Ulf Linde: Essays from a Lifetime in the Art

Essays and studies by the pioneering Swedish art guru This volume presents the first English-language anthology of writings from Swedish art critic and museum director Ulf Linde (1929-2013). Linde played a key role in the early years of Moderna Museet, facilitating a major coup on its behalf: In 1961, he produced the first replica of Marcel Duchamp's Large Glass, approved and signed by the artist himself. While Linde was a major voice in Sweden for over six decades, he is little known outside of Scandinavia. This anthology rectifies this oversight, compiling Linde's most rigorous and illuminating essays: studies of Swedish painters and other modern masters such as Picasso, Matisse, Picabia and Giacometti, as well as a bevy of theoretical texts including his ambitious final essay on the art of drawing. The volume is generously illustrated and features an introduction by Olle Granath, also a former director of Moderna Museet.

Review :
A titan of Swedish culture for half a century, Ulf Linde possessed a singular voice and an exceptional vision, which shine forth in this volume of nimbly translated texts. Long overdue, Essays from a Lifetime in the Arts offers fresh insights into familiar subjects (Matisse, Picasso, and, of course, Duchamp), as well as unique explorations of lesser-known Swedish artists (Bruno Liljefors, Sven X-et Erixson, and Lennart Rodhe). These engaging essays demonstrate that Ulf Linde was one the most discerning and erudite figures of his generation.--Paul B. Franklin "Art historian and curator" A vital contributor to boh Moderna Museet and the Centre Pompidou in their early years, Ulf Linde was a leading critical voice in Sweden for half a century. Now readers of English can enjoy the breadth of his adventurous, exacting, versatile, and eloquent writings.--Laurent Le Bon ""President, Centre Pompidou"" Swedish writer Ulf Linde was a key voice in the critical conversations around new forms of art in post-war Europe. Known internationally as one of Marcel Duchamp's essential collaborators and as the co-curator of the retrospective that inaugurated the Centre Pompidou, Linde was also the author of brilliant essays on a wide spectrum of aesthetic themes. As this fascinating selection of beautifully translated texts demonstrates he was in fact one of the most powerful critics of the era.--Daniel Birnbaum "Artistic Director of Acute Art and former director of Moderna Museet" Ulf Linde is a legendary figure among Duchamp scholars but his writings, in Swedish, have been largely inaccessible. This anthology makes the breadth of his work available in English for the first time, including essays on Duchamp and a host of other modern masters, including Picasso, Matisse, Picabia and Giacometti--and on topics ranging from jazz to Wallace Stevens. The book is sure to expand the enormous influence that Linde had on the cultural life of Scandinavia.--Francis M. Naumann ""scholar, curator, and art dealer"" Ulf Linde's wonderful essays bust out in unexpected directions, bringing a spirit by turns playful, celebratory, scholarly, and daringly idiosyncratic to subjects as diverse as Duchamp, Matisse, Giacometti, Duke Ellington, Wallace Stevens, and Early Christian illuminated manuscripts. Linde, who began life as a jazz musician, has a gift for intellectual improvisation. He lets his ideas fly. His great subject is the enchantment of modern art. Open this beautifully produced book and you'll find yourself getting to know a writer of head-spinning range and originality.--Jed Perl "Author of Authority and Freedom: A Defense of the Arts"