Do or Die

Accompanying an exhibition at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum celebrating the long history of the human image in art, this beautiful book places significant photographs of the twentieth and twenty-first century in dialogue with some of the great masters of European art from the late Middle Ages to the nineteenth century. The paintings and photographs reflect happiness and suffering, hope and despair—and the juxtapositions shed light on abiding elements of the human condition. Bringing the work of contemporary photo-artists like Nan Goldin and Jürgen Klauke face to face with that of old masters like Titian and François Boucher also serves to reveal both the continued influence of painting on photography, and conspicuous areas of difference. 

In addition to seventy full-color images, this bilingual German and English edition includes an interview with art collector Lutz Teutloff, an essay by renowned cultural critic Bazon Brock, and biographical information on the artists. The glamour and misery of mankind are on full display in this stunning catalog.

Andreas Blühm is director of the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, Germany, where Roland Krischel is curator.