Sebald:Künstler innen. Häuser aussen

Katja Sebald and Ulrike Myrzik explore the question of how artists live and have lived. Their book is, in a way, a history book that highlights both the sociocultural and architectural aspects of artists' homes in the city and in the countryside. It illustrates how the image of the artist – and even more so that of the female artist – has changed over the course of about 150 years. Above all, however, it is a book of stories and images that makes visible the diverse connections: There is almost always an interaction between an artist's work and their living space. Artists want to realize visions with the house they inhabit or even build, just as they do with their art, expressing their way of life. An artist's home and workspace is more than just a roof over their head: it is a self-designed refuge, a sanctuary, and a creative space. At the same time, it is a place of self-presentation, where they showcase themselves and their work to the world. As individual as artists' personalities are, so varied are the thirty houses presented in this book. Some of them can now be visited as museums. And not least for this reason, the book is also an invitation to engage with art and experience it directly at the place of its creation.