3 X Abstraction: New Methods of Drawing: Hilma Af Klint, Emma Kunz, and Agnes Martin

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Yale University Press, Jun 11, 2005 - Art - 240 pages

3x an Abstraction presents the extraordinary work of three important women artists whose innovative ideas and approaches to drawing had a significant impact on the history of modern abstraction. Hilma af Klint (Sweden, 1862–1944), Emma Kunz (Switzerland, 1892–1963), and Agnes Martin (Canada, b. 1912; U.S. citizenship 1950) approached geometric abstraction not as formalism, but as a means of structuring philosophical, scientific, and spiritual ideas. Using line, geometry, and the grid, each of these artists created diagrammatic drawings of their exploration of complex belief systems and restorative practices.


Noteworthy among the 150 illustrations in the volume are a large number of works by Hilma af Klint, reproduced here for the first time in a major publication; Emma Kunz’s drawings, exhibited in the United States for the first time in 2005; and approximately 20 early works by Agnes Martin. The book also includes writings by each of the artists, an introduction by Catherine de Zegher, seven essays by distinguished contributors, and brief statements from five contemporary artists.


By considering collectively the works of these three artists anew, 3x an Abstraction highlights the artistic contributions of af Klint and Kunz and revisits the work of Martin from a new perspective.

 

Contents

Catherine de Zegher Abstract
23
The Art of Agnes Martin
41
Birgit Pelzer Idealities
63
Hilma af Klints Order of Transcendence
95
List of Works 1
110
Hendel Teicher Kaleidoscopic Visions
127
List of Works 2
140
Dreaming Agnes
159
Agnes Martins Infinity
185
List of Works 3
196
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About the author (2005)

Contributors include: Bracha Ettinger, Briony Fer, Elizabeth Finch, Adam Fuss, Rosalind Krauss, Birgit Pelzer, Griselda Pollock, Kathryn Tuma, Susan Klein, Richard Tuttle, Cecilia Vicuna, and Terry Winters.

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