18th/19th Century

Sculpture is just a word, an English word, which elicits an image in the mind’s eye. Sculpture is a European idea. In China, on the other hand, statues, stele, and other figural objects were made for millennia without being thought of as Sculpture. There was no Sculpture in China. "Imagining Sculpture" is the story of this something that did not exist.

Johann Gottfried Schadow’s "Princess group" has gone down in the annals of art history. As the first statue of two female historical personalities it testifies to the innovation, enormous artistry and productivity of sculpture workshops in the 19th century – a symbol of the important sculpture of German Classicism.

Founded in 1948, Hirmer Publishers soon established a name for art books produced to the highest standards. Over the past decade they have become equally well-known in English-speaking countries, with a reputation as one of the most prestigious publishers in this field. This survey of English titles from 2010 to 2020 encompasses a wealth of subjects across the centuries, from antiquity to the modern age.  

The private art collection of the Hilti Art Foundation includes over 200 top-quality paintings, sculptures and photographs from Classical Modernism to the present day. Volume 1 of the two-part catalogue of the collection presents 80 selected works from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, from Paul Gauguin to Alberto Giacometti.