Moroccan Carpets and Modern Art

Unique examples from one of the most significant private collections of Moroccan nomad carpets in the world illustrate how the eschewal of figurative representation led to radical abstraction and a completely free and modern use of colour and form. Their abstract compositions fascinated artists of all disciplines. This striking affinity is at the core of this publication, which concisely contrasts Moroccan woven and knotted carpets with European as well as American twentieth-century painting. The abstract debate with graphic fundamental elements, such as point, line and surface is the unifying element with early so-called primitive cultures of Africa, Asia and the Americas and of Western avant-garde artists. With a clear and enriching glimpse into the spiritual connections and the cultural exchanges between East and West, the publication illustrates how the abandonment of figural representations in the Islamic world led to reactions and outcomes very similar to the abstract art of the occident.