Carl Einstein: Reproducing the Real

In this essay on early modern figure Carl Einstein, David Quigley looks to Einstein’s writings to imagine a new way of writing art history. Carl Einstein took part in numerous important moments of the first half of the twentieth century. He was the author of influential texts on African sculpture, wrote the first-ever history of twentieth century art (Die Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts, 1926), co-edited the journal Documents with George Bataille and was a close friend of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.