A sticker-sheet from Jenny Holzer's Survival Series, produced as multiple for the deluxe edition of Kunst Heute Nr. 9 (1993). For more, see number 9 below.

Harper's Books: August Selections

A monthly list of selections from our Harper's Books team, relating to post-War art, photography, and subculture. Click the links for additional images and purchasing options. To browse similar materials this Summer, visit our Chelsea bookshop at 504 West 22nd Street (Tuesday through Friday, 11-6) and our East Hampton gallery (daily, 10-6).

1. AVERY, Milton

"My Daughter, March" by Milton Avery (Exhibition Catalogue)

New York: Durand-Ruel Galleries, 1947. First Edition. Octavo. Catalogue published to accompany a charming exhibition of Milton Avery's paintings of his daughter March, at Durand-Ruel's New York gallery (Feb. 4 - Mar. 1, 1947). "A sort of painted biography," according to an opening statement from Marchal E. Landgren, who then positions Avery as colorist: "Such crutches to the art of representation as the use of perspective, or of light and shadow, have no place in his work." With all twelve exhibited works (1932-1946) here reproduced in black-and-white plates. Contents fresh (16 pages). Some scuffing and sunning to staple-bound wrappers, with gallery stamps and manuscript annotations; very good overall. Uncommon to the trade.

$300.00

2. BELLMER, Hans and Paul Eluard

Die Puppe: 1. Die Puppe / 2. Die Spiele der Puppe / 3. Die Anatomie des Bildes

Berlin: Gerhardt Verlag, 1962. First Edition thus. Octavo. No. 1024 of 2000 press-numbered copies. A finely-produced Hans Bellmer compendium, gathering together fetishistic images and supporting texts from his decades-long obsession with dolls and mannequins. Consisting of: (1) Die Puppe, with 10 tipped-in plates reproducing Bellmer's legendary 1934 photographs; introduced by the artist's original preface; (2) Die Spiele der Puppe (1949), with texts from both Bellmer and Paul Eluard accompanied by 15 tipped-in color plates; and (3) Die Anatomie des Bildes (1957), which offers a lengthy diaristic essay from Bellmer, illustrated by several of his swirling line drawings. Contents: 190 pages; text in German. A fine copy in illustrated wrappers, with original mylar jacket. Accompanied by a loose age-verification certificate, supplied by the publisher for booksellers to document sales of the edition; this copy unsigned.

$300.00

3. CRUMB, Robert and Terry Zwigoff

Louie Bluie (Film Poster, Inscribed by Crumb)

Los Angeles: Superior Pictures, 1985. Broadside (25 x 19 inches) with pencil inscription from Crumb to lower margin. Film poster for Terry Zwigoff's 1985 documentary, focused on the beguiling Blues and string band musician Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong. The poster features an original design by Robert Crumb, who would later declare this to be his favorite Zwigoff film; Crumb the eventual subject of the latter's celebrated 1994 documentary. This copy SIGNED by Crumb to lower margin in 2008; inscribed to French musician Gérard Dôle. A sharp copy with minor wear to upper corner; near fine.

$650.00

4. DUBUFFET, Jean

Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures by Jean Dubuffet (Poster-Mailer)

London: Institute of Contemporary Arts, 1955. Small broadside; lithograph to heavy stock (12 x 7.5 inches). A striking poster-mailer, announcing the opening of Jean Dubuffet's first show in London (ICA, Mar. 29 - Apr. 30, 1955); boldly illustrated after one of Dubuffet's haunting Personnages. The mailer doubled as an invitation to the private vernissage, with a lecture from Pataphysician Georges Limbour, whose essay on Dubuffet appears in the exhibition catalogue. Faint foldlines, else a fine copy. Scarce, with three OCLC records located in North America.

$450.00

5. (EAST VILLAGE) / Dan Cameron (curator)

East Village USA

New York: New Museum of Contemporary Art, 2004. First Edition. Quarto. An excellent overview of the East Village art scene in the 1980s; published on the occasion of a retrospective curated by Dan Cameron at the New Museum of Contemporary Art (Dec. 9, 2004 - Mar. 19, 2005). Thoroughly illustrated after archival photographs and reproduced artworks, accompanied by essays from Cameron, Lisa Kirwin, and Alan W. Moore; with additional texts from the likes of Penny Arcade, Sur Rodney Sur, Patti Astor, and Carlo McCormick. Cosmetic wear at hinges; near fine in bright illustrated wrappers.

$125.00

6. FITZPATRICK, Leo / Joe Bradley, Dan Colen, Josh Smith, Dash Snow, et al.

Not Garbage (Signed by Six Artists)

New York: OHWOW, 2011. First Edition. Octavo. "Stuff they were more likely to put on their refrigerator, that's the kind of work I really like—unfinished pieces and things that make people smile, that they wouldn't put out in the world as 'serious artists.'" Artist's book arranged by Leo Fitzpatrick, emerging from the 2011 group show that he curated at OHWOW gallery; an homage to Ray Johnson, featuring inspired works from a next generation of artists: Joe Bradley, Dan Colen, Hanna Liden, Nate Lowman, Adam McEwen, Josh Smith, and Dash Snow. This copy SIGNED by the six living contributors, save for Fitzpatrick. Near fine in printed wrappers. Uncommon, with no OCLC records located.

$650.00

7. GENERAL IDEA

S/HE (The 1984 Miss General Idea Pageant. No. 102)

Toronto: Art Metropole, 1976. First Edition. Octavo. Stamp-SIGNED to colophon and hand-numbered as No. 260 of 500 copies. Artist's book published as supplement to General Idea's exhibition of photomontages at Toronto's Carmen Lamanna Gallery ("Artists and Models," Jan. 8. - 27, 1977); a transitional point between the group's 1971 Miss General Idea Pageant and the their conceptual destruction of the 1984 Miss General Idea Pavilion. With all ten of the installation's photographs reproduced here as gendered pairs. (Fischer No. 7706). Contents: [12] pages, with some offsetting from rusted staples and minor rubbing to illustrated wrappers; close to near fine. Uncommon to the trade, with 7 OCLC records located in the United States.

$850.00

8. GURSKY, Andreas

Andreas Gursky (Signed)

Beverly Hills, CA: Gagosian Gallery, 2010. First Edition. Folio. Two volumes in photo-illustrated slipcase. An impressive publication issued for Andreas Gursky's exhibition at Gagosian, Beverly Hills (Mar. 4 - May 1, 2010); this copy SINGED by Gursky to gallery card pasted to front endpaper. Illustrated after dozens of color plates, many of them fold-outs, with Gursky's sublime Ocean series introduced by an essay from Norman Bryson ("Gursky's Mappa Mundi"). Minor scuffing to cloth boards and slipcase, with creases to the margins of some fold-outs; close to near fine.

$450.00

9. HOLZER, Jenny

Jenny Holzer im Gespräch mit Noemi Smolik (Signed with Multiple)

Köln: Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 1993. Limited Edition. Octavo (98 pp.). Number 85 of 100 copies with accompanying multiple; SIGNED by Holzer to front endpaper. Book-length interview of Jenny Holzer, illustrated with a selection of full-bleed photographs of her installations and public artworks. Issued as the ninth installment of the series Kunst Heute. One of 100 deluxe copies, accompanied by a loose 2 x 3 sticker sheet from her Survival Series (8.5 x 5.75 inches); the multiple sized to fit the format of this volume. Text in German. Uncommon. A fine copy in perfectbound wrappers.

$950.00

10. KANDINSKY, Wassily

Sidney Janis Cordially Invites You to Attend the Opening of an Exhibition of Paintings and Gouaches by Kandinsky... (Announcement Card)

New York: Sidney Janis Gallery, 1949. Announcement card (4 x 5.25 inches); printed recto only with silver text on glossy black stock. A sharply-designed invitation for a posthumous exhibition of Kandinsky's works (Nov. 21 - Dec. 24, 1949), on loan from the collection of his widow. This show being one of the first mounted by Sidney Janis at his East 57th Street gallery, following his inaugural Fernand Léger exhibition in the Fall of 1948. A remarkably well-preserved card; minor rubbing, else fine.

$250.00

11. KAWS

Arkitip Issue No. 0020: KAWS

Hollywood, CA: Arkitip, 2003. First Edition. Quarto. No. 808 of 1000 copies. Twentieth number of this artist's magazine—"a group art show in magazine format"—being its second collaboration with KAWS, who supplies fully-illustrated covers, with Chum decal affixed to front panel, and a laser cut 3-D magnet included within the magazine's trademark polybag. His 12 pp. contribution to the interior features a suite of drawings of his Companions wrestling. With additional contributions from: Charles Wilkin, Mia Thomsett, Mikko Rantanen, Craig Metzger & Marco Cibola, Jay Cox, Shay Nowick, Barry Smith, Matt Taylor, Mike Maxwell, Ryan Waller, Ideaworld, and Tyler Askew. A fine copy, perfectbound in illustrated wrappers, in original zippered polybag.

$850.00

12. LEWITT, Sol; Michelangelo Pistoletto, Lawrence Weiner, Franz West, et al.

Meta Memphis (Design Catalogue)

[Milano, 1991]. First Edition. Folio (16.5 inches). An elegant catalogue documenting the two collections issued by Meta Memphis (1989, 1991); an ambitious post-Memphis project, from executive Ernesto Gismondi, who commissioned an international range of contemporary artists to collaborate on furniture design. Artists like: Alighiero Boetti, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Sandro Chia, Sol LeWitt, Joseph Kosuth, Mimmo Paladino, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Lawrence Weiner, and Franz West. Contents: 8 pages, folded; illustrated after 36 black-and-white product photos. Centerfold, with minor wear at edges; near fine. Scarce, with single OCLC record located (Northwestern).

$750.00

13. PRINCE, Richard and Nancy Spector

Richard Prince: Spiritual America (Framed Exhibition Poster)

New York: Guggenheim Museum, 2007. Offset poster (38 x 21.5 inches). Striking exhibition poster from the Richard Prince retrospective at the Guggenheim (Sep. 28, 2007 - Jan. 9, 2008); curated by Nancy Spector, two decades before her acclaimed Helter Skelter show drew together Prince and Arthur Jafa in Venice. Illustrated with full-bleed reproduction of Prince's 1999 rephotograph Untitled (Cowboy). A fine print, archivally-hinged in walnut frame (43 x 26.5 inches).

$2500.00

14. SCHNEEMAN, George

Home Plate: Ceramics by George Schneeman (with Signed Ceramic)

[New York, circa 1984]. A hand-painted glazed ceramic mug (2.5 x 4 x 1.5 inches) from collaborative Downtown artist George Schneeman, decorated with his characteristic tumbling nudes, joyfully walking their dog. In 1983, Schneeman mounted an exhibition of his ceramics, mobile frescos, and hand-made furniture in an East Village storefront, a short walk from the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, where he worked to design dozens of flyers, posters, and calendars over the years. The mug, with apparent limitation statement to underside (8/27), affixed to plaster backing (4 x 4.25 x 0.5 inches), SIGNED to verso in pencil. Accompanied by flyer for his Home Plate studio/storefront, illustrated with a mug featuring similar design.

$1750.00

15. (SURREALISM) / André Breton and Jean-Jacques Pauvert (editors)

Enquête (On Striptease)

Paris: Le Surréalisme, même, 1957. Bifolium sheet (10.5 inches). Questionnaire from the editors of the post-War Surrealist organ Le Surréalisme, même, soliciting insights into the phenomenon of striptease, in response to Roland Barthes' essay on the matter in Mythologies. With separate sets of questions posed to the questionnaire's male and female recipients, including Balthus, George Bataille, Hans Bellmer, Roger Caillois, Leonora Carrington, Jacques Lacan, Meret Oppenheim, and Alain Robbe-Grillet. A remarkably well-preserved specimen; minor bump to upper corner, else fine.

$650.00

16. WARHOL, Andy / Roy Lichtenstein, Mel Ramos, Tom Wesselmann, et al.

1st International Girlie Exhibit (Poster)

New York: The Pace Gallery, 1964. Broadside poster, printed blue-on-rose sheet (17 x 13.5 inches). Exhibition poster announcing the provocatively-titled International Girlie Exhibit at Pace Gallery (Jan. 7 - 25, 1964); "a representative group of paintings demonstrating the inspiration of the girlie or pin-up as an American symbol." Artists included Rosalyn Drexler, Al Hansen, Ben Johnson, Roy Lichtenstein, Mel Ramos, Marjorie Strider, Andy Warhol, and Tom Wesselmann. In his scathing review of the exhibition for The New York Times, John Canaday referred to a black-light painting from Warhol with the same nude torso repeated nine times—presumably the debut of his Torso/Bosoms/White Painting, for which the art history remains muddled (CR2 1935.1). Minor stress at foldlines, with tape repair to bottom of verso. Uncommon.

$750.00

Website
Instagram