Per Kirkeby: Journeys in Painting and Elsewhere

Per Kirkeby may be Copenhagen's best-known artistic export; born in 1938, he is still based in Denmark. Perhaps due to his doctorate in geology, the metamorphosis of nature has always been a key theme for Kirkeby. Early on, he was influenced by American Pop art and Minimalism, and in recent years, he has become involved with the tradition of Nordic Romanticism. It is this blend of the rigor of Minimalism and the emotional charge of Romanticism that gives his recent, abstract works their frisson. Featuring pieces from a private collection in Switzerland, this publication is an in-depth exploration of Kirkeby's works from the early 1980s to the present--with the exclusion of his work from the 70s, which was a transitional period prior to the development of his distinctive language. His paintings appear alongside works on paper, including his rarely-seen travel sketches.