Sturtevant, Warhol Flowers, 1970
Isabelle Graw’s latest book “On The Benefits of Friendship” reflects on the purposes and struggles of friendship in a competitive society. By focusing on her own social milieu—the art world—Graw demonstrated how friendships are neither totally disinterested nor reduceable to their use.
We hosted a discussion with Isabelle Graw, Ewa Lajer-Burcharth and Renée Green at 1014 Fifth Avenue, and took a closer look at friendships, benefits, and belonging.
This was followed by a reception on the occasion of the launch of the book in the English language (Sternberg Press).
Event photos by Roshni Khatri
Isabelle Graw lives and works as an art critic in Berlin. She is Professor of Art History and Art Theory at the Städelschule and founded together with Daniel Birnbaum the Institute for Art Criticism in summer 2003, which focuses on the practice of criticism and its manifold relationships to other disciplines. The institute regularly invites art historians, philosophers, critics, and artists. It benefits from the discourse produced by the professors of the school and many Frankfurt-based art critics and academics. Together with Stefan Germer, she founded quarterly magazine Texte zur Kunst in Cologne in 1990. Many of her books have been translated into English: In Another World (2020), Three Cases of Value Reflection (2021), and On the Benefits of Friendship (2023), among others (all Sternberg Press).
Ewa Lajer-Burcharth is William Dorr Boardman Professor of Fine Arts at Harvard University. She specializes in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century French art and has also written extensively on contemporary art, most recently on the painters Amy Sillman, Jutta Koether, and Alex Katz. Her books include Necklines: The Art of Jacques-Louis David after the Terror (Yale University Press, 1999; Ebook ed., A&AePortal, 2022), Chardin Material (Sternberg Press, 2011), and The Painter’s Touch: Boucher Chardin Fragonard (Princeton University Press, 2018; paperback ed. PUP, 2023). She also co-authored Interiors and Interiority, (De Gruyter, 2015); Painting Beyond Itself: A Medium in the Post-Medium Condition (Sternberg Press, 2016), and Drawing: The Invention of the Modern Medium (Harvard Art Museums, 2017).
Renée Green is an artist, writer, and filmmaker. Green’s exhibitions, videos and films have been seen throughout the world in museums, art institutions, and film festivals. She has known Isabelle Graw since 1991.
Venue Accessibility
Unfortunately, 1014 Fifth Avenue is in the process of being refurbished, and is not fully accessible in its current state. We apologize to our guests and kindly ask you to contact j.stubbs@1014.nyc if you need further information or assistance. We will do our best to enable everyone to join us.