An extended meandering conversation between Swiss art historian, critic and curator Jacqueline Burckhardt and curator/art historian Juri Steiner, accompanied by numerous texts, documents and artist inserts.
The new English edition of
La mia commedia dell'arte (first published in German by Edition Patrick Frey in 2022) is published in handy paperback format. It is complemented by a rediscovered letter from Ernst H. Gombrich and a text by Catherine and Tarcisius Schelbert, adding two more voices to those that speak of Jacqueline Burckhardt's contribution to the field of art.
"Art is my oxygen. It is also an inexhaustible cornucopia across all times and disciplines."
An in-depth dialogue between curator and art historian Juri Steiner reveals Jacqueline Burckhardt's "inter-esse" in the Latin sense of the word, for she is active both in between and at the core of art. Their delightfully illustrated conversation—as lighthearted as it is profound—provides a fascinating account of Burckhardt's work and mindset. Together, Steiner and Burckhardt address a diversity of topics, ranging rhizome like from the dual historical nature of artworks to Herbert Lachmayer's concept of "taste intelligence." We encounter Kairos, the god of the opportune moment, alongside Isabelle d'Este, the botfly, and the octopus.
Selected texts penned over the past 40 years elaborate on issues raised in the conversation and give an insight into Burckhardt's distinctive and informative writings on art.
The "Intermezzo"—with contributions by
Laurie Anderson, Kurt W. Forster, Katharina Fritsch, Herbert Lachmayer, Pipilotti Rist, Catherine Schelbert, and a copy of Ernst Gombrich's letter—eloquently testify to her relationship with artists and authors.
The cover is an artistic collaboration between Herbert Lachmayer and Kai Damian Matthiesen. This "unorthodox, beautiful cover," in the words of the jury of the renowned American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), was awarded a prize in the Fifty Books 50 Covers 2022 competition.
With a conversation between Juri Steiner and Jacqueline Burckhardt; inserts by Laurie Anderson, Kurt W. Forster, Katharina Fritsch, Herbert Lachmayer, Pipilotti Rist, Catherine Schelbert; and a selection of Burckhardt's writings.
Jacqueline Burckhardt (born 1947 in Basel) approaches art from many different angles: as a former restorer of artworks, as an art historian, as the initiator of the performance art program at the Kunsthaus Zürich, as a co-editor of the art magazine Parkett, as a curator of site-specific art on the Novartis Campus in Basel, as a lecturer at the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio, Switzerland, and as the director of the Sommerakademie residency program at the Zentrum Paul Klee. She has also been involved in cultural policymaking, having served as the president of the Swiss Federal Art Commission for nine years. The Federal Office of Culture awarded Jacqueline Burckhardt with the Prix Meret Oppenheim in 2024.
