Apparitions: Frottages and Rubbings from 1860 to Now

This fascinating publication sheds light on a medium that combines the qualities of drawing with those of sculpture, printmaking, and painting, and is the first to focus exclusively on the art technique known as *frottage*, derived from the French word *frotter,* meaning "to rub." Over 100 pieces, ranging from contemporary conceptual works to rubbings recording tombs and inscriptions, are assembled and sumptuously reproduced in color. More than 50 artists--including the famous, like Max Ernst, inventor of the term "frottage," and the relatively unknown--are presented. Four thematic sections explore different aspects of frottage: its roots in Surrealism and the practice of automatic drawing; the notion of trace, of either a place or an idea left behind in a rubbing; the "apparitions" or ghostlike attributes that can appear on the surface of an artwork; and the associations between rubbings, death, and memory.

Distributed for the Menil Collection

**Exhibition Schedule:** **Hammer Museum, UCLA** (02/08/15-05/31/15) **The Menil Collection** (09/11/15-01/03/16)