Charmion von Wiegand - Expanding Modernism (English Edition)

Charmion von Wiegand (1896–1983) was an American journalist, art critic, and painter. Although largely unknown today, she won international acclaim beginning in the 1950s for paintings and collages in which she combined Far Eastern iconography with geometric abstraction. As Haema Sivanesan describes in this publication, Charmion von Wiegand developed a visual language for a “transcultural, modern Buddhism.” Yet, it was as an art critic and member of New York’s literary circles in the 1920s that she initially made a name for herself. It was in this capacity that she first met Piet Mondrian. Von Wiegand’s engagement with Mondrian’s transcendental, geometrically abstract art prepared the ground for her own work. These colorful compositions inspired by her personal spiritual practices continue to fascinate new generations. This comprehensive monograph, richly illustrated, with never-before-seen primary documents and new research, lays the foundation for re-examining the legacy of one of the 20th-century’s most open and inquisitive minds.

Edited by MAJA WISMER, Head of Art after 1960 / Contemporary Art at Kunstmuseum Basel. Since 2017 she worked there as assistant curator. Previously she was Curatorial Fellow at the Harvard Art Museums and has worked on numerous exhibitions on modern and contemporary art.

With contributions by Martin Brauen, Lori Cole, Haema Sivanesan, Nancy J. Troy, Felix Vogel, Maja Wismer

Softcover, 160 pages, 22,0 x 29,0 cm, 104 color illustrations, ISBN: 978-3-7913-5974-8  

Released in June 2021

Catalog for the Exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel in 2023.