art biography

Hardcover. London, Merrell, 1st, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover. Orange cloth with black lettering on the spine; 176 pages; 125+ color and bw plates and figures. Includes essays on the artist and his work by Donald Kuspit, James Wechsler, Susan Power, Michael Betancourt, Helen A. Harrison, David Craven, and Rachel Garfield; Artist biography also included.

Hardcover. NY, Harcourt, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 292 pages, b&w illustrations. It's very possible that the only thing more peculiar and arresting than Edward Gorey's books and illustrations is Gorey himself. This collection of chronologically arranged interviews with Gorey (1925-99) spans three decades and shines light into many corners of his eccentric life and work. Gorey ponders his own bizarre dress (floor-length fur coats and sneakers), his obsession with the New York City Ballet, and his life with six cats and even manages to delve into some of the inspirations that fuel his enigmatic and strangely endearing work. This assembly by Wilkin reveals a charming, extremely intelligent, articulate, and eminently likable artist and writer. A thoughtful self-portrait thus emerges from the mist of questions and answers, one that helps to counter the paucity of recent Gorey scholarship. Gorey's own words clarify his peculiar and macabre worldview more succinctly than any biographer could hope to. Note: small bump to bottom corner of book, evident to the first half of the pages. Otherwise clean and bright.

Hardcover. New York, The Monacelli Press, 1st, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover. Like new in publisher's shrink-wrap. A beautifully produced monograph devoted to the paintings and drawings of John Altoon, a central figure in the Los Angeles art scene of the 1950s and 1960s. Haunting and erotic, Altoon's colorful paintings and intimate drawings capture the magical moment in postwar California between the Beat Generation and the sexual and psychedelic revolution of the late '60s.

Hardcover. NY, Grove Press, 1st US, 1967, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 120 b&w plates. Nine page comprehensive introduction and biography by John Russell.

Hardcover. Somogy Editions D'Art , 1st, 1999, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. Still in publisher's shrinkwrap. Full color exhibition catalogue of the new retrospective exhibition of Saint-Gaudens' work, the first in Europe since 1900. Venues include the Muse des Augustins, in Toulouse (February 2-May 30, 1999), and the Muse national de la Cooperation Franco-Americaine, at Blrencourt (June 26-October 18, 1999). The artwork covers Saint-Gaudens' entire career, from the cameos done during his youth, to sophisticated portrait reliefs, public monuments and coins. The essays contribute new scholarship on the sculptor's career and art, including his decorative art designs for Tiffany's, personalized pencil caricatures for friends, and the development of the monument to Charles Stewart Parnell in Dublin, the last public monument Saint-Gaudens saw to completion.

Softcover. New York, Multiples Inc & Lois and Michael K. Torf , 1st, 1980, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 126 pages, paperback. Hundreds of b&w photographs documenting the personal belongings in LeWitt's living and working space in New York City in 1980. Fascinating look into the private life of one of the pioneers of minimal and conceptual art. Age toning to spine. Light rubbing, slight soiling, and mild age toning to wraps. Unmarked. Very scarce. A tight copy.

Hardcover. NY, Abrams, 1st, 2019, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 352 pages. Richard Avedon was one of the most sought-after and influential advertising photographers in America from the 1940s to the beginning of the 21st century, creating work that exemplified Madison Avenue at the height of its influence in world culture. Working with a talented cadre of models, copy writers, and art directors, Avedon made images that enticed consumers to embrace the new, especially in the areas of fashion and beauty, with campaigns for Revlon, Chanel, Calvin Klein, Dior, and Versace, among many others. Avedon Advertising tells this story, reproducing memorable ads that range from the buoyant 1940s and 1950s, when post-war prosperity opened up new experiences to consumers; through the explosive '60s; and into the era defined by celebrity culture and global brand awareness.

Hardcover. New York, Spiegel & Grau, 1st, 2017, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 720 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. A very clean, unmarked copy with only minor dust jacket wear. Black and white images throughout. A tight copy.

Hardcover. New York, Spiegel & Grau, 1st, 2017, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 720 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. A very clean, unmarked copy with only minor dust jacket wear. Black and white images throughout. A tight copy.

Hardcover. NY, William Sloane Associates, 1st, 1947, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 315 pages, b&w illustrations by Mauldin. In a lightly worn dust jacket, stated First Printing on copyright page. Clean. The famous cartoon/journalist's take on post-war life for ex-GIs.

Hardcover. Boston, Houghton Mifflin , 1st, 1930, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 356 pages, 27 b&w illustrations, index. Black cloth spine over blue boards, spine label. SIGNED BY BEAUX on the title page and dated June 1st 1931. Scarce thus.

Hardcover. New York , Nan A. Talese, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, SIGNED BY FEIFFER on title page. Hardcover, 431 pages, b&w photographs and drawings by author. The legendary cartoonist's candid, self-deprecating, and beautifully written memoir describes his childhood in the Bronx, evolution from "smart-ass kid into an enraged satirist" (with inspiration from a stint in the Army) and his later successes as a pioneer of the graphic novel and a collaborator with the likes of film greats Robert Altman, Mike Nichols and Jack Nicholson. SIGNED by Feiffer on title page.

Hardcover. NY, Nan A. Talese, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 440 pages, in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. The legendary cartoonist's candid, self-deprecating, and beautifully written memoir describes his childhood in the Bronx, evolution from "smart-ass kid into an enraged satirist" (with inspiration from a stint in the Army) and his later successes as a pioneer of the graphic novel and a collaborator with the likes of film greats Robert Altman, Mike Nichols and Jack Nicholson. SIGNED by Feiffer on title page.

Hardcover. NY, Crown, 1st, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 368 pages. In an extraordinarily candid and revealing memoir, Fischl discusses the impact of his dysfunctional family on his art--his mother, an imaginative and tragic woman, was an alcoholic who ultimately took her own life. Following his years as a student at Cal Arts and teaching in Nova Scotia, he describes his early years in New York with the artist April Gornik, just as Wall Street money begins to encroach on the old gallery system and change the economics of the art world. Fischl rebelled against the conceptual and minimalist art that was in fashion at the time to paint compelling portraits of everyday people that captured the unspoken tensions in their lives. Still in his thirties, Eric became the subject of a major Vanity Fair interview, his canvases sold for as much as a million dollars, and The Whitney Museum mounted a major retrospective of his paintings. Bad Boy follows Fischl's maturation both as an artist and sculptor, and his inevitable fall from grace as a new generation of artists takes center stage, and he is forced to grapple with his legacy and place among museums and collectors. Beautifully written, and as courageously revealing as his most provocative paintings, Bad Boy takes the reader on a roller coaster ride through the passion and politics of the art world as it has rarely been seen before.

Hardcover. London, Thames & Hudson, 1st, 2024, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover in pictorial boards, 194 pages. This is the first book to document the short yet prolific artistic career of fashion photographer and filmmaker Tom Kublin, and a celebration of his creative union with Cristobal Balenciaga during the fashion house's postwar heyday in Paris. More than 140 photographs and film stills by Kublin capture the golden age of Balenciaga couture in the 1950s and 1960s, from the impeccable elegance of the collection shoots - including exclusive film footage of Balenciaga himself at work - to striking covers and editorials for high-profile magazines. The book begins with a foreword by the photographer's daughter, Maria Kublin, and continues with a biography by Ana Balda, charting Kublin's career, his place in the artistic milieu of the European avant-garde, and his working relationship with Cristobal Balenciaga. Miren Vives, head of the Cristobal Balenciaga Museum, also contributes. Clean copy in publisher's shrinkwrap. Remainder line to bottom edge.

Hardcover. NY, St. Martin's, 1st, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 333 pages. Now, in the first ever full-scale investigation of the artist, reporter Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together the story of Banksy, building up a picture of the man and the world in which he operates. He talks to his friends and enemies, those who knew him in his early, unnoticed days, and those who have watched him try to come to terms with his newfound fame and success. And he explores the contradictions of a champion of renegade art going to greater and greater lengths to control his image and his work.

Softcover. Millbank, Tate Gallery Publications, Reprint, 1985, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 134 pages. Softcover. Light marginal wear to edges. Profusely illustrated in black & white. Cover photograph of the artist's workshop in full color. Clean & unmarked.

Hardcover. London, Peter Owen , 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 256 pages. An acclaimed and most unusual biography of Baudelaire, showing him ensnared by his passions for poetry, prostitutes, and drugs.A crucial link between romanticism and modernism, Charles Baudelaire is a pivotal figure in European literature and thought. His influence on modern poetry is immense. In the English language, where his literary reputation is less well known, it is his link with drug culture that gives him contemporary resonance. It is commonly known that Baudelaire used opium. Many writers have described him as being addicted to the drug, but none of his biographers, Frank Hilton argues, has fully understood the effect of opiate addiction on the personality and, in the case of Baudelaire, the extent to which it damaged his life and work. In this original contribution to Baudelaire studies Hilton contends that the drug is at the root of all Baudelaire's problems and in particular--something that constantly tormented him--his chronic inability to apply himself to any prolonged creative work. Unquestionably, there is significantly more to Baudelaire than his opium addiction. But a proper awareness of what it did to the poet helps to illuminate those puzzling aspects of his life and behavior that were not previously understood. Written with the general reader in mind, Baudelaire in Chains will give those who know little or nothing about him a comprehensive picture of his life. To those who know a great deal it will present him in an unexpected light.

Hardcover. New York, Prestel, 1st, 2015, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 496 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Color illustrations throughout. Clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. NY, Scala, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 208 pages. Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road was a touchstone for a generation and the centrepiece of the Beat movement in literature and art. This new book examines Kerouac's life and career, and accompanies a major exhibition at The New York Public Library to celebrate the 50th anniversary of On the Road's publication in 1957. Kerouac's achievement as both a literary and cultural figure is traced, including his innovations in narrative techniques and in character development. His counterculture vision is explored, showing his image as a seer and sage who wanted to save America from its obsession with consumerism, the inhibition of sexuality and other conventional bourgeois pieties. The author also explores Kerouac's relationships with Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and other Beats, as well as the Beat movement in general. The book is heavily illustrated, with material from the extensive Kerouac literary archive owned by The New York Public Library, including typescript drafts of On the Road.

Softcover. South Yorkshire, Pen and Sword, reprint, 2020, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 208 pages, b&w illustrations. Even before she emerged from the cot in her nursery Beatrix Potter was up against it. With her prodigious memory she recalled being placed under the tyranny of a cross old nurse who introduced her to witches, fairies and the creed of the terrible John Calvin. More sadness followed. She had no siblings of her own age and was brought up virtually in isolation. She was afflicted by two most unpleasant illnesses one of which has not previously been recognized - and she found herself often at odds with her mother. She also had a love affair that ended tragically.

Hardcover. New York, Rizzoli, 1st, 2015, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 256 pages. Hardcover with no dust jacket. Very clean, like new copy, still in publishers shrink wrap, although has a slight tear in shrink wrap on bottom edge. Remainder mark on bottom edge of text block. Otherwise tight copy. Color and black & white photographs throughout. International supermodel Cindy Crawford presents her own personal visual autobiography, the first book to chronicle her life and career, featuring some of her most memorable images.

Hardcover. NY, Dutton, 1st, 2019, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 496 pages. Dr. Seuss is a classic American icon. Whimsical and wonderful, his work has defined our childhoods and the childhoods of our own children. The silly, simple rhymes are a bottomless well of magic, his illustrations timeless favorites because, quite simply, he makes us laugh. The Grinch, the Cat in the Hat, Horton, and so many more, are his troupe of beloved, and uniquely Seussian, creations.Theodor Geisel, however, had a second, more radical side. It is there that the allure and fasciation of his Dr. Seuss alter ego begins. He had a successful career as an advertising man and then as a political cartoonist, his personal convictions appearing, not always subtly, throughout his books--remember the environmentalist of The Lorax? Geisel was a complicated man on an important mission. He introduced generations to the wonders of reading while teaching young people about empathy and how to treat others well. Agonizing over word choices and rhymes, touching up drawings sometimes for years, he upheld a rigorous standard of perfection for his work. Geisel took his responsibility as a writer for children seriously, talking down to no reader, no matter how small. And with classics like Green Eggs and Ham, and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Geisel delighted them while they learned. Suddenly, reading became fun.

Hardcover. NY, W. W. Norton & Company, 1st, 2024, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a lightly rubbed dust jacket, 560 pages, b&w illustrations. In this first major biography since Fitzgerald's death, music historian Judith Tick draws on deep archival research, family interviews and newly available recordings and concert footage to show how Fitzgerald fused a Black vocal aesthetic with mainstream popular repertoire to revolutionise American music. From Fitzgerald's first audition at the Apollo Theatre to swing-era success at the Savoy, Tick shows how this 'girl singer' broke new ground: as a female bandleader, as a ground-breaking bebop improviser and as the arbiter of the American canon with her Song Book recordings. Yet even as she electrified concert halls and sold millions of records, jazz critics belittled her as 'naive'. Tick reveals instead an ambitious risk-taker with a stunningly diverse repertoire, whose exceptional musical spontaneity (often radically different on stage than in the studio) made her a transformational artist. Remainder dot to top edge otherwise a clean copy.