Apparitions: Frottages and Rubbings from 1860 to Now

This fascinating publication sheds light on a medium that combines the qualities of drawing with those of sculpture, printmaking, and painting, and is the first to focus exclusively on the art technique known as frottage, derived from the French word frotter, meaning "to rub." Over 100 pieces, ranging from contemporary conceptual works to rubbings recording tombs and inscriptions, are assembled and sumptuously reproduced in color. More than 50 artists--including the famous, like Max Ernst, inventor of the term "frottage," and the relatively unknown--are presented. Four thematic sections explore different aspects of frottage: its roots in Surrealism and the practice of automatic drawing; the notion of trace, of either a place or an idea left behind in a rubbing; the "apparitions" or ghostlike attributes that can appear on the surface of an artwork; and the associations between rubbings, death, and memory.

Distributed for the Menil Collection

Exhibition Schedule:

Hammer Museum, UCLA
(02/08/15-05/31/15)

The Menil Collection
(09/11/15-01/03/16)

Author: Allegra Pesenti
Publisher: Menil Foundation
Published: 10/13/2015
Pages: 132
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.20lbs
Size: 12.40h x 9.80w x 0.80d
ISBN13: 9780300214697
ISBN10: 0300214693
BISAC Categories:
- Art | Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions | Group Shows
- Art | History | Modern (Late 19th Century to 1945)
- Art | History | Contemporary (1945- )

About the Author
Allegra Pesenti is a drawings specialist and curator at large for the Menil Drawing Institute, The Menil Collection.