Interior view of Your House (2006), Olafur Eliasson's remarkable work of paper architecture, commissioned by MoMA's Library Council. See number 6 below.

Harper's Books: November Selections

Below, our 22 monthly selections; a range of books, ephemera, and other printed matter relating to art, photography, modern literature, and design. Click the links for additional images and purchasing options. To browse similar materials, visit our Chelsea bookshop at 504 West 22nd Street (Tuesday through Saturday, 10–6).

1. Ashley Bickerton

Back to the Wall (Announcement Card)

New York: Sonnabend, 1996. Announcement card (4.5 x 6.5 inches) for a Sonnabend exhibition (New York, May 4–Jun. 1, 1996), with humorous text and borders printed to recto in reflective gilt; exhibition details printed to verso. A return to painting for Ashley Bickerton, who later referred to this as "one of the angriest shows I've done—and that's when I work the best." Very minor edgewear; near fine.

$150.00

2. Ulises Carrión

The Poet's Tongue

Antwerpen: Guy Schraenen, 1977. Audio cassette in original housing with stapled booklet (8 pages) as liner. The first published collection of Ulises Carrión's conceptual audioworks; a number of which were created specifically for this Schraenen recording. As per the artist's statement printed to the liner: "Each piece is a series of vocal units that unfolds according to simple rules. Their beginning and end are arbitrary—they could go on infinitely. They should go on. They go on." Tracklist for Side 1: Hamlet, for two voices (15'36, with Martha Hawley) and Aritmética (5'19); Side 2: Three Spanish Pieces (7'21), Poema (1'57), First Spanish Lesson (7'13), and 45 Revoluciones por Minuto (3'59). (Hill 38; Dear Reader, p. 128). This copy fine. Scarce, with a single OCLC record discovered.

$750.00

3. Henri Cartier-Bresson

Moscou Vu par Henri Cartier-Bresson (Association Copy)

Paris: Collection Neuf / Robert Delpire, 1955. First Edition. Quarto. In 1954, after Stalin's death, Henri Cartier-Bresson was the first Western photographer invited to document daily life in Russia, resulting in a photo essay for Life Magazine, as well as the present photobook, featuring 163 dramatic black-and-white images, captioned in French. This association copy INSCRIBED by Cartier-Bresson to Life photojournalist Dimitri Kessel ("avec mes amitiés"); the Ukrainian-born Kessel having fled the Bolshevik Revolution for the United States in the mid 1920s. A near fine copy in buckram cloth, with simple titles to spine. In bright photo-illustrated jacket, with typical rubbing and short-tears to edges and a 1-inch chip to upper rear corner; close to very good.

$850.00

4. Vija Celmins

Drawings of the Night Sky (Signed)

London: Anthony d'Offay, 2001. Limited Edition. Oblong quarto. One of 480 copes, SIGNED by Celmins to colophon. A collection of twenty enchanting night sky drawings from Vija Celmins, executed between 1973 and 2001; reproduced full-page. Accompanied by transcript of a conversation between Celmins and curator Anne Seymour, expounding on this series, along with an introductory text from art critic Adrian Searle. A fine copy in gray cloth boards with maroon lettering; housed in plain card slipcase. Accompanied by loose card (8.25 x 5.75 inches), featuring a black-and-white portrait of the artist, with a text from William Butler Yeats printed to verso.

$450.00

5. Jake and Dinos Chapman

If Hitler Had Been a Hippy How Happy Would We Be

London: White Cube, 2008. First Edition. Octavo. Exhibition catalogue published on the occasion of a Chapman Brothers show at White Cube, London (May 30–Jul. 12, 2009). Fully illustrated with reproductions of 13 watercolors by Adolf Hitler, which the Chapmans embellished with rainbows after having purchased them at auction for over £100,000. Stringbound booklet affixed to cloth-backed portfolio; fine.

$100.00

6. Olafur Eliasson

Your House (Signed)

New York: Library Council of The Museum of Modern Art, 2006. Limited Edition. Oblong folio. Number 93 of 255 copies, SIGNED by Eliasson to colophon. A quite-literal work of paper architecture, commissioned by MoMA's Library Council, in which experiential artist Olafur Eliasson produced a laser-cut negative impression of his Copenhagen home; printed at a scale of 85:1 in 454 vertical slices (for 908 pages). "As readers leaf through the pages, they have the illusion of slowly making their way through the rooms of the house from front to back, thus constructing a mental and physical narrative. The result is an intensified sense of space, dimensions, materiality, and time." A fine copy in blue cloth boards with blind-stamped titles to front panel; housed in original drop-leaf cardboard box, with matching titles to lid. Uncommon to the trade.

$17,500.00

7. Robert Frank

Flower Is (Limited Edition)

Tokyo: Yugensha, 1987. Limited Edition. Folio. One of 500 copies designed by Kohei Sugiura and Atsushi Sato. A moving memorial to Robert Frank's daughter, who died in a plane crash in 1974; the first section of this stream-of-consciousness photobook assembles Frank's images of Parisian flowers (1949-1951) to somber effect, followed by sections on Detroit factories and scenes from Frank's adopted home of Nova Scotia. "Never have flowers—that most uplifting of photographic subjects—appeared so woebegone. Seldom has the manic activity of industrial manufacture seemed so pointless. And the Nova Scotia landscapes and still lifes—beautfiul, bleak, elegiac—reveal an artist at the height of his powers but hardly at peace with the world or himself." Lovingly printed by Frank's Japanese patron Kazuhiko Motomura, this work was never published abroad. (Parr/Badger, v1, 264). As new in gray silk boards, in publisher's cloth slipcase with black-and-white image tipped to front panel; this being the"Champs-Élysées, 1950" variant. Accompanied by original cardboard mailing box.

$4500.00

8. Nan Goldin and Klaus Kertess

Desire by Numbers (Twice Signed)

San Francisco: Artspace Books, 1994. First Edition. Octavo. Nan Goldin's photographs of sex workers in Asia are complemented by a short story by Klaus Kertess; this copy SIGNED by both Goldin and Kertess to title page. The work dedicated to the memories of Mark Morrisroe and David Wojnarowicz. A fine copy in illustrated boards.

$250.00

9. Mark Gonzales and Harmony Korine

Foster Homes and Gardens (First Edition)

New York: Alleged Press, 1996. First Edition. Octavo. Contents: [52] xerographic pages copied to white and yellow sheets. A follow-up collaboration between Mark Gonzales and Harmony Korine, after their Adulthood and Adultry zines from 1995; this scarce first edition featuring an acetate cover—printed with "357 RAMBO" tagline—and a clipped image of Tom Cruise (5 x 3.75 inches) scotch-taped to verso of rear wrapper. (MG084). Marginal dusting to printed orange wrappers; near fine. Scarce, with single OCLC record located (MoMA).

$1250.00

10. Duane Hanson

Art at the Library: Sculpture by Duane Hanson (Signed Exhibition Poster)

West Palm Beach, FL: Friends of the West Palm Beach Public Library, 1982. Black-and-white poster printed to thick cream sheet (17 x 11 inches); SIGNED by Hanson in blue marker. Exhibition poster announcing Duane Hanson's show at the West Palm Beach Public Library (Dec. 7, 1982–Jan. 20, 1983), with accompanying public lecture; illustrated by a photograph of his superrealist sculpture Self-Portrait with Model. Hanson lived about an hour's drive outside of West Palm Beach in Davie, Florida; a year later, he would tour Japan with the exhibition "Hyper-Realist Sculpture of Duane Hanson." Very faint horizontal fold-lines, with minor creasing at margins, else near fine.

$500.00

11. Dave Heath

A Dialogue with Solitude (Signed with Accompanying Gravure Print)

Toronto: Lumiere Press, 2000. Deluxe Edition. Folio. The second of two deluxe editions commemorating the reissue of Dave Heath's storied 1965 monograph, cementing his reputation as the bridge between Robert Frank and Larry Clark. Number 14 of 100 copies, SIGNED by the photographer to title page. Accompanied by a dust-grained gravure of his photograph Washington Square, New York City, 1958, which is also SIGNED by Heath to lower margin and housed in textured portfolio. All elements fine and housed in publisher's cloth clamshell box.

$1250.00

12. Kenji Higuchi

Photo Document Japan's Nuclear Power Plants

Tokyo: Orijin Shuppan Senta, 1979. First Edition. Quarto. In the Japanese tradition of protest photobooks, this photo-journalistic work from Kenji Higuchi documents the landscapes and labours surrounding Japanese nuclear power plants; published amidst the international alarm generated by the Three Mile Island accident. The result of seven years of Higuchi's reportage; his earlier work in Yokkaichi documented the plight of air pollution victims. Over 100 black-and-white images, some color; accompanied by a series of texts. Slight rubbing to illustrated boards; near fine. In matching typographic jacket with obi; also near fine. Housed in custom cloth slipcase, with leather lettering piece to spine.

$300.00

13. Kesaharu Imai and Haruo Mizuno (editors)

Wild Mook (Complete Set of 60 Issues)

Tokyo: World Photo Press / World Mook, 1978-1984. First Edition. Quarto. 60 issues. A complete set of this cult-favorite mook; an encyclopedic treatment of American consumer culture, reflecting the postwar Japanese fetishization of Western identity. More cosplay bible than anthropological study, each issue is dedicated to inventorying a niche cultural theme—with impressively maximalist graphic design—e.g. trucks, guns, war films, fighter jets, survival gear, mortorcycles, Star Wars merchandise, military uniforms, the secret service, college campuses, police. An issue on commercial airliners includes a survey of airport protocols, a taxonomy of flight attendant uniforms, and detailed cockpit schematics. Contents ranging from 160 to 176 pages; fully illustrated, mostly in color, many with sticker sheets. This set uniformly near-fine in photo-illustrated wrappers. Scarce, with scattered OCLC records for individual issues; no records located for complete sets. A remarkable mirror world of twentieth century Americana.

$6000.00

14. Ellsworth Kelly

Spencertown: Recent Paintings by Ellsworth Kelly (Signed with Announcement Card)

London: Anthony d'Offay / New York: Matthew Marks, 1994. First Edition. Quarto. A lush hardcover catalogue published on the occasion of Ellsworth Kelly's exhibition at Anthony d'Offay (London, Sep. 8–Oct. 15, 1994) and Matthew Marks (New York, Oct. 29–Jan. 29, 1995). Illustrated with 16 full-page color reproductions of the exhibited works; complemented by a black-and-white photo-essay by Jack Shear, capturing Kelly's Spencertown studio, and an essay from Yve-Alain Bois. Fine in a fine jacket. This copy accompanied by simple announcement card for the twin exhibitions (5 x 7.5 inches).

$350.00

15. Geert van Kesteren

Why Mister Why? Iraq 2003–2004

Amsterdam: Artimo, 2004. First Edition. Octavo. An arresting collection of images of war-torn Iraq from Dutch photojournalist Geert van Kesteren. Embedded with American troops during the first year of the Second Gulf War, van Kesteren organizes his images into a series of violent episodes with accompanying diaristic notes. Boldly printed on glossy stock, with texts in both English and Arabic, printed in a quasi dos-à-dos structure. (Parr/Badger, v2, 241). A fine copy in illustrated wrappers.

$250.00

16. George Maciunas

FluxClinic: Record of Features and Feats

New York: Fluxus, 1966. Artist's document printed recto/verso to heavy sheet (7.75 x 10 inches); this copy unfolded. An example of George Maciunas' Fluxus "paperwork," designed for a restaging of a 1964 Hi-Red Center event in a Waldorf Astoria hotel room. As a kind of event score—used to animate participants' experience of the simulated clinical environment as they interacted with lab coated Fluxworkers—Maciunas' Record of Features and Feats, pushes the bureaucratic genre of healthcare questionnaires to an absurd limit, with anthropometric categories such as nipple-to-nipple dimensions and maximum suck capacity. (Fluxus Administration, pp. 203-205). A fine copy. Scarce, with no OCLC records located; archival copies identified at MoMA and Getty.

$850.00

17. Daido Moriyama

'71 - NY (Signed)

New York: PPP Editions / Roth Horowitz LLC, 2002. First Edition. Thick quarto. SIGNED by Moriyama to title page in silver marker. Something of an index to Daido Moriyama's xerox book Another Country in New York (1974); PPP Editions here assembled the full range of photographs captured during Moriyama's legendary NYC visit with Tadanori Yokoo. Featuring 210 full-bleed black-and-white images, and 14 pages of reproduced contact sheets; accompanied by an interview of Moriyama by Andrew Roth (printed in both English and Japanese), an essay by Neville Wakefiled, and an excerpt from James Baldwin's Another Country. (Parr / Badger, v1, 301). A fine copy in printed wrappers, in near fine die-cut jacket, with minor scuffing. Housed in a printed cardboard slip case; fine.

$450.00

18. Sigmar Polke

Stenoblock, 1970 (Signed)

Bonn: Erhard Klein, 1990. First Edition. Oblong. A facsimile of one of Sigmar Polke's playful sketchbooks, dated January 12–13, 1970; one of the first publications of Galerie Erhard Klein in Bonn (1990), with facsimiles of Polke's presentation inscription to Blinky Palermo to the inner cover, and an additional facsimile inscription to the final leaf, to Klein as gallerist/publisher. This copy outside of the edition of 100 featuring an original signature to front wrapper; instead SIGNED by Polke in black ink to inner cover. Contents: 28 leaves, printed rectos only. A fine copy in printed green wrappers.

$650.00

19. Jason Rhoades

In Memoriam: Jason Rhoades, 1965–2006 (Memorial Card)

Los Angeles: Hauser & Wirth / David Zwirner, 2006. Announcement card (7 x 5 inches) announcing the memorial service for Jason Rhoades held at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (Sunday, September 10, 2006). Illustrated with color portrait to recto. Notably, in addition to listing parking options, the service details printed to verso offer Alex Israel as gallery contact for Hauser & Wirth. Preserved in fine condition.

$250.00

20. Tom Sachs

Tom Sachs: Cultural Prosthetics (Signed)

Rome: Gian Enzo Sperone / New York: Morris Healy, 1997. First Edition. Octavo. The first catalogue of Tom Sachs' works, published on the occasion of his exhibition at Gian Enzo Sperone, Rome (March–April, 1997); under the same title as his first solo exhibition (1995) at Morris Healy Gallery, which co-produced this book. This copy SIGNED by Sachs in black marker over white-out brushstrokes to front endpaper. Thoroughly illustrated with color images of Sachs' works; accompanied by an essay from Jeff Crane (printed in both English and Italian), which opens with a quote from Adorno's Minima Moralia: "Artists do not sublimate... Rather, artists display violent instincts, free-floating and yet colliding with reality, marked by neurosis." A near fine copy with illustrated boards featuring die-cut elements. Uncommon, with only two OCLC records located in North America.

$950.00

21. Sturtevant

Sturtevant: Werke aus 25 Jahren / Works from 25 Years

Köln: Paul Maenz, 1989. First Edition. Octavo. Catalogue published on the occasion of a Sturtevant retrospective at Paul Maenz's Cologne gallery (Apr. 7–May 3, 1989). Featuring an essay by Christian Leigh ("The New Good Old Days"), printed in both English and German, interspersed with black-and-white illustrations of seven Sturtevants: in the style of Jasper Johns, Marcel Duchamp, Roy Lichtenstein, Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, and Keith Haring. Contents: [12] pages; loose folded sheets. Minor crease to lower corner of illustrated wrappers; near fine. Scarce, with single OCLC record located outside of Europe (Tate).

$250.00

22. Guy Yanai

Insecurity

Marseille: Yundler Brondino Verlag, 2024. First Edition. Quarto. One of 700 copies. An ingenuous artist's book from painter Guy Yanai, synthesizing the PDFs created by his studio to accompany his eight international COVID-era exhibitions (2020-2023). As an elegant archive of the 91 paintings exhibited during this cycle—as well as of the attendant anxieties from this precarious period in the artworld—the book elevates the utilitarian PDF format to artistic standing, while offering something of a Proustian transformation to the gallery sales kit. Contents: 216 pages, illustrated after full-color reproductions of the artworks, along with studio and installation shots; accompanied by original artist's statements and exhibition reflections. Elegantly designed by Aurore Chauve; printed in Italy by Golinelli. Featured galleries: Praz Delavallade (Paris and Los Angeles), Galerie Conrads (Düsseldorf), Miles McEnery (New York), König (Berlin), Seojung Art (Seoul), and Harper's (Los Angeles). Foil-printed yellow wrappers with flaps; new. Also available in a Special Edition of 10 copies with original drawings; contact for details.

$52.00

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