Rudolf de Crignis

Swiss artist Rudolf de Crignis (1948-2006) began his career in video, photography and performance art. In 1985, a studio fellowship in New York introduced the artist to the work of American minimalist painters such as Robert Ryman, Ad Reinhardt, Agnes Martin and Barnett Newman, precipitating his shift to painting. De Crignis began by making paintings that at first appear to be a single hue, but which were actually begun as a finely worked, layered, white gesso surface. This substantial volume is the first to present a thorough overview of Crignis' austere and meditative work.