Cover of artist's card from Jeanne Dunning; a color print made to accompany her early black-and-white artist's book Heads; reflecting upon the voice of the gaze. See item 05 below. August SelectionsBelow, our monthly selection of books, ephemera, and printed matter from Harper's Books. Follow the links for additional images and purchasing options. To browse similar materials: visit our Chelsea bookshop at 504 West 22nd Street and our East Hampton gallery at 87 Newtown Lane. Please note: our Chelsea locations, including the bookshop, will be closed for the week of August 21st and will resume normal hours on Tuesday, August 29th (Tuesday through Saturday, 10 to 6). 01. Franco & Franca Basaglia (editors) / Carla Cerati & G.B. Gardin (photographers) Morire di Classe: La Condizione Manicomiale Torino: Einaudi, 1969. First Edition. Oblong octavo; [88] pages of didactic b&w photography, interspersed with critical text from Franco and Franca Basaglia and relevant excerpts from writers such as Franz Fanon, Michel Foucault, Erving Goffman, Primo Levi, Luigi Pirandello, and Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer. "This was a design object, a political and sociological photobook, a book to be looked at (or looked away from) as much as read" (John Foot, "Photography and Radical Psychiatry in Italy in the 1960s"). Franco Basaglia, the Director of the psychiatric asylum in Gorizia, along with his wife Franca, conceived of this photobook as part of a larger media campaign drawing attention to the inhumane conditions that had become normalized in Italian psychiatric asylums. The imagery captured by photographers Carla Cerati and Gianni Berengo Gardin would prove pivotal in the reform movement that ultimately lead to the closure of Italian asylums with the so-called Basaglia Law of 1978. (Parr/Badger v2, 246). Some curling to corners of illustrated wrappers, with minor creasing; close to near fine. With only 3 OCLC records located in North America. $650.00 02. Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (Signed Artist's Proof) Zurich: Edition Bischofberger, 1985. First Edition. Square quarto. Outside of the edition of 1000 copies, this is one of 100 artist's proofs, marked "a.p. 7/100" and SIGNED by Basquiat to front endpaper. An exquisite hardcover catalogue of Basquiat's paintings and collages published on the occasion of his solo exhibition at Bruno Bischofberger's Zurich gallery (Jan. 19 - Feb. 16), in collaboration with Mary Boone. Featuring 12 full-page color reproductions, with one gatefold plate for the Zydeko triptych. Black-and-white frontispiece portrait of Basquiat, shot by Jeannette Montgomery in 1984. Fine in a fine jacket. An exemplary copy of the scarce A.P. issue, which rarely appears on the market. $9500.00 03. Rudy Burckhardt (photographer) and Dan Flavin Nominal Three (Gallery Photograph) New York: Kornblee Gallery, circa 1966. Silver gelatin print photograph (7.75 x 9.5 inches). A reference photo from Rudy Burckhardt commissioned by Kornblee Gallery, one of Dan Flavin's first dealers. Now admired for his street photography, Burckhardt also worked as a commercial photographer, documenting New York City's art scene for the likes of ArtNews and Leo Castelli Gallery. Here he was asked to photograph one of Flavin's first minimalist works, Nominal Three (to William of Ockham), which was composed of a series of 8 ft. fluorescent tubes; a formal photographic challenge. Soon after, the work was offered by Jill Kornblee to the Canadian curator Brydon E. Smith for $525; Smith would eventually acquire the work for the National Gallery of Canada, where it still remains. Photograph with Kornblee Gallery label affixed to verso, supplying details of the work in-manuscript, along with the handstamp of Rudolph Burckhardt to lower corner. Expected surface wear to photograph, with minor creasing to corners. A remarkable example of art scene documentation. $850.00 04. Bruce Conner and Kristine Stiles (performer) Double Award (Artist's Ephemera) San Francisco: Self-published, [1981]. Handbill (3 x 6 inches), printed recto-only to textured paper. On February 5, 1981, Bruce Conner appeared before the American Arbitration Association to seek restitution from the Braunstein/Quay Gallery for failure to pay him for works sold, as well as for damages suffered to consigned works from improper storage. The arbitrator awarded Conner on both counts. Regardless, a few months later, to announce a celebration for the Quay Gallery's twentieth anniversary, Conner was listed in their press release as one of the Gallery's featured artists. To protest this shamelessness, Conner designed this handbill, to be dispersed at the anniversary party by his Assistant, Kristine Stiles, costumed as his emissary in business suit and heels. Thrown-out of the upper floor gallery by Ruth Braunstein herself, Stiles continued her performance on the sidewalk below, reportedly told by more than one departing guest: "You ruined [Ruth's] party." Handbill in fine condition, with purple handstamp to verso: "For deposit only to the account of Bruce Conner." $750.00 05. Jeanne Dunning Heads (with Supplemental Artist's Card) Chicago: Self-published, 1989. First Edition. Duodecimo. An early artist's book from Jeanne Dunning, in which her fascination with bodies is trained onto the backside of women's heads; their various haircuts meticulously combed. Contents: [14] pages, with a series of black-and-white portraits supplemented by a page of poetic commentary on the relationship between the gaze and the image, silence and speech. One of the images would appear in 1992 as the front cover of the first issue of Oliver Zahm's Purple Prose. A near fine copy, with minor rubbing to edges, spiral-bound in photo-illustrated wrappers. Accompanied by small folding card, entitled Head, with front panel illustrated after the book's cover image, this time printed in color. Of the dozen OCLC records for the book, only Northwestern also has the card. $750.00 06. Sam Falls Summer Script / Fall Saddles / Winter Chapel / Spring Allusions (Signed Set) [N.p.], 2009-2010. Limited Editions. Octavos. A cycle of four artist's books produced by Sam Falls, each dedicated to capturing the mood of a season; one of the artist's recurring themes. Each produced in an edition of 50 copies and SIGNED by Falls in pencil to verso of front cover; contents: [20] pages fully-illustrated after color photography and collages. A fine set bound in side-stapled illustrated wrappers and housed in custom cloth clamshell case with leather lettering pieces to spine. Scarce, with only a single OCLC record for the complete set (ICP); MoMA holds two of the four. $850.00 07. Leonor Fini and Edward James (photographer) [A Pair of Surrealist Photographs of Leonor Fini in the Waldorf Astoria hotel] [New York], circa 1948. Two silver gelatin prints (8 x 6 inches), with matching manuscript annotations to verso. The Surrealist painter Leonor Fini considered Edward James one of her major patrons; James being a prolific collector, gardener, poet, and designer of Surrealist objects and interiors, having famously designed the Mae West Lips Sofa with his frequent collaborator Salvador Dalí. Here, James photographs Fini in Surrealist manner—with gravity appearing to pull in the wrong direction—in his hotel room at the Waldorf Astoria. Other photos from the same series are preserved in the Archives at the West Dean College of Arts and Conservation (founded by James). Both prints with creasing to one corner, else near fine, with annotations to verso in green ink: "Leonor Fini, photo by Edward James, around 1948, N.Y.C." $1200.00 08. Ken Friedman / Fluxus Book of Colors (Artist's Book) Fluxus [Self-published], 1970. Manuscript artist's book from Ken Friedman; possibly unique. A book of colors, with 13 leaves of variously-colored construction paper corner-stapled; twelve of those leaves with manuscript annotations—sometimes redundant (e.g. "yellow," "green," or "pink" on yellow, green, and pink sheets), sometimes cryptic ("17" on a gray sheet), sometimes humorous ("This way Brouwn" on brown sheet, or a John Cage signature on green). Unrecorded in Fluxus bibliographies, Friedman provides a Fluxus copyright date of 1970 on the third ("red," but pink) sheet. Some minor toning to top yellow sheet, else near fine. Scarce, with no OCLC records located. $1500.00 09. Sam Gilliam Paintings by Sam Gilliam: October 7 - November 14, 1967 (First Solo Exhibition) Washington, DC: The Phillips Collection, 1967. First Edition. Catalogue from Gilliam's first solo exhibition, documenting twelve works shown at the Philips Collection; acrylic paintings and watercolors. Introduced by brief artist statement: "I find the interplay between color and illusion as acquired through pouring, soaking and folding these surfaces important to their realization as painting." Bifolium (4 pp.), with black-and-white reproduction to front panel. Some edgewear, else near fine. Scarce, with no OCLC holdings located. $650.00 10. Heikichi Harata WX-Ray: Catch Wave Magazine. Volume 1, Number 0 (All Published) Tokyo: WXY, Inc., Publishing & Creative Service, 1979. First Edition. Folio. Artist periodical from the cult Japanese graphic designer Heikichi Harata (and his WXY design studio); this first-and-only issue reflecting on the New Wave aesthetic, with contents relating to David Bowie, Guy Bourdin, Helmut Newton, Elvis Costello, Fiorucci, and WET Magazine. Contents: [52] pages, printed to both glossy white and matte yellow stock, with two fold-out pages. Fully-illustrated in black-and-white, with text in Japanese and some English. To the rear cover, the poetic contents of the proposed next issue were teased: "Clear Light Invention, Floating Stereology, Lunatic Phonetics, Plastic Reality, Contemporary Retail... Coming Soon." Some creasing and scuffing to illustrated wrappers; contents bright and clean. A close to near fine copy of a scarce work, with only a single OCLC record located (Met). $1200.00 11. Jenny Holzer Black Garden (Inscribed with Invitation) Nordhorn: Städtische Galerie Nordhorn, 1994. First Edition. Octavo. Limited edition of 500 copies; this copy SIGNED and dated by the artist at the exhibition opening: "Jenny Holzer / Nordhorn / October 28, 1994 / 8:53 PM." Artist's book accompanying Holzer's redesign of a war memorial in Nordhorn, Germany, which she transformed into a "black garden" to commemorate the deaths of both Nazi victims and German soldiers. Illustrated after a series of b&w photos of the final work, along with lists of hundreds of names of the deceased. Texts in both German and English. This copy accompanied by a bifolium invitation to the garden, with a loose map laid-in. Black cloth boards. Some rubbing to silver lettering piece to spine, and minor flecking to top-edge of textblock; else a near fine copy. Uncommon, with only 2 OCLC records located in North America. $1250.00 12. Dorothy Iannone Dorothy Iannone: Sound Boxes, Texts, Video (Exhibition Poster) Berlin: Studiogalerie, [1977]. Large screenprint poster on thick stock (33 x 23.5 inches), announcing Dorothy Iannone's exhibition at Mike Steiner's Studiogalerie (Feb. 24 - Mar. 19); one of her first shows in Berlin, after arriving on a DAAD scholarship in 1976. The same composition—pairing the words from Emma Lazarus' The New Colossus with a colorful image of an eroticized Statue of Liberty—being used to produce an edition of 100 screenprints in the same year (less the exhibition details). With the composition revisited in 2019 as a painted installation at Peres Projects. Print is bright and clean, with short closed tear to bottom left edge, else near fine. $750.00 13. Kaldewey Press / Heribert Ottersbach and Walter Benjamin [Poestenkill, NY]: Kaldewey Press, 1993. Artist's book. Folio. One of 50 copies bound in paperboard, after 10 deluxe copies in leather; SIGNED by Heribert Ottersbach to colophon. For the twentieth number in Gunnar Kaldewey's series of collaborative book-works with artists, the German painter Heribert Ottersbach was gifted the text of Thesis IX from Walter Benjamin's On the Concept of History, reflecting upon Paul Klee's enigmatic drawing Angelus Novus. "Where we see the appearance of a chain of events, [the Angel] sees one single Catastrophe, which unceasingly piles rubble on top of rubble and hurls it before his feet." Over the course of his summer residency in rural Poestenkill, Ottersbach illustrated Benjamin's prose with an arresting series of metal-cut photographic collages and overlapping color woodcuts. Printed on handmade paper with artist's watermark; housed in plain slipcase with matching chemise. A fine copy. With only 6 OCLC records located in North America. $2500.00 14. Gary Panter, Jim Nutt, Bazooka, and Various Others Elles Sont de Sortie, Nº 8: Portraits Suicid Grafik Paris: Éditions Futuropolis, 1979. Limited Edition. Folio. One of 500 copies, each featuring original oil pastel embellishments to front cover from editor Bruno Richard. Special issue of the long-running French graphzine Elles Sont de Sortie (1977-2022), capturing the violent theme of suicide. With a chaotic/punk love poem from Richard—e.g. "il aurait trouvé son plus beau rouge baiser sur le pavé"—accompanied by 704 portraits of real and fictional characters, numbered and indexed at rear, from the likes of Gary Panter, Jim Nutt, Olivia Clavel, and Loulou and Kiki Picasso. Some rubbing to illustrated wrappers, with minor waving to textblock, thus close to near fine. $650.00 15. Raymond Pettibon Lawndale, CA: SST Pubs, 1985. Limited Edition. Stapled octavo. Self-wrappers; 28 pages. Number 27 (of 500 copies, unstated), noted in red ink in Pettibon's hand on the front cover. A foray into political figuration for Pettibon, playing with the likenesses of Hitler, Nixon, Queen Elizabeth II, Stalin, Lenin, Jane Fonda, Susan B. Anthony, Khrushchev, Reagan, and JFK. Some minor toning to margins of side-stapled illustrated wrappers, else near fine. $500.00 16. Edward Ruscha (book designer), Mason Williams, and Patrick Blackwell The Night I Lost My Baby: A Los Vegas Vignette (Inscribed by Williams) Los Angeles: [Mason Williams], 1966. Limited Edition. Tall octavo. One of 500 copies. Inscribed by Mason Williams to front endpaper: "To Jerry and Myrna / With love." An elegant example of Edward Ruscha's work as book designer, executed for his friend and musician Mason Williams. Featuring black-and-white photography of Los Vegas by Patrick Blackwell, paired with a poetic/paranoid narrative from Williams, set in stylized handset type. Vegas-appropriate golden cloth boards, with minor chipping to top of spine and some rubbing, else near fine. With 8 OCLC records located in North America. $3500.00 17. Susan Sontag Brother Carl: A Filmscript (Signed) New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974. First Edition. Octavo, hardcover issue. Neatly SIGNED by Sontag to front endpaper. Book adaptation of the screenplay for Sontag's second film, Brother Carl, which premiered at Cannes in 1971 and reached American theatres in 1972. Illustrated throughout after b&w film stills, and introduced by an original 16 pp. text from Sontag, discussing the film, its relation to Duet for Cannibals, and her belief in miracles. A fine copy in black boards. In photo-illustrated jacket, with very minor toning; near fine. $500.00 18. Ettore Sottsass Sottsass Associati: Architecture / Design / Graphic Design, 1985-90 (Complete Set) Milano: Sottsass Associati, 1990. A colorful portfolio of design work from Sottsass Associati, representing projects commissioned by such international clients as Alessi, Bruno Bischofberger, Bodum, Enorme (telephone), Esprit, Knoll, Nippon, Philips, Toshiba, the City of Turin, and the Venice Biennale. Sottsass Associati was formed in 1980 by five founding partners: Ettore Sottsass, Marco Zanini, Marco Susani, Johanna Grawunder, and Mike Ryan, with staff divided into three departments (matching the themes of this three volume set): architecture and interiors, industrial design, and graphic design. Each volume introduced by brief mission statement for that department. Contents fully-illustrated in color; [68], [44], and [28] pages, with some fold-outs. Text in both English and Italian. (Maffei, pp. 272-3). This set absent cardboard portfolio. Minor sunning to spine of Graphic Design volume, else a near fine set in illustrated wrappers with folding flaps. Scarce, with no OCLC records located in North America. $1200.00 19. Paul Thek (and Friends) Ark, Pyramid, Easter: A Visiting Group Show Luzern: Kunstmuseum Luzern, 1973. First Edition. Quarto. An enigmatic catalogue / artist's book, published on the occasion of Paul Thek's environmental installation / Procession organized during the 1973 Easter period at the Kunstmuseum in Lucerne (Mar. 25 - Apr. 29, 1973) and a simultaneous exhibition of his drawings at Galerie Stahli, Langenbacher + Wankmiller. Contents: [60] pages, featuring dozens of drawings and calligrams, as well as five b&w photographs documenting his installation by Edwin Klein and Peter Ammon. Concludes with text (in German) from Kunstmuseum Director Jean-Christophe Ammann, offering a post-religious interpretation of Thek's practice. Minor rubbing to illustrated wrappers, with scuffing to rear panel; thus near fine. Uncommon. $750.00 20. Andy Warhol and Jamie Wyeth Andy Warhol and Jamie Wyeth: Portraits of Each Other (Signed by Both) Chads Ford, PA: Brandywine River Museum, 1976. First Edition. Trifold exhibition brochure. This copy boldly SIGNED by both Warhol and Wyeth above color reproductions of the portraits that they painted of each other, as displayed at the Brandywine River Museum (Nov. 26, 1976 - Jan. 9, 1977). Accompanied by brief interview and summary of the project's twin-portrait genesis. Cover fully-illustrated after b&w photo by Peter Beard, who first introduced the two artists. Printed to glossy card-stock. Minor rubbing to edges, else near fine. A remarkable example, signed by both artists. $1750.00 21. Bruce Weber Self-published, circa 1992. First Edition. Quarto. A memorial photobook lovingly produced by Bruce Weber for his original Golden Retriever: Rowdy Palamino (1975-1992). Contents: 28 leaves, fully-illustrated after b&w photographs, with no text, save for brief epitaph. A fine copy in linen boards. Scarce, with no OCLC records located; fewer than 100 copies produced. $2500.00 22. Christopher Wool, Steven Harvey (curator), and Various Others Factura: May 14 - June 15, 1985 (Limited Edition) New York: Gallery Schlesinger-Boisanté, Inc., 1985. Limited Edition. Slim quarto. Hand-numbered as copy 17 of 75 to colophon. Published on the occasion of a group exhibition curated by Steven Harvey, notable for the very early appearance of work by Christopher Wool, the painting Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees. Harvey provides a lengthy curatorial text, with commentary on each of the artists, including his early interpretation of Wool as "rapid enamelist... In his best and most radical work the paint flow is arrested at the moment of lyrical inevitability." Other artists exhibited: Jack Barth, Andrea Belag, Ross Bleckner, Gregory Botts, David Deutsch, Roy Fowler, L. Brandon Krall, Richard Morrison, James Nares, David Nelson, Bill Rice, Don van Fleet, and Shawn White. Contents: [16] pages, charmingly-illustrated with 7 color photographs (of photographs), pasted above printed captions. Some toning to string-bound wrappers, else near fine. Scarce, with only a single OCLC record located (MoMA). $500.00 HARPER'S BOOKS HARPER'S CHELSEA 512 HARPER'S CHELSEA 534 HARPER'S APARTMENT HARPER'S EAST HAMPTON HARPER'S LOS ANGELES |