Cy Twombly

by James Rondeau

Published 1 June 2009
Cy Twombly's distinctive artworks merge drawing, painting, and symbolic gesture in the pursuit of a direct, intuitive form of expression. Much of the artist's recent output interprets the natural world, often through references to gardens and landscapes."Cy Twombly: The Natural World, Selected Works, 2000-2007" features more than 30 paintings, works on paper, photographs, and sculptures. Published in full cooperation with the artist, this handsome book speaks to both continuity and innovation in Twombly's work, underscoring the ongoing creative vitality of one of the greatest American artists of our time.

Jasper Johns

by James Rondeau and Douglas Druick

Published 1 November 2007
Jasper Johns (b. 1930), one of today's most acclaimed and influential artists, is rarely considered in relation to monochromatic art. Yet single-colour experimentations have figured prominently in his productions since 1955, and within that significant subset of his work, the majority of monochromes are grey. In fact, every one of his iconic, serialized forms has been articulated in grey. This elegant book, spanning Johns' full career, examines this singular preoccupation, presenting a revolutionary new understanding of and appreciation for the artist as an accomplished tonalist. Johns' greys traverse an infinitely expressive spectrum of differentiated hues and values evident in the new photography expressly commissioned for this catalogue. The volume features paintings, sculptures, drawings, lithographs, silkscreens, etchings, and aquatints created in a wide array of grey media: oil and acrylic paint, encaustic, collage, Sculp-metal, aluminum, lead, silver, graphite, pastel, watercolour, and ink. This book also features recent works published here for the first time.
Anchoring this essential publication are compelling essays that enrich our perspective on this prolific artist's entire oeuvre.

The Art Institute of Chicago has one of the largest and finest holdings of late-19th-century French art in the world. This lavishly illustrated book features over ninety paintings - nearly the entire collection - engagingly discussed in terms of the context in which so much memorable art was produced. It offers a fascinating overview of the Impressionist movement and its legacy, drawing upon the latest art-historical findings.The volume first explores works by artists who sought official sanction by the French Academy, from Edouard Manet, notorious for his bold and direct style, to Boudin and Jongkind, known for their light effects and deft brushwork. Paintings by Caillebotte, Degas, Monet, Pissarro, and Sisley offer insight on such topics as contemporary life, the changing quality of light, and painting outdoors. The final section examines works of artists influenced by Impressionism but compelled to explore new avenues of expression, including those of Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Seurat, and Toulouse-Lautrec.Each image, handsomely reproduced, exemplifies the diversity of ideas and extraordinary wealth of talent at work in late-19th-century France.
A fascinating illustrated chronology of the formation of this world-renowned collection is also included.

An updated selection of key paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago, featuring works from around the globe and dating from ancient Egypt to the present day

The Art Institute of Chicago, one of the most beloved and important museums in the world, houses an extraordinary collection of objects from diverse places, cultures, and time periods. This beautiful catalogue opens the doors of the museum to readers, presenting an expansive selection of painted works from around the globe, introduced insightfully by James Rondeau, president and director of the Art Institute. New color photography accompanies entries written by a team of curators, art historians, and educators, which put the works into context. The book showcases a dazzling range of paintings, including an Egyptian funeral portrait, an ancient Mexican wall mural, Chinese scroll paintings, Japanese painted screens, and works by artists such as Caillebotte, Cassatt, El Greco, Gauguin, Homer, Hopper, Johns, Lichtenstein, Matisse, Mitsuoki, Monet, Morisot, Motley, O’Keeffe, Picasso, Pollock, Rembrandt, Richter, Rubens, Sargent, Seurat, Tiepolo, Turner, Van Gogh, Warhol, Whistler, and Wood; contemporary artists featured include Kerry James Marshall, Wanda Pimentel, and Kazuo Shiraga.

Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago

Edlis/Neeson Collection

by James Rondeau

Published 1 March 2016
Marking an important moment in the Art Institute of Chicago’s 136-year history, this book documents an exceptional gift to the museum: the Edlis/Neeson Collection, consisting of 44 stellar works of contemporary art. Among the highlights are major paintings by some of the 20th century’s best-known artists, including Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Cy Twombly, and Andy Warhol. Also included in the gift are paintings, photographs, and sculptures by icons of contemporary art such as Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and Cindy Sherman.
 
This catalogue places the Edlis/Neeson Collection in direct dialogue with works already in the Art Institute’s holdings. An essay by James Rondeau situates the gift in the context of the museum’s history and uses it to illustrate the growth and development of Pop Art. Most importantly, this book celebrates a transformative gift that allows the Art Institute to claim the most important collection of modern and contemporary art in any encyclopedic institution in the world.

Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago

A fascinating look at the genesis and meaning of Van Gogh’s famed paintings of his bedroom

Vincent van Gogh’s The Bedroom, a painting of his room in Arles, is arguably the most famous depiction of a bedroom in the history of art. The artist made three versions of the work, now in the collections of the Van Gogh Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Musée d’Orsay.  This book is the first in-depth study of their making and their meaning to the artist.
 
In Van Gogh’s Bedrooms, an international team of art historians, scientists, and conservators investigates the psychological and emotional significance of the bedroom in Van Gogh’s oeuvre, surveying dwellings as a motif that appears throughout his work. Essays address the context in which the bedroom was first conceived, the uniqueness of the subject, and the similarities and differences among the three works both on and below the painted surface. The publication reproduces more than 50 paintings, drawings, and illustrated letters by the artist, along with other objects that evoke his peripatetic life and relentless quest for “home.”

Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago


Exhibition Schedule:

Art Institute of Chicago
(02/14/16–05/10/16)


The Art Institute of Chicago houses one of the world’s greatest collections of late-19th-century French art. This stunning book highlights more than 100 of the museum’s masterpieces, from the bold works of Édouard Manet, an important figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism, to Claude Monet’s light-filled paintings—the hallmarks of the period—and Paul Cézanne’s influential Post-Impressionist canvases.

Each beautifully reproduced work is situated in terms of the memorable era in which it was created, and collectively they exemplify the diversity of ideas and extraordinary wealth of talent at work during the remarkable Impressionist period. The publication also features a chronology—illustrated with color reproductions, archival photographs, and exhibition shots—that documents the history and formation of the Art Institute of Chicago’s renowned collection. The Age of French Impressionism offers art enthusiasts a fascinating overview of the Impressionist movement and its legacy.



Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago