Colour and light as sensory stimulus and the phenomenon of light encountering surfaces are core elements of the work of artists Silvia Gertsch, born in Switzerland in 1963, and the German Xerxes Ach, born in 1957. Gertsch works on reverse-glass, using snapshots of young people in summer, sunbathing, strolling down the street, or children absorbed in play. Ach has turned to micro-phenomena in which light encounters various materials, is refracted in various ways, and generates abstract visual compositions. In spite of their different stylistic languages - realism on the one side, abstract colour field painting on the other - occupying antagonistic positions in contemporary painting, the two artists take a similar approach, starting from photos they take themselves and digitally edit, as well as found ones recording fleeting visual stimuli. Coinciding with a dual exhibition of Silvia Gertsch and Xerxes Ach at the Museum of Fine Arts Bern, this new book features their work from two decades. Richly illustrated, it puts their differing pictorial languages in a dance-like dialogue, revealing each artist's relation to current artistic discourses.

Korea is still a divided country that apparently never found its way out of the Cold War. The differences between the socialist North, which follows a dynastic leadership cult, and the capitalist South, with its developed democracy, could hardly be greater. Encompassing all areas of life, this divergence is also reflected in the art of the two countries: through the vibrant contemporary art scene in South Korea and the socialist-realist tradition of painting in North Korea, two diametrically opposed artistic attitudes exist in parallel, reflecting the incompatibility of the political systems and the stark differences in the way of life of the populations. To mark the exhibition of both North and South Korean works from the Sigg Collection at the Kunstmuseum Bern, a comprehensive, richly illustrated catalogue is being published, which sheds light upon the theme of the border in contemporary Korean art from both sides.

When over 1,000 artworks by outstanding artists of the modern era appeared on the scene in 2012, the find was celebrated as a sensation, though the suspicion that it might be art looted by the Nazis also reared its head. This extensive, lavishly illustrated publication documents for the first time a selection of works from the estate of the art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt and examines the turbulent story of the 'Gurlitt art trove'. In addition to the presentation of the pictures, the estate of Cornelius Gurlitt (1932 - 2014), the son of the art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt, is set in its historica l context by a prestigious list of authors, thereby ensuring transparency and enlightenment. One important topic is the provenance of the works, which in some cases were vilified by the National Socialist regime as "degenerate art". Which works in this col lection are looted art? Which ones were purchased legally, and which ones were acquired in forced sales? Another area of focus will be the biographies of Jewish collectors and artists who were the victims of art theft and the Holocaust. A further topic of investigation is how stolen works were returned to the museums and private collections after 1945. The official catalogue of the Kunstmuseum Bern and the Kunst - und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Bundeskunsthalle) in Bonn permits for the first time a nuanced understanding of this case which is unique in the postwar history of Germany.