While Munch's pessimistic, melancholy world view crucially defines our understanding of his work, many important postwar and contemporary artists have drawn inspiration from several aspects of his oeuvre. This richly illustrated book explores how seven such artists- Georg Baselitz, Miriam Cahn, Peter Doig, Marlene Dumas, Tracey Emin, Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol-engaged with Munch's work at different points in, or throughout, their careers. It features elaborate reproductions of sixty works by Munch juxtaposed with those inspired by him. Readers discover how Baselitz cunningly pays tribute to his artistic hero how Tracey Emin's practice, like Munch's, is autobiographical, both drawing from their personal torment to create their unnerving works ; how Marlene Dumas was drawn to the expressiveness of Munch's portraits; and how Peter Doig draws on Munch's radical treatment of pigments and materiality. Essays by leading scholars detail each artist's unique preoccupation with Munch and offer a focused exploration of the ways women artists in particular were inspired by his examinations of loneliness, fear, and trauma.

On the occasion of his 85th birthday the famous international German artist Georg Baselitz (*1938) has donated a collection of works on paper to both the Albertina Museum in Vienna and the Morgan Library in New York. The publication combines the 100 sheets to create a representative retrospective, providing by virtue of its concentration an important contribution to the understanding of his entire oeuvre. The two extensive sets of drawings and watercolours date from different creative phases from the early 1960s to the present day. Through this direct medium the works provide an intimate insight into the artist’s creative process across the past five decades. An interview with Georg Baselitz conducted to mark this publication provides information about the significance of the works on paper in the genesis of his works and within his oeuvre.

Jean-Michel Basquiat's symbolic, complex, and often emotionally charged work made a huge impact on the 1980s downtown New York City art scene. And though his all-too-brief career ended when he died at age 27, Basquiat left behind an enormous legacy-not only in the number of works he produced, but also in the messages he encoded around political, social, racial, and cultural issues. This exciting book shows how Basquiat used an intricate network of signs and symbols to challenge the very system that made him a darling of the art world. It traces his inspiration from cartoons, children's drawings, and advertising as well as his own Haitian and Puerto Rican heritage; discusses the influence of African-American, African, and Aztec cultural histories; and shows how Basquiat incorporated into his work classical themes and contemporary icons-from athletes to musicians. What becomes clear is how, even as a young man, Basquiat had a profound understanding of the artist's role in art history, and of his position as a young Black artist in a world of racism, suppression and social injustice. This book helps readers decode Basquiat's unique lingua franca, an intoxicating body of work brimming with social commentary that was in turns incisive, angry, comic, hip, and heartbreaking, and that remains powerful and meaningful today.