Kandinsky and Klee in Tunisia

Roger Benjamin is Professor of Art History at the University of Sydney. His notable publications include the prize-winning Orientalist Aesthetics: Art, Colonialism, and French North Africa, 1880--1930. In 1995 he co-curated Matisse for the Queensland Art Gallery, and in 1997 his exhibition Orientalism: Delacroix to Klee was held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. He is former Director of the Power Institute at the University of Sydney. Cristina Ashjian is an independent scholar based in New England, where she is chair of the Moultonborough Heritage Commission. She earned her MA in the History of Art at the Courtauld Institute, London, and as German Chancellor Fellow at the University of Munich in 1995--96 she researched her doctoral dissertation, "Representing 'scenes et types': Wassily Kandinsky in Tunisia, 1904--1905." She has collaborated on the research for Kandinsky and Klee in Tunisia.

• Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction: Revisiting Kairouan Part 1: Kandinsky and Munter in Tunisia 1. "Ella" and "Wassi": The Lovers as Tourists 2. Kandinsky and the Ethno-Decorative: Working Negroes 3. Hotel Saint Georges and the Terrain Vague 4. Tunisian Decorative Art and the Belvedere Park 5. Modern Carthage 6. Carnivals and Fantasias 7. Open Space: Mosques and Marabouts 8. Compressed Space: Alleys and Arches 9. Arab City: Views of Sousse and Kairouan 10. Memories of the Maghreb and Arab Cemetery, 1909 Part 2: Klee, Macke, and Moilliet in Tunisia 11. Munich--Tunis: A Bildungsreise 12. Pictures of Tunis, April 1914 13. The "European Colony" of St. Germain 14. A Crystalline Hammamet 15. The Holy City of Kairouan 16. S idi Sahabi and L'art populaire 17. The Walls of Kairouan 18. Mosque of the Sabers 19. North African Resonances, 1914--1924 20. Conclusion: Navigating Colonial Cultures Notes Select Bibliography List of Illustrations Index

"The sensitive exploration of the subject, the wide range of sources consulted, the fieldwork carried out, and Benjamin's captivating and accessible writing make this book essential reading for anyone who wishes to gain a deeper understanding of the art inspired by these two journeys and of the experiences and cultural encounters provided for the artists concerned." -- MAURICE RUMMENS Burlington Magazine