Art Criticism

Hardcover. NY, McGraw-Hill, 1st, 1972, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a price-clipped dust jacket with light wear, 293 pages, b&w illustrations. Nowhere is the complex and destructive painter Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) revealed with more compassion and insight than in this exemplary biography. Friedman, a friend of Pollock's and active in the art world, shows him to be a brilliant man tormented by his relationship to his family; an artist who worked hard through years of poverty to achieve his controversial painting technique; the first American painter to gain an international reputation for himself and for what has been variously called Action Painting or Abstract Expressionism; and a man who struggled with alcohol and the tension between gentleness and violence. Light tape repair to dust jacket on reverse. Otherwise clean.

Hardcover. Los Angeles, CA, St. Ann's Press, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 175 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Very clean, unmarked copy still in publishers shrink-wrap. Limited to 200 copies. Presented here are the many black and white photographs of American icons and imagery that are thematically connected by Fee's obsession with the decline and destruction of the America that he knew as a young man: we see his series of New York imagery, including the Chrysler building and the Brooklyn Bridge; pictures of the crumbling Penn State penitentiary; Beat inspired series of photographs of the American road; a distinctive and unique series of nude imagery; as well as his innovative collaborations with multimedia artist George Herms.

Hardcover. New Haven, CT, Yale University Press, 1st, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 256 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Very clean, unmarked copy still in publishers shrink-wrap. This book includes a general discussion of Van der Heyden's work, entries on 40 of his paintings, illustrations of about 100 of his paintings, as well as supplemental drawings and prints. Focusing mainly on the bustling city of Amsterdam, he also recorded other Dutch, Flemish, and German cities with a brilliant palette and exceptionally detailed technique. Often innovative in his composition, he was the first artist to create imaginary scenes by rearranging existing city views and known buildings.

Hardcover. Germany, Prestel, 1st, 2015, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 208 pages. Hardcover with no dust jacket. Very clean, unmarked copy with only minor edgewear. A thematic presentation of the groundbreaking and provocative art of Jean-Michel Basquiat, this volume offers a new appreciation of his tragic but highly influential career. From his early years spray painting the walls of lower Manhattan to his first solo show in 1982 and his untimely death at the age of 27 in 1988, Jean-Michel Basquiat has become a symbol of the 1980s New York art scene.

Hardcover. Chapel Hill, NC, Univ of North Carolina Press, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 86 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket edges. Minor shelf wear on front cover. Black and white images throughout. Tight copy.

Hardcover. New York, Knopf, 1st, 1989, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 210 pages. Faint foxing to top edge, otherwise a clean, tight copy. Twenty-two essays on art with subjects ranging from Andrew Wyeth's Helga paintings to children's book illustrators to classic masters Vermeer, Monet, Degas and others.

Softcover. London, Merrell Holberton, 1st, 2000, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 120 pages, illustrated throughout. Very clean and tight copy. Capturing the intricacy, symbolism, and irony of the work of contemprary artist Kathy Prendergast, this is the first comprehensive look at her critically acclaimed, multi-faceted artistic vision. A highlight of the art covered is City Drawings, a series of intircated drawings ot the capital cities of the world in which even the alrgest and most powerful communites are reduced to an equalizing frail network of lines, from Washington D.C., to Suva, Fiji; Tokyo to Dakar, Senegal.

Hardcover. Los Angeles, Art Issues Press, 1st, 1995, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 420 pages with index. Christopher Knight is the unprecedented five-time winner of the Chemical Bank Award for Distinguished Newspaper Art Criticism, and was a finalist for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize in criticism. Writing first for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and now for the Los Angeles Times, Knight has developed a new journalistic approach to American art and culture, in which a radical defense of images stands alongside an incisive critique of cultural institutions. Among the 129 essays and reviews collected here are individual writings on internationally important historical figures, such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Tung Ch'i Ch'ang, and douard Manet; contemporary American masters like Edward Ruscha and Mike Kelley; and significant artists virtually forgotten today, such as California's Henrietta Shore and Mexico's Hermenegildo Bustos. Clean copy.

Softcover. Paris, Librairie Floury, 1st, 1947, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, gray wrappers with black and red lettering, 213 pages. Illustrated with black & white plates. Small tears at foot and crown of paper spine. Clean, tight copy. FRENCH TEXT.

Hardcover. NY, Johnson Reprint Corporation, reprint, 1982, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 192 pages, illustrated with 22 color plates and 177 in b&w. Contents: 1). Preface. 2). Major events in Leonardo's life. 3). The river. 4). The fiction. 5). Hercules. 6). Leda. 7). Bacchus. 8). Epilogue. 9). Bibliography. 10). Index. Smaller ownership sticker on inside front cover otherwise bright and clean.

Hardcover. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 3rd pr., 1905, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Poor, Two hardcover volumes in worn, soiled dust jackets. Dark green cloth covers with gilt titles to upper covers and spines. As a result of djs, both volumes are bright and clean, 261. 243 pages. No markings.

Hardcover. London, The Cresset Press, 1st, 1966, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket with light edgewear. 297 pages + 26 b&w plates. English language edition. Translated from the German and with an introduction by Innes and and Gustav Herdan. Contains very clever and funny remarks on Hogarth's engravings by an 18th century German professor of physics. Small owner's stamp on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. New York, Liberty Street, 1st, 2012, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 176 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Very clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket edges. B&W and color photographs throughout. Fifty years ago, the dashing Scottish actor Sean Connery kicked off the Bond franchise, a cinematic series unlike any other. In November 2012, Skyfall, the 23rd movie in what is seen as the authorized line of Bond films, will be released, with Daniel Craig (the sixth Bond) again in the lead role. The world will once more stream to the theaters for another dose of Bond. LIFE was on the scene in the swinging '60s when James Bond became a cultural icon (in fact, when we put the gold-painted actress Shirley Eaton on the cover in 1964, we helped him along), and now LIFE tells the whole story in this commemorative book.

Hardcover. New York, DIA/Merrell, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 216 pages. Illustrated in full color. A bright, clean copy.

Softcover. Iowa City, University of Iowa, 1st, 1999, Book: Near Fine, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 115 pages, b&w illustrations. Paper wraps. Table of contents with black and white copies of Malevich's sketches and art work. Partial quote from the forward by Stephen Prokopoff "As the work of the principal theoretician of the extraordinary modernist development that occurred in Russia during the first quarter of the twentieth century, Malevich's writings provide an important entry to the understanding of its artistic production and to the thought that animated it."

Softcover. Iowa City, University of Iowa, 1st, 1999, Book: Near Fine, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 115 pages, b&w illustrations. Paper wraps. Table of contents with black and white copies of Malevich's sketches and art work. Partial quote from the forward by Stephen Prokopoff "As the work of the principal theoretician of the extraordinary modernist development that occurred in Russia during the first quarter of the twentieth century, Malevich's writings provide an important entry to the understanding of its artistic production and to the thought that animated it."

Hardcover. London, Allen Lane/Penguin Books, 1st, June 24, 1976, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 132 pages, b&w illustrations, fold-out color plate in rear. Light edge wear, rubbing to dust jacket. Previous price sticker inside front cover. Previous owner's signature on half-title page. Pen marking to several pages. Else a very nice, tight copy. Although published almost fifty years ago, Reiff's information and conclusions are fundamental and don't seem to have been superseded by any subsequent study.

Hardcover. New York, NY, Rizzoli International Publications, 1st, 2016, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 304 pages. Hardcover with no dust jacket. Very clean, like new in publishers shrink-wrap. Martine Sitbon has become an icon among designers and fashionistas, earning her praise from Karl Lagerfeld as being "the only living French designer." With never-before-seen sketches and photographs, this book allows readers to gain a better understanding of the designer's personal universe and inspirations that have until now been largely hidden from view.

Hardcover. New York, George Braziller, 1st, 1990, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 231 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Very clean, unmarked copy with only minor edgewear. 124 color prints. 13 gatefold illustrations especially valuable: nearly 5 feet wide when opened. Textual material includes descriptions of each screen reproduced, a glossary, and short biographies of the artists whose work is presented.

Hardcover. New Haven, CT, Yale University Press, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 289 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. A very clean, unmarked copy with minor wear to dust jacket edges. Klein surveys the history of Matisse's portraits and their sitters, with attention to the details of the financial transaction or other agreement that caused the painting to be made. An analysis of Matisse's self-portraits is also provided. Klein works chronologically, detailing the artist's developing style, but remains attached to his biography as well, with many quotes about Matisse or his works from contemporary sources. This volume is well illustrated with b&w and color plates.

Hardcover. Ithaca NY, Cornell University, 1st, 1986, Hardcover, 523 pages. Flam, who translated Matisse's writings in Matisse on Art (Phaidon, 1973), presents a thorough and scholarly examination of the artist's life and stylistic development. Each painting is given a complete analysis, revealing Matisse's encounters with the prevailing styles and theories of art to arrive at work distinctly his own. Glimpses of his personal life combined with discussions of his paintings show the inner turmoil with which he struggled to find a style that would satisfy both his instinct and his intellect. Flam provides new documentary material, corrects earlier misconceptions, and redates several paintings. Heavily illustrated, often with fine color reproductions, this volume is an excellent successor to Alfred Barr's Matisse .

Hardcover. NY, Pantheon Books, 1st, 2022, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 394 pages. Collects responses to Spiegelman's monumental work that confirm its unique and terrain-shifting status. The writers approach Maus from a wide range of viewpoints and traditions, inspired by the material's complexity across four decades, from 1985 to 2018. The book is organized into three loosely chronological sections-- "Contexts," "Problems of Representation," and "Legacy"--and offers for the first time translations of important French, Hebrew, and German essays on Maus. The book includes work from twenty-one leading critics, authors, and academics--including Philip Pullman, Robert Storr, Ruth Franklin, and Adam Gopnik--on the radical achievement and innovation of Maus, more than forty years since the original publication. Remainder dot on bottom edge otherwise clean, bright copy.

Softcover. Meredith, NH, Intervale Publishing, 2nd, 1978, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 92 pages. Softcover with light wear to edges. Illustrations throughout by author. Tight.

Hardcover. NY, Aperture, 1st, 1978, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 143 pages. Minor White was one of the twentieth century's most influential B&W art photographers. Rites & Passages, is a compilation of his writings and photographs, with a biographical essay by James Baker Hall. The book is well writen and edited, and is a significant insite into the thoughts and motivations of a great artist. With a generous number of stunning photographs, expertly printed on quality paper, it is a book worthy of any discriminating collection.