Art historian and curator Dawn Ades is a leading voice on Dada, Surrealism, abstraction and art from Latin America. This volume collects her important essays for the first time, addressing themes fundamental to the history of modern art and the avant-garde. Arranged thematically, this collection of essays represents the breadth of Ades's critical and curatorial interests, ranging from avant-garde poster design, to photomontage, to the representation of the female in Mexico, but with an overarching foundation in abstraction, identity and the influence of new mediums. As well as working as a professor and curator – which earned her an OBE for her services to art history – Ades has written on a wide range of artists since 1980. Spanning the likes of Francis Bacon, Richard Deacon, Salvador Dalí and Hannah Höch, this body of essays is ingrained with Ades's consistently clear and intellectually stimulating observations. To introduce the book, Ades is interviewed by Doro Globus, who explores the writer's relationship to curating, teaching and art history. AUTHOR: Dawn Ades is a Fellow of the British Academy, a former trustee of Tate, Professor of the History of Art at the Royal Academy and was awarded a CBE in 2013 for her services to art history. She is currently Emeritus Professor in the School of Philosophy and Art History at the University of Essex. She has been responsible for some of the most important exhibitions in London and overseas over the past 30 years, including Dada and Surrealism Reviewed and Art in Latin America at the Hayward Gallery and Francis Bacon at the Tate. Most recently she organised the highly successful exhibition to celebrate the centenary of Salvador Dalí at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice (2004), The Colour of my Dreams: The Surrealist Revolution in Art at the Vancouver Art Gallery (2011), and was Associate Curator for Manifesta 9 (2012). She has published standard works on photomontage, Dada, Surrealism, women artists and Mexican muralists. SELLING POINTS: . This substantial volume collects important essays by the renowned art historian Dawn Ades for the first time . Divided into clear thematic sections, including 'Art and Power', 'Surrealism' and 'Gender and Identity' . Ades is highly respected for her writing and curatorial work; this book reveals the breadth of her writing, from Dada and Surrealism to subjects such as avant-garde poster design, close-up photography, automatism and the representation of the female subject in Mexico . Opens with an interview Ades in which she discusses the subjects that have preoccupied her over the decades and the changes that have taken place in the art world . Essential reading for anyone interested in Dada and Surrealism, as well the history of modern art and the avant-garde more widely, especially the themes of identity, gender and abstraction 68 colour illustrations