The book begins by considering responses by French artists to the World War I, showing how Purism, Dada, and early Surrealism are related to the ethos of post-war reconstruction. The authors then discuss the language of construction in places as dissimilar as France, Germany and the Soviet Union; th[...]

An exploration of ways to think about abstract art and the problems of interpretation it raises. The author speculates on the language required to describe the effects of key abstract paintings and sculptures and on ways to discuss critical issues when a work of art is without "subject matter".[...]

Primarily a painter of still-life and landscape, Vija Celmins (b. 1938, Latvia; moved to the US in 1949) is a major international figure associated with 1960s Pop art. Her unique, technically impeccable paintings and drawings choose as their subject matter 'impossible imagery': from exploding planes[...]