The Immediate Touch

This catalog accompanies The Immediate Touch: German, Austrian, and Swiss Drawings from Saint Louis Collections, an exhibition of drawings done since 1946 by German-speaking artists. Thanks to a group of perceptive art collectors, directors, and curators, St. Louis has become a center for collection works by such internationally known artists as Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, and Sigmar Polke, as well as artist who until recently have been lesser known, including the Bavarian artist Erwin Pfrang, the Swiss artist Alex Herzog, and the Berlin artist Herta Muller.

The interest in St. Louis for art by German speakers has less to do with the German roots of this community than with the impulses and backgrounds of its collectors. These are people who have acquired works of art passionately, observed uncompromising standards of quality, and in many cases have championed artists well ahead of the curve. This gathering of more than one hundred drawings by thirty-nine different German-speaking artists from Switzerland, Austria, and Germany illustrates the breadth of that achievement.

Co-authored by Francesca Herndon-Consagra and Sydney Norton
Soft Bound
149 pages with 166 color and black-and-white images