|With a focus on female artists, Monika Spruth opened her first gallery in Cologne in 1983. Emblematic of this perspective, Spruth soon after took on the publishing venture Eau de Cologne: an "effervescent, shape-shifting magazine, featuring almost exclusively women artists and art practitioners.” Three issues were published between 1985 and 1989, along with accompanying exhibitions. Combining theoretical discourse with visual practice, the magazine was created in collaboration with the artists Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Cindy Sherman, and Rosemarie Trockel giving them a European venue to pursue their own self-making and critical empowerment. The first two editions in 1985 and 1987 were edited solely by Sprüth and featured early work by Sherman and Kruger as cover art.

For the magazine's introduction, Spruth writes:

“The exhibition and the catalogue “Eau de Cologne” fulfill the claim of my gallery to show the most interesting aspects of contemporaneous art. This exhibition presents five female artists: Ina Barfuss, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman and Rosemarie Trockel, and the catalogue which includes many more young and older female artists, writers, critics and art-dealers want to show art in its social context. I see this exhibition as an example. According to my subjective observation and based on the experiences and contacts of almost three years work as art-dealer I have made a selection. The time of working on this catalogue was limited, too, and it is for these reasons that some artists, curators and art-critics are not mentioned. I approve of realizing this “idea” now, 1985.”

Condition: soft creases to upper right corner of cover and first few pages, small deep groove lower right side of front cover carrying over to first few pages, small faint water stain middle edge of title page carrying over to next several pages, small tear middle of back cover edge. Magazine in overall very fine condition.