The Child. Works by Gottfried Helnwein (signed) Works by Gottfried Helnwein

Johnson, Robert Flynn

ISBN 10: 0884011127 / ISBN 13: 9780884011125

Published by Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, 2004

31 x 23 cm 150 pp with colour and b&w illustrations throughout. Cloth, very good. No. 961 of 1500 copies signed by the artist. With additional signature to front endpaper. Seller Inventory # 9917

Synopsis:

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are pleased to present the first one-person museum exhibition in America of the Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein. The Child: Works by Gottfried Helnwein features a major theme that has appeared in his work over the last thirty-five years. For Helnwein, the child is the symbol of innocence, but also of innocence betrayed. In today's world, the malevolent forces of war, poverty, and sexual exploitation and the numbing, predatory influence of modern media assault the virtue of children. Robert Flynn Johnson, the curator in charge of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, has assembled a thought-provoking selection of Helnwein's works and provided an insightful essay on his art in this exhibition catalogue. Helnwein's work concerning the child includes paintings, drawings, and photographs, and it ranges from subtle inscrutability to scenes of stark brutality. Of course, brutal scenes - witness The Massacre of the Innocents - have been important and regularly visited motifs in the history of art. What makes Helnwein's art significant is its ability to make us reflect emotionally and intellectually on the very expressive subjects he chooses. Many people feel that museums should be a refuge in which to experience quiet beauty divorced from the coarseness of the world. This notion sells short the purposes of art, the function of museums, and the intellectual curiosity of the public. The Child: Works by Gottfried Helnwein will inspire and enlighten many.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Child. Works by Gottfried Helnwein (...
Publisher: Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco
Publication Date: 2004
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Near fine
Signed: Signed by Author(s)
Edition: First Edition.