Werner Spies: The Eye and the World: Collected Writings on Art and Literature, The Gagosian Edition - Hardcover

Twentieth-century art can be understood fully only from a perspective that ignores boundaries between countries and continents. Werner Spies has always had on open eye and mind for developments on both sides of the Atlantic, and his critical appraisals of trends in both Europe and the USA continue to be a stimulating feature of writing on art at an international level. He has followed events in the international art world for over 40 years, as a close friend of artists, as a teacher, as a critic, and as a curator of major international exhibitions. Spies's collected writings first appeared in German in 2008. That enormously successful edition is already out of print, but it is now being made available to an international audience in English for the first time. The 10 volumes, beautifully printed with over 1,400 full-colour illustrations, and presented in a slipcase designed by Andreas Gursky, is destined to be a collector's item The significance of these writings lies in the author's varied approach to his subjects and especially to his intense engagement with actual works of art, derived from his long friendship with many artists and countless visits to their studios. In their wealth of detail, and in their refl ection of personal encounters and impressions, Spies's writings constitute an important resource on the art of the twentieth century.

Werner Spies, former director of the Musee national d'art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, has authored catalogues raisonnes of major 20th-century artists and conceived and curated major exhibitions. He has published a number of monographs and has written for decades for leading German newspapers. Andreas Gursky is one of the most acclaimed artists at work today.