The circus presents a deliberate staging of attractive illusions, hard struggle, success and failure as part of human existence. The volume assembles works by international contemporary artists who make use of the motif of the circus in order to examine current social circumstances and to question cultural and political structures.

Edvard Munch’s radical modernity in painting was a challenge for his contemporaries. This applied in particular to the art scene in Berlin around 1900 which the Norwegian Symbolist artist influenced profoundly. In return, he received support there and was able to continue to develop his work. The publication is lavishly illustrated and describes knowledgeably the story of Munch and Berlin.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. – the first museum in the world solely dedicated to championing women through the arts – has a collection spanning five centuries and featuring artists from six continents. This book shares recent acquisitions and longtime favourites; its thematic organisation leads readers to new discoveries.

Harriet Backer (1845–1932) was one of Norway’s most prominent painters of the 19th century and a pioneer among women artists in Europe. In 1880, she debuted in the Paris Salon and lived in Munich and Paris. Back in Oslo, she established a successful school for painters. This catalogue presents Backer to an international audience, thus giving her back the place she deserves in art history.

Harriet Backer (1845–1932) was one of Norway’s most prominent painters of the 19th century and a pioneer among women artists in Europe. In 1880, she debuted in the Paris Salon and lived in Munich and Paris. Back in Oslo, she established a successful school for painters. This catalogue presents Backer to an international audience, thus giving her back the place she deserves in art history.

Harriet Backer (1845–1932) was one of Norway’s most prominent painters of the 19th century and a pioneer among women artists in Europe. In 1880, she debuted in the Paris Salon and lived in Munich and Paris. Back in Oslo, she established a successful school for painters. This catalogue presents Backer to an international audience, thus giving her back the place she deserves in art history.

Raw, unadorned and decried in conservative circles as ‟gutter art”: Käthe Kollwitz used her art uncompromisingly as a political voice for the social and human misery of her time. Her focus always lies on human dignity. This volume provides a wide-ranging insight into the artist’s commitment and creative work. Her oeuvre is more topical than ever today.

After a long break, Heinz Mack has been focusing intensively on painting again for over thirty years. A cross-section of his "Chromatische Konstellationen" from 1991 until the present day shows how he translates the greatest possible purity of colour, light and immateriality into a broad spectrum of colour sequences and structures. Texts by Heinz Mack and Robert Fleck illuminate the essence of these colour worlds.

As the charismatic artist friend of Egon Schiele, Erwin Osen also left his mark on the key early years of Expressionism in Vienna. His multi-faceted relationship with Schiele reached an intensity that inspired Egon Schiele’s radical creative work, resulting in masterpieces of Austrian art. Erwin Osen was forgotten, but is now waiting to be rediscovered.

At the end of the 19th century the term “Secession” stood for the artistic beginnings of modernism. Art was surging forward towards freedom. Avant-garde artists showed their new creative works in the exhibitions of the Secession. In doing so they introduced innovative art movements to the public and helped Impressionism and Symbolism, for example, to achieve a breakthrough in the German-speaking region.