Amor Mundi: The Collection of Marguerite Steed Hoffman delves deep into this remarkable singular collection. Over two volumes, Amor Mundi presents an edited selection of over 400 works of modern and contemporary art from the Collection of Marguerite Steed Hoffman, from the pieces brought together by Marguerite Steed and her late husband Robert Hoffman (1947–2006) to more recent outstanding acquisitions. Over 30 authors – artists and art historians – explore this fascinating collection, addressing specific artworks as well as the motivations behind the collection’s creation and ongoing evolution. Created over the course of a two-year period, great care has been taken to reflect the collection's key artists, canonical works, and the issues and debates that have helped shape its direction for more than a quarter of a century. By highlighting the art and artists as well as the ideological principles underlying the collection, it is hoped that Amor Mundi will shed some light on how to interpret this extraordinary collection of modern and contemporary art as well as communicating something about the personality of the woman who assembled it.


Texts by Martin Jay, Renée Green, Susan L. Aberth, Sarah Celeste Bancroft, Renate Bertlmann, Anna Katherine Brodbeck, Susan Davidson, Gavin Delahunty, TR Ericsson, Tamar Garb, Robert Gober, Rachel Haidu, Merlin James, Wyatt Kahn, Ragnar Kjartansson, Anna Lovatt, Leora Maltz-Leca, Nic Nicosia, Charles Ray, Mark Rosenthal, Dana Schutz, Barry Schwabsky, Richard Shiff, Raphaela Simon, Michelle Stuart, Kirsten Swenson, Mary Weatherford, Terry Winters. Interviews by Martin Jay and Marguerite Steed Hoffman, Gavin Delahunty and Isabelle Graw