Four Essential Art Catalogues from 2017-2018

Marco Enrico Giacomelli reviews four must-have art catalogues from 2017-2018. The first is the catalogue for the Cesare Tacchi retrospective at Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, curated by Daniela Lancioni and Ilaria Bernardi. The 476-page volume includes curatorial essays, a photographic section, an anthology of Tacchi's writings, a 150-page verbo-visual chronology, and philological cataloguing. The second catalogue, 'Ausstellen des Ausstellens' edited by Johan Holten for Kunsthalle Baden Baden, explores the history of exhibitions from Wunderkammer to curatorial situations. Instead of exhibition photos, it features drawings by Matthias Beckmann, Bea Davies, Anje Jager, and Pedro Stoichita. The third is Aligi Sassu's 'Catalogo ragionato dell'arte sacra' edited by Alfredo Paglione, collecting 471 sacred works by Sassu from 1927 to 1999, published by Silvana Editoriale. The fourth is 'Dentro Caravaggio' edited by Rossella Vodret for Skira, accompanying the exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan featuring eighteen Caravaggio masterpieces with diagnostic research presented in accessible language.