Robert Mangold

Robert Mangold's (b.1937) gently curving, majestic paintings are among the most beautiful abstract works of the late twentieth century. Emerging in the 1960s, Mangold is often associated with Minimalism for his non-hierarchical compositions and use of simple geometric forms. His subtle colours and soft, hand-drawn figures also recall other sources, from traditional Greek pottery to the frescos of Piero. Among the most accomplished painters working today, Mangold is collected in the world's pre-eminent museums.

This first comprehensive monograph assesses Mangold's contribution to contemporary painting, with essays by some of the most distinguished writers on contemporary art. Richard Shiff interprets Mangold's art in the context of its broad cultural history; Robert Storr analyses the work in relation to late twentieth-century painting; Arthur C Danto examines in depth the Zone Paintings series; and Nancy Princenthal presents a chronological history of the concepts in the work. Also included is a conversation with the artist's wife, painter Sylvia Plimack Mangold, about the sources behind his work, and artist's statements accompanied by photographs of the artist in his studio by their son, the noted film maker James Mangold.

Richard Shiff is an art historian and the Effie Marie Cain Regents Chair in Art and Director of the Center for the Study of Modernism at the University of Texas at Austin.

Robert Storr is Rosalie Solow Professor of Modern Art at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, formerly Curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Arthur C Danto is Johnsonian Professor Emetrius of Philosophy at Columbia University, New York, and the art critic for The Nation.

Nancy Princenthal is a noted American art critic whose writings have appeared in Art in America, Parkett and Artforum, among other journals.

Sylvia Plimack Mangold is a painter and has been married to Robert Mangold since 1961.

'For anyone devoted to book collecting in the field of contemporary art, and particularly in the area of contemporary painting, this book is a 'must have'. This monograph is perhaps one of the most beautifully designed and comprehensively thoughtful works to come along for a long time and it might just represent a major departure from an old model of monographs to a new model that is more inclusive than exclusive of the artist, his or her critics and the realm in which he or she operates. Present day publishers and editors asked to rethink approaches to the twenty-first-century art book might begin with this example.

To those familiar with Mangold's art all this should really come as no surprise, since Mangold is a purist himself and this book truly and intelligently mimics the ideas at which the artist has been steadily at work since the mid 1960s ... with this new book it is quite evident that Mangold joins a new pantheon of great painters, including Sean Scully, Agnes Martin and Ellsworth Kelly, all of whom continue to re-describe and re-define the character, strength, style and possibilities for abstract painting in this century.' (Michael Klein, curator of the Microsoft Art Collection, The Art Book)

'A beautifully designed and presented monograph devoted to an American abstract artist of today who deserves to be better known on this side of the Atlantic.' (The Sunday Telegraph)