Cahiers d’Art Announces New Book Pairing Thomas Schütte’s Watercolors with Poems by Robert Walser
June 2014 (Paris)—Watercolors for Robert Walser and Donald Young, the most recent book to be released by Cahiers d’Art, was conceived by German artist Thomas Schütte. The publication uniquely pairs Schütte's watercolors painted in 2012 and 2013 with previously unpublished poems by Robert Walser (Switzerland, 1878-1956) written between 1924-1933. Walser had always been fascinated by watercolors and the particular effect they have on the human eye: his poems were, themselves, exhibited at times as artworks. Schütte has selected an extraordinary and moving selection of his own artwork, while simultaneously paying tribute to Walser, whom he considers one of his heroes. The book of watercolors is dedicated to the poet and as well as gallerist Donald Young, who invited Schütte to participate in an exhibition dedicated to Walser in Chicago in 2012. The book includes a new introduction by scholar Dr. Reto Sorg, Director of the Robert Walser Archives, in Bern, Switzerland.
Cahiers d’Art is honored to present Thomas Schütte’s new book at Art Basel 2014 from within a structure designed by the artist himself. Schütte designed a wooden house, which will hold the library of Cahiers d’Art art publications. Schütte’s structure are narrative buildings with their own distinctive point of view, each requiring the viewer to engage in a new form of contact with the world. Visitors may experience the Schütte house during the fair, at the Cahiers d’Art booth, located in Hall 1 in the Unlimited sector, Booth Z28. The book signing for Watercolors for Robert Walser and Donald Young with Thomas Schütte will take place on June 17 at 3 pm. In September 2014, Cahiers d’Art plans to exhibit a selection of Thomas Schütte watercolors at it’s Paris gallery.
About Thomas Schütte:
Thomas Schütte was born in 1954 in Oldenburg, Germany. He attended the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie from 1973 to 1981. Major solo exhibitions of Schütte’s work have been staged at the Fondation Beyeler, the Serpentine Gallery, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, the Stedelijk Museum and the Museo d’Arte Contemporaneo del Castello di Rivoli.
Selected group exhibitions include those at the Palazzo Grassi (François Pinault Foundation), the New Museum (New York), The Royal Academy of Arts, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), the Israel Museum, and the Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof. Schütte was the recipient of the 2005 Golden Lion at the 51st Venice Biennale and the 2010 recipient of the Düsseldorf Prize.
Two major public commissions of Schütte's work include the Fourth Plinth Commission in Trafalgar Square, London (Hotel for the Birds, 2005) and the Public Art Fund in Central Park, New York (United Enemies, 2013). His work is held in the permanent collections of ARC Musèe d'Art Moderne (Paris), Castello di Rivoli (Turin), Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), DIA Center for the Arts (New York), Hamburger Kunsthalle, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington, D.C.), MAXXI (Rome), and Tate Modern (London). Schütte lives and works in Germany.
About Cahiers d'Art:
Cahiers d'Art is a legendary publishing house, gallery, and magazine founded in 1926 by Christian Zervos in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Cahiers d'Art editions are among the most remarkable publications of the 20th century, and are sought after by art collectors and book collectors worldwide. By 1960, Zervos had published 97 issues of the Cahiers d'Art magazine and more than 50 books, including monographs on El Greco, Matisse, Man Ray, and African and Mesopotamian Art, as well as collections of poems by Paul ?luard and André Breton. The most famous Cahiers d'Art publication to date is the Zervos Picasso Catalogue, which includes over 16,000 paintings and drawings by the artist, which has been republished in English translation and is also distributed by Sotheby’s. Swedish collector Staffan Ahrenberg acquired Cahiers d'Art in 2011, and is Cahiers d’Art’s Publisher.
