Unternavigation

Swiss artists’ books

With the publication "Schweizer Künstlerbücher - Livres d'artistes suisses - Libri d'artista svizzeri - Swiss artists' books", the Swiss National Library published a critical overview of Swiss artists' books in association with the Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König.

Künstlerbücher Titelseite — Front page of “Schweizer Künstlerbücher –
Livres d’artistes suisses – Libri d’artista svizzeri –
Swiss artists’ books” (Design: Teo Schifferli)

Little known to art lovers and somewhat enigmatic as an object, the artist’s book has become a sort of icon and cult object in art and library history. The book per se is one of the most functional and liberal – and one of the most inexpensive – information media on cultural history. But what role does the artist’s book play?

Based on one of the most extensive collections of artists’ books in Switzerland – that of the Swiss National Library – editor and author Susanne Bieri explores the Swiss artist’s book in an international context, through 112 interviews with 450 questions, but far more than 450 answers, because the questions sparked over 650 annotations, associations and anecdotes. “Schweizer Künstlerbücher – Livres d’artistes suisses – Libri d’artista svizzeri – Swiss artists’ books” is therefore a unique and encyclopaedic compendium of Swiss artists’ books.

List of authors “Schweizer Künstlerbücher – Livres d’artistes suisses – Libri d’artista svizzeri – Swiss artists’ books” (PDF, 174 kB, 31.05.2022)

Bibliographical references

“Schweizer Künstlerbücher – Livres d’artistes suisses – Libri d’artista svizzeri – Swiss artists’ books”, edited by Susanne Bieri, Swiss National Library, Bern, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Cologne, 2022, 408 pages, ISBN 978-3-7533-0212-6, CHF 46 / EUR 45