Few artists are so inextricably tied to their native soil as Jan Schoonhoven (1914–1994). In the early 1960s, the born and bred man of Delft achieved international renown with his white reliefs of paper and cardboard, yet he always remained loyal to ‘his’ Delft. The German photographer Lothar Wolleh (1930–1979) admired Schoonhoven’s work and visited Delft for the first time in 1968.

Jan Schoonhoven and Lothar Wolleh intended their 1971 artists’ book to be a calling card of their artistry. It was a project which often brought the photographer back to Delft. Schoonhoven showed Wolleh how the rhythms of the city recur in drawings and reliefs as ‘isolated realities’. Pave-ment, weathered walls of the alleys of Delft and windows along the canals: Jan Schoonhoven’s work is abstract and autonomous, but ‘breathes’ Delft nevertheless.

The first part of this publication consists of Jan Schoon-hoven’s and Lothar Wolleh’s artists’ book, which now, after more than fifty years, has been published for the first time. The second part, printed on grey paper, recounts the story of the two artists and their collaborative projects – and above all, too, of their unconditional love of the arts. 

In January 1971, Joseph Beuys (Krefeld, 1921–Düsseldorf, 1986) had his first museum exhibition outside the German-speaking world, at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. Photographer Lothar Wolleh (Berlin, 1930–London, 1979) accompanied Beuys to Stockholm and documented the setting up of this exhibition. These photos formed the basis of an exceptional project, an artist’s book composed under both their names that ultimately attained fame under the title Unterwasserbuch (Underwater Book).

This publication contains the re-edition of this artist’s book, the first part of this cassette. The second part of this cassette reconstructs the rich, wondrous history of ‘Project Unterwasserbuch’ with previously unpublished photographs, sketches, concepts and correspondence. Together, these books chart the tribulations of Joseph Beuys’ and Lothar Wolleh’s ‘Unterwasserbuch project’. They are an imprint of the creative discourse of the early 1970s, but equally tell the story of two kindred spirits.

This publication was produced on the occasion of the exhibition Lothar Wolleh. Joseph Beuys im Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Januar 1971, held at the Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, in 2012. It represents the first attempt to reconstruct and present the previously unpublished artist’s book project that was originally intended to be published under the title Unterwasserbuch  (Underwater Book). The publication also includes essays by Miriam Halwani and Eugen Blume.

In January 1971, Joseph Beuys (Krefeld, 1921–Düsseldorf, 1986) had his first museum exhibition outside the German-speaking world at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. Photographer Lothar Wolleh (Berlin, 1930–London, 1979) accompanied Beuys to Stockholm and documented the installation of the exhibition. These photographs became the basis for an extraordinary collaborative project: an artist’s book conceived jointly by Beuys and Wolleh, which later became known under the title Unterwasserbuch  (Underwater Book).

Insights into the visual world of Lothar Wolleh shed new light on the significance and uniqueness of his work.
The catalogue, published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bremen, presents photographs that have rarely or never been publicly shown before. In this context, one can speak not only of a rediscovery but indeed of a new discovery of Lothar Wolleh’s oeuvre.
The exhibition was also shown at the Kunstmuseum Ahlen, the Stadtmuseum Hofheim, and the Ludwig Museum in Koblenz.