This catalogue was published on the occasion of the exhibition by Hiroshi Sugimoto entitled Etonne donne: Le Grand Verre organised by the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in Paris. The realization of the new series of works Conceptual Forms presented in the exhibition was made possible by the University Museum of the University of Tokyo. This collaborative effort between the two institutions has brought together the two creative fields of art and science.

The project began when Professor Nishino of the University of Tokyo introduced Hiroshi Sugimoto to some of the scientific models in the collection of the University. He then made these models available for Sugimoto to photograph. Following the adivce of Professor Nishino, the artist focused on two outstanding groups of scientific models from the University's collections: a series of mathematical models realized in Germany in the 1880s, and a series of mechanical models manufactured in England in the 1870s.

Sugimoto wrote in his artist statement, 'These machines and models were created without any artistic intention. This is what motivated me to produce this series of photographs and title them Conceptual Forms. Art is possible without aritstic intention and can be better without it.' The present catalogue provides explanatory texts for the mathematical and mechanical models in Sugimoto's photographs.