Richard Artschwager (b. 1923) emerged in the 1960s as a freelance artist after earning a science degree and spending years as a furniture workshop owner. Over nearly sixty years, Artschwager conducted a relentless inquiry into art’s power to shape contemporary experience and perception. His diverse body of work—spanning sculpture, painting, prints, and drawing—reflects clear influences from Minimalism and Pop Art, seen in the reduced forms of his objects and paintings and his use of industrial materials such as Resopal, Celotex, Formica, and rubberized hair. Yet, his practice resists simple categorization; some of it incorporates conceptual art ideas, and his oeuvre continues to defy complete understanding.
Artschwager’s first solo show took place in 1965 at the legendary Leo Castelli Gallery in New York, marking the beginning of his visibility in the mainstream art world. His career has been celebrated with major retrospectives, most notably at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2012, which then traveled to the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles (2013), the Haus der Kunst in Munich, and the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco in 2014. These exhibitions have illuminated many facets of his work, including his response to mechanical reproduction and connections to Post-Impressionism. Today, Artschwager is recognized as one of the artists of the 20th century, whose innovative use of materials and ideas continues to shape the art world.
The catalogue was produced to coincide the exhibition Richard Artschwager! at the Witney Museum. It contains four essays that shed light on previously unaddressed aspects of the artist’s work. These include his response to life in the age of mechanical reproduction, the relationship of his work to mainstream art, and the connection of his later work with Post-Impressionism. Alongside new photographs and previously unpublished archival images, these texts (by Jennifer R. Gross, Cathleen Chaffee, Ingrid Schaffner, and Adam D. Weinberg) offer a look at the work of one of the most singular artists of the 20th century.
Hardcover book published by the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2012, it contains 256 pages and 210 illustrations. ISBN 978-030018531, dimensions: 9.8 x 11.4 x 1.2 inches (25 x 29 x 3 cm)
