater exploration, and a vivid reminder of the precious variety of life.