Dutch painter Piet Mondrian died in New York City in 1944, but his work and legacy have been far from static since then. From market pressures to personal relationships and scholarly agendas, posthumous factors have repeatedly transformed our understanding of his oeuvre. In "The Afterlife of Piet Mondrian", Nancy J. Troy explores the controversial circumstances under which our conception of the artist's work has been shaped since his death, an account that describes money-driven interventions and personal and professional rivalries in forthright detail. Troy reveals how collectors, curators, scholars, dealers and the painter's heirs all played roles in fashioning Mondrian's legacy, each with a different reason for seeing the artist through a particular lens. She shows that our appreciation of his work is influenced by how it has been conserved, copied, displayed, and publicized, and she looks at the popular appeal of Mondrian's instantly recognizable style in fashion, graphic design, and a vast array of consumer commodities. Ultimately, Troy argues that we miss the evolving significance of Mondrian's work if we examine it without regard for the interplay of canonical art and popular culture. A fascinating investigation into Mondrian's afterlife, this book casts new light on how every artist's legacy is constructed as it circulates through the art world and becomes assimilated into the larger realm of visual experience.

Charmion von Wiegand started painting figuratively in 1926, when she received encouragement from her friend and painter, Joseph Stella. After being hired as an American reporter based in Soviet Moscow from 1929 to 1932, von Wiegand established herself as a preeminent art critic who embraced progressive ideas. She moved back to New York City in 1932 and became immersed in the avant-garde movement. Von Wiegand developed a close circle of friends including Hans Richter, Carl Holty, and John Graham. In 1941, when she met and befriended Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, she changed her painting style completely and was finally considered an artist in her own right. Highly influenced by his work, von Wiegand became interested in combining abstraction, Theosophy, and Eastern religions including her adoptive religion, Buddhism. The result was modern geometric abstract paintings that were imbued with Eastern imagery. This comprehensive volume on von Wiegand showcases gloriously illustrated works from all phases of her career. It also contains insightful essays and an array of previously unpublished material from the artist's archives, including correspondence with Mondrian.

Beginning around 1910, vanguard artists demanded that true art go beyond the intellectual and transform daily life. This volume highlights the work of six influential European artists who took this idea into the wider world, where it merged enthusiastically with demands in the industrial marketplace, the nascent mass media, and urban popular culture. Featured are Piet Zwart, a Dutch designer who brought his minimalist aesthetic vision to ubiquitous items like biscuit boxes and postage stamps; Karel Teige, leader of the Czech avant-garde, who produced brilliant book and journal designs; his compatriot Ladislav Sutnar, who brought modernist "good design" to tableware, clothing, and children's toys; Gustav Klutsis, who pioneered using photomontage for political purposes; Lazar (El) Lissitzky, who produced some of the most exciting book, poster, and exhibition designs of the 1920s and '30s in Germany and Russia; and German artist John Heartfield, who worked exclusively in photomontage to design book covers, journals, and agitational posters for the Communist cause. Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago Exhibition Schedule: The Art Institute of Chicago (06/11/11-09/18/11)