Chien Fou: Selected Writings

Le livre

Germaine Krull’s pathbreaking career as an avant-garde photographer and activist covered much of the twentieth century, with its conflicts, empires, industrial transformations, and responsive developments in visual art. Throughout it, she simultaneously produced writings, from manifestos to personal writings to political essays. This volume brings together these texts for the first time, most of them previously unseen, to form an arresting self-portrait by one of most significant artists of the modern era. Born in Posen in the German Empire, now Poland, in 1887, Krull spent time throughout Europe as well as in Brazil, Thailand, India, and the Republic of the Congo and its neighbouring countries. Her childhood, formation as an artist, and transformative experiences around the world are described in her autobiographical manuscript La vie mène la danse, which forms the backbone of this collection. Interspersed throughout are sections from an autofictional work titled Chien Fou, which takes its name from Krull’s self-ascribed nickname or alter-ego, ‘crazy dog’. Illustrated throughout with photographs and Krull’s original well-travelled manuscripts, this book offers an immersive account from the front lines of artistic innovation in the twentieth century and introduces an unforgettable literary stylist. Edited by Kerstin Meincke and Petra Steinhardt Co-published with Museum Folkwang, Essen Published in English, German, and French language editions