art biography

Hardcover. New York, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1st, 1984, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 211 pages. 152 illustrations, including 50 plates in full color. Clean, well preserved copy. Dust jacket in very good condition.

Hardcover. New York, Thames & Hudson, 1st, 1996, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 335 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. A very clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket edges. A tight copy.

Hardcover. Boston, David R. Godine, 1st, 1992, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 112 pages. A photographer once remarked to Andre Maurois, "If I were to take a picture of a village wedding, Jean Cocteau would appear between the bride and groom." And he was right; Cocteau was photographed everywhere, by everyone, in all guises and poses. Cecil Beaton posed him smoking an opium pipe, Lucien Clergue caught him in the romantic ruins of Arles where Cocteau was shooting Orphee, Arnold Newman shot him in Paris, and Philippe Halsman in New York. Cocteau possessed, of course, a modern genius for self-promotion, but he also cared deeply about his own art and the art of a technique he embraced with passion throughout his lifetime - photography. Essay by Francis Steegmuller.

Hardcover. NY, Rizzoli, 1st, 2022, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, still in publisher's shrinkwrap. A rare and poignant compilation of photography and written anecdotes by American photographer and artist Lee Jaffe that captures his close friendship, collaboration, and travels with the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat as they traversed Japan, Thailand, and Switzerland in 1983. Lee Jaffe, a cross-disciplinary visual artist, musician, and poet, took photos of his friend, Jean-Michel Basquiat, when they traveled abroad in 1983. As a photographer, Jaffe had a connection to Basquiat, and their time spent together resulted in an archive of imagery that captured one of the art world's true legends through an unfiltered and authentic lens. Basquiat and Jaffe connected over reggae music at a mutual friend's art show. It was the early 1980s in New York, when the art scene was raw, complicated, and thriving, and Jaffe cultivated strong connections with cultural figures such as Basquiat, Bob Marley, and Peter Tosh. "For me, watching him [ Jean] paint reminded me of the times I would sit and play harmonica while Bob Marley, with his acoustic guitar, would be writing songs that were eventually to become classics," Jaffe says. "With Jean and Bob, it seemed like they were channeling inspiration coming from an otherworldly place." This beautiful volume presents snapshots of Basquiat: from the artist smiling on a bullet train to Kyoto and behind-the-scenes documentation of Basquiat creating artwork in St. Moritz, to poignant portraits that mirror his undeniable magnetism. These rare depictions of Basquiat come to life with Jaffe's unforgettable experiences of their friendship, collaborations, and travels detailed in private written memories and anecdotes. This insightful and moving illustrated volume captures the soul of the unedited, ambitious, young artist during the height of his short yet unprecedented artistic career.

Softcover. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 1st, 1995, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in illustrated wrappers, 304 pages. Illustrated with B&W engravings. Jens Jensen was one of America's greatest landscape designers and conservationists. Using native plants and "fitting" designs, he advocated that our gardens, parks, roads, playgrounds, and cities should be harmonious with nature and its ecological processes-a belief that was to become a major theme of modern American landscape design. In Jens Jensen: Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens, Robert E. Grese draws on Jensen's writings and plans, interviews with people who knew him, and analyses of his projects to present a clear picture of Jensen's efforts to enhance and preserve "native" landscapes.

Hardcover. NY, Alfred A. Knopf, 1st, 2019, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 430 pages. The titanic choreographer, creator of memorable ballets, master of Broadway musicals, legendary show doctor and director, now revealed in his own words--the closest we will get to a memoir/autobiography--from his voluminous letters, journals, notes, diaries, never before published. Robbins was famous for reinventing the Broadway musical, creating a vernacular American ballet, pushing the art form to new boundaries where it had never gone before, integrating dance seamlessly with character, story and music, and as Associate Artistic Director, Ballet Master, and Co-Artistic Director, with George Balanchine, shaping the New York City Ballet with daring and brio for more than five decades through his often startling choreography in ballet's classical idiom. He was known as the king of Broadway, the most sought-after director-choreographer and show doctor who gave shape to On the Town (1944), Call Me Madam (1950), The King and I (1951), Wonderful Town (1953), Peter Pan (1954), The Pajama Game (1954), Silk Stockings (1955), West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Funny Girl (1964), Fiddler on the Roof (1964), and many other classic musicals, winning four Tony Awards, two Oscars, and an Emmy. He shocked and betrayed those he loved and worked with by naming names to the House Un-American Activities Committee. ("I betrayed my manhood, my Jewishness, my parents, my sister," he wrote in a diary. "I can't undo it.") Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. NY, Thomas Crowell, 1st, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 224 pages, illustrated in color and b&w. Jessie Willcox Smith (1863-1935), was one of the most prominent female illustrators in the United States during the Golden Age of American illustration. She illustrated stories and articles for clients such as Century, Collier's Weekly, Leslie's Weekly, Harper's, McClure's, Scribners, and the Ladies' Home Journal. Four appendices give detailed listings of the appearance of Smith's illustrations in books, magazine covers, posters, etc. Bibliography. Notes. Index. With a lightly worn dust jacket that's been price-clipped. Previous owner's inscription on front fly lead, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. NY, Hudson Hills Press, 1st, 2000, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. The American son of great German Surrealist master Max Ernst, Jimmy Ernst (1920-1984) developed a distinct style, marrying abstract, crystalline form to sirituality, influenced by jazz and Native American culture. 166 pages, 44 b&w, 62 color plates. Considers the life and work of German-born American expressionist Jimmy Ernst (1920-1984). Brings together reproductions of his finest paintings, along with a tribute by Kurt Vonnegut, two revelatory interviews, poems by Louis Simpson, a selection of the artist's own writings, and a monographic essay by Donald Kuspit. Includes a chronology, exhibitions and collections histories, and a bibliography. Features an essay combining biography, art criticism, and psychological analysis, interviews, and more. Preface by Kurt Vonnegut. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Seattle, Fantagraphics, 1st, 2025, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, large format, pictorial boards, 160 pages. The definitive collection of comics and illustration from 1892 to 1942 by James Swinnerton, one of the founding fathers of the American comic strip. This sumptuous volume covers Swinnerton's six-decade career in comics, from his beginnings as a sports/editorial cartoonist for William Randolph Hearst in San Francisco to his years in the America's Southwest desert, where his love for the land and its people came through in his comics and illustration. Jimmy! includes an illustrated biography and essays by co-editor Michael Tisserand and Eddie Campbell. The comic strips in this volume are carefully restored to their original colors and printed at near-full size. Swinnerton lovers will be delighted by the richness and variety of the works seen here. Those new to this uniquely American artist will likely join the growing numbers who appreciate his important role in the history of the comics. Clean, bright copy. DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.

Hardcover. London, Titan Books , 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 256 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. A very clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket edges. In his own words, this is the life of Joe Simon, one of the most important figures in comics history, and half of the famous creative team Simon and Kirby. Joe Simon co-created Captain America, and was the first editor in chief of Marvel Comics (where he hired Stan Lee for his first job in comics). 

Hardcover. London, Titan Books, 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 256 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. Color pictures in center, black and white pictures throughout.

Hardcover. Chicago, Haase-Mumm Publishing, 1st, 1981, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 189 pages. #174 of 1, 000 copies signed by author. Biography and critical study of John Barber (1893-1965), American artist and contributor to the radical magazine The Masses. 16 color and 109 b&w plates. Bibliography and index.

Hardcover. NY, W.W. Norton, 1st, 1955, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a bright, price-clipped dust jacket that has a few tape repairs. B&w drawings by Arthur Conrad. Sequel to "John Goffe's Mill". This volume speaks of the "human history" changes to the mill site over the 200 years and 8 generations of his family who owned the property. Since the mid-18th century, author George Woodbury's family had owned a Bedford NH mill. His childhood home, he returned there to restore his great, great, great, great grandfather's saw and grist mill. He had set aside his Harvard Peabody Museum archaeologist career to restore, rebuild and work the mill. "What he couldn't swap or buy he invented and built himself".

Hardcover. Hampton, NH, Portsmouth Marine Society/Peter E. Randall, 1st, 1982, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover. Biographical and artistic account of John Haley Bellamy and his renowned woodcarving skills. 103 pages with 65 black/white illustrations and 4 color plates. Cloth bound book is in near fine condition, no internal marks; dust jacket is in very good condition, some creasing near the spine.

Hardcover. London, Unicorn Publishing Group , 1st, 2021, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pictorial boards, 208 pages. A biography of British commercial illustrator John Hassall, "The Poster King," with one hundred color illustrations. In the early twentieth century, John Hassall (1868-1948) was one of Britain's best-known, highest-profile artists. Though he worked across a variety of disciplines, it was his commercial art for travel companies, political causes, and well-known brands that made him a household name. With bold lines, flat colors, and an engaging, cheery style, Hassall created some of the most famous and influential designs of the era. A century after his heyday, Lucinda Gosling presents an exploration of John Hassall's life, his art, and his legacy. Including photographs of his family and studio, the story behind his iconic "Jolly Fisherman" poster, and previously unpublished material from Hassall's archive at the University of Essex--including artwork, sketches, letters, diaries, and photographs--this is an unprecedented account of the artist's life and work.

Hardcover. Edinburgh, Paul Harris Publishing, 1st, 1980, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket. 53 pages of text, color frontis., 96 plates. A study of the self taught caricaturist John Kay of Edinburgh. Lavishly illustrated. PLEASE NOTE: This book while tight and clean, has a musty odor.

Hardcover. New York, Abbeville Press, 1st, 1987, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 280 pages, 164 illustrations (76 in color). Essays by Henry Adams, Kathleen A. Foster, Henry A. La Farge, H. Barbara Weinberg, Linnea H. Wren, and James L. Yarnall. John La Farge was not only a painter of still lifes and landscapes in watercolor and oil, but he created extraordinary decorative schemes and revolutionary stained glass art for some of the country's most impressive churches and mansions as well.

Hardcover. Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 1st, 1970, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 2 Volume hardcover set in slipcase. Volume 1 - A Stylistic Analysis. 312 pages. Illustrations primarily in black & white. Features biographical information. Dust jacket with light wrinkling, spotting along rear bottom edge. Clean, tight copy. Volume 2 - Catalogue Raisonne. 576 pages. Features black & white illustrations. Dust jacket with light wear, wrinkling to rear. Clean, tight copy. Slipcase with very minor wear.

Hardcover. New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1st, 1970, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Life and art of John Marin; editor Cleve Gray includes writings by Marin himself to accompany the biographical text and reproduced works. 176 pp. Features 20 color and 99 black/white illustrations. Cloth bound book is in near fine condition, previous owner's name, date, and location written inside the cover in pencil. Dust jacket is in good condition, with tear and creasing on the back and light stain on the front.

Hardcover. New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1st, 1970, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Life and art of John Marin; editor Cleve Gray includes writings by Marin himself to accompany the biographical text and reproduced works. 176 pp. Features 20 color and 99 black/white illustrations. Cloth bound book is in near fine condition, previous owner's name, date, and location written inside the cover in pencil. Dust jacket is in good condition, with tear and creasing on the back and light stain on the front.

Softcover. New York, Coe Kerr Gallery & Wittenborn Art Books,, 1st, 1980, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Exhibition catalog. Unpaginated, illustrated throughout with 65 plates in color and b&w. White pictorial stiff wrappers. Light wear and foxing to covers and spine, else a very nice, tight copy.

Hardcover. NY, St. Martin's Press, 1st, 1986, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 309 pages. b&w illustrations. In this meticulous and witty work, Stanley Olson uncovers the complex nature of Sargent's life and stunning career. Probable ex-lib with label on spine but no other markings.

Hardcover. New York, Abbeville Press, 1st, 1982, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 256 pages. 338 illustrations, including 113 plates in full color. Gives beautiful insight into the extravagant glamour of Sargent's society portraits, watercolors and Boston Murals. Folio. Purple cloth, gilt lettering to spine. previous owner's inscription on front edge paper. Very nice, clean and tight copy. Minor wrinkle to lower edge of dust jacket's spine, otherwise in near fine condition.

Hardcover. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press , 1st, 1966, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 2 volume hardcover set. Volume 1: In America, 1738-1774, Volume 2: In England, 1774-1815. 491 pages + illustrations in b&w. Brown/blue cloth with gilt titles, slipcase. Light shelf-wear to covers and faint foxing to top edge. Light wear to slipcase, else a clean, tight set.