Isabella Ducrot: A Retrospective

Co-published with Museo Madre and Astrup Fearnley Museet, this book is the first comprehensive monograph on Italian artist Isabella Ducrot, and brings together more than 200 works made over nearly five decades. Primarily using textiles and paper, Ducrot embraces materials whose natural flaws and virtues become part of the image. Floral still lifes, landscapes, loving couples, and garments all belong to her vocabulary of simple yet universal themes, which conjure a richly tactile world. Celebrating her singular approach, the volume includes essays by Adam D. Weinberg, Eva Fabbris, Jhumpa Lahiri, and others, alongside a selection of Ducrot’s own writings. Isabella Ducrot was born in 1931 in Naples. Her oeuvre is deeply rooted in her interest in fabrics, central to both her pictorial works and writings. Employing diverse media—including pencil, pastel, ink and watercolour—her works compress an array of cultural references, ranging philosophy, folklore and textile weaving.