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51. FitzGerald & Co., Vincent. Weil,
Susan. Reflections. Photo Alternatives by Susan Weil.
New York: Vincent FitzGerald & Co., 2002.
$6,000
One of
20 copies, all on special paper handmade by Paul Wong at
Dieu Donne Papermill, each signed and numbered on the
colophon by Susan Weil. The artist has titled, signed,
numbered, and dated each print as well at the bottom in
pencil. Page size: 16 inches x 16 inches; 6 images plus
colophon. Housed in orange silk custom-made clamshell box
with inset of blueprint image by the artist of broken
glasses printed in white on blue fabric, box made by
Priscilla Spitler at Hands on Bookbinding, new. The colophon
was printed by Daniel Keleher at Wild Carrot Letterpress.
Vincent FitzGerald & Company did the collage work. The
prints are described by the publisher as follows: 1)
blueprint image on cover; 2) “Umbrella” photogram which puts
the umbrella structure directly on the paper; 3) “Secrets” A
collaged blueprint. These private words are layered, then
cut in strips and woven. The back of the strips are
water-colored red, reflecting slightly. 4) “Grace’s Lace”
The lace squares are treated with chemicals for a brown
print and developed with ultraviolet light. This is mounted
on handmade paper which has been water colored pale gray. 5)
“Catenary” This is a blueprint collage. The two blueprint
hands hold a copper string. The handmade paper is water
colored pale green. 6) “Woven Wineglasses” This is a
photogram collage. Several direct wineglass images are
simply woven into a box form, making this study of water and
shadows into an abstraction. 7) “Haphazard” This is a formal
blue print configuration of glass rectangles. The haphazard
quality comes from the unpredictability of the beautiful
breaks in the glass.
Susan
Weil returns to a medium she used in the late 1940’s and
early 1950’s with her then husband, Robert Rauschenberg, at
Black Mountain College, where they had studied with Josef
Albers. Carla Schulz-Hoffman notes in her article on Susan
Weil in the exhibition catalogue, MIND’S EYE (1989) the
origins of this art form. In subsequent visits to Black
Mountain, they began experimenting with blueprint paper.
Rauschenberg writes, “Sue and I experimented with
light-sensitive papers, partly because of their low
cost...”. Schulz-Hoffman writes, “In 1951 their son
Christopher was born, and in that same year ‘Life’ magazine
published a three page article including reproductions of
their spectacular ‘Blueprints’. Similar to Man Ray’s
‘rayographs’ , the blueprints used blueprint-paper and a
sunray lamp to capture life-sized silhouettes.” She notes,
“For this reason it is not always possible to credit one
particular individual with the discovery of innovations
which would prove decisive in precipitating the fall of
Abstract Expressionism and in shaping the course which the
entire New York School would eventually take. Although many
of the results of Weil’s productive collaborations with
Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns cannot be attributed
exclusively to one or another of these artists, nevertheless
a typically one-sided art historical scholarship tends to
ignore Weil or consign her a marginal role...”. As well as
blueprint images, Weil began to use collage in an especially
creative way. Her complete mastery of these techniques can
be seen in these images. (9651)
New from Vincent FitzGerald & Company
52. FitzGerald & Company, Vincent.
Weil, Susan. Seven Secrets. New York: Vincent
FitzGerald & Company, 2006.
$3,500
One of
10 copies only, on J.B. Green paper, each signed and
numbered in pencil on the colophon by the artist, Susan
Weil. Page size: irregular but about 7 inches x 9 inches; 7
individual collages each hand water colored, cut out, and
assembled by the artist, Susan Weil, and the publisher,
Vincent FitzGerald. On the reverse of each individual work
of art is a “secret” hand written by the artist. Because
they are secrets, the reader / viewer can see words but
there is no way to read the secret. Bound: loose in
translucent plexi-glass box with sliding cover, printed
colophon in black with title in red visible through side of
box, new. The images created by Weil are so full of life -
one is instantly drawn into the full world of this talented
artist who has always included others in her life -
children, partners, pets - all lovingly viewed through her
aesthetic. The colors are vivid blues, bright yellows, gold
and silver and the reader / viewer engages with them -
knowing they will be unknowable and all the more intriguing.
(9813)
New from Julie Chen & Flying Fish
Press
53. Flying Fish Press. Chen, Julie.
Full Circle. Berkeley, CA: Flying Fish Press, 2006.
$2,100
Artist’s
book, one of 100 copies, on various papers printed
letterpress using photopolymer plates, and signed and
numbered by the author / artist, Julie Chen. Size: housed
in 15 x 15 inch box in turquoise and coral silk, the cover
lifts off and the colophon is on blue-green papers cut in a
ring laid down on lime-green paper. The top of the bottom
half of the box has a paper circle printed in blue-green on
coral, yellow, and paler blue green ribbons of color forming
kaleidoscope on coral printed grid. There is a brass nail in
the center and there are four see-through boxes. The text
appears on the bottom-most box of the top face, which is
above a cut out box on the bottom edge labeled, “pull when
tab appears.” There is another indentation on the fore edge
with a portion of the circle covered in gold cloth for
“turning” the pages. There are two other cutouts on the top
circle that allow the reader to view additional images and
text as the wheel turns. At three different “stops” on the
wheel a red tab appears and, when pulled, a book appears.
When opened the reader is treated to an intricate pop-up.
They are labeled Figure I Infatuation, Figure 2
Estrangement, Figure 3 Reunion. On the top face, the page
numbers appear printed on pink paper and above that various
found objects can be viewed in another cutout that changes
as the wheel turns. The “atomic” looking circles on the top
face read, in part, “Things I believe in” “Things I Try to
Believe In” Things I would like to Believe In” Things I
Subconsciously Believe In”...etc. Here is a beautiful
object, exquisitely made, carrying to us Julie Chen’s
observations on the most basic human concerns - the nature
of belief and the divine. A most beautiful and provocative
book. (9797)
54. Flying Fish Press. Chen, Julie.
True to Life. Berkeley, CA: Flying Fish Press, 2005.
$1,600
First
Edition, limited to 100 copies, each signed and numbered by
the author / artist, Julie Chen. The book is printed
letterpress using a combination of pressure plates,
woodblocks, and photopolymer plates. It was assembled and
bound at Flying Fish Press with assistance from Macy
Chadwick. The book is a tablet that sits on its own easel,
housed within the box holding the book. The tablet, covered
in deep red silk, fastened with brass in each corner, has an
opening 10-½ inches x 6-7/8
inches covered with plexi, through which is viewed the text.
Along each vertical side of the box are wooden “arrows” each
numbered in turquoise on an orange ground, reading 2-12,
each representing a page. The box measures 14-7/8
inches x 8-¼ inches. To view the pages, the reader must push
up both the “arrows” marked “2” or “3” etc. The colophon is
printed on the inside of the tray case holding the book,
with the easel on the back. The box folds out on each side,
to reveal images printed in green and yellow in a very
organic abstract design. The name of the press is on the
left fold-down, printed in back on a strip of
tobacco-colored Japanese paper. On the right fold-down is
text relating to the book in the form of six strips printed
on the same tobacco-colored Japanese paper in black. Each
page alternates from an orange ground to a celadon ground.
Each page is illustrated with abstract images, very organic
in nature, as well as a partial view of a long, continuous
visual timeline. The covers - right and left - fold open and
there is an onlay image, 6-7/8
inches x 1-7/8
inches in shades of green on board with title and author
printed in black on tobacco colored paper the same width of
the image. The left cover has a cutout that fits over the
onlay image on the right cover, acting as a fastener for the
book. Once again, Julie Chen has pushed the boundaries on
the definition of a book and created a provocative
meditation on time and space and how life interacts
therein. (9536)
Last Book from Gehenna Press – Deluxe
Edition
55. Gehenna Press. Baskin, Leonard.
The Disconnected Sodality. Leeds, MA: Gehenna Press,
2005. $17,000
 |
One of 8
copies, the deluxe edition, from a total issue of 30, all on
various Japanese and European handmade papers, each signed
on the colophon by Lisa Unger Baskin. Page size: 12-9/16
inches x 9-1/16
inches; 67pp. Bound by Daniel Gehnrich: full green morocco
stamped in blind with laurel wreath above title in gilt,
author and title in gilt on spine with single rule at top
and bottom, housed in green quarter morocco and cloth
clamshell box with wreath blind stamped on spine over title
in gold gilt, date in gold gilt on bottom of spine, extra
suite, preparatory portrait (pencil drawing of Albert
Gilbert) color trial proof (Leibl) and an original cherry
woodblock for the portrait of Albert Gilbert are
housed in three separate brown cloth sleeves all in
the same green clamshell box, fine. |
These deluxe copies, with the full
morocco binding, extra suite, original art, and original
woodblock make an imposing work of art. No less imposing is
Baskin’s selection of his “Disconnected Sodality” - a group
of 19th century sculptors, painters, writers, and composers-
and his short biography and assessment of their work.
Leonard Baskin’s “portrait” books are probably the most
sought-after publications of the Gehenna and Eremite
Presses. This last, as idiosyncratic as the others, has a
particular importance as a number of the “sodality” are
sculptors. Baskin’s perceptive, witty, and challenging
thoughts on those artists who might actually have influenced
his own work. Together with TWELVE SCULPTORS, this book
takes its place as a major survey of the antecedents of
Baskin, the great American sculptor. He has, of course, also
created a beautiful book with a major collection of
lithographs and woodcuts. There are 20 artists - including
Mary Shelley, Alfred Gilbert, Georg Buchner, Christen Kobke,
Constantine Meunier, Franz Schubert, Jacques Offenbach, and
Helen Maria Williams - and 20 original portrait prints
included. The woodcut were printed by Arthur Larson at
Horton Tank Graphics; Timothy Sheesley, at the Corridor
Press, Otego, New York and Herb Fox of Merrimac,
Massachusetts printed the lithographs. In all, there are
twenty-four lithographs and eighteen woodcuts which include
the title page colophon woodcuts. The type is Jan Van
Krimpen’s Spectrum cast by Dan Carr and Julia Ferrari at
Golgonooza Letter Foundry, Ashuelot, New Hampshire and was
printed by Arthur Larson. (9728)
Regular Edition
56. Gehenna Press. Baskin, Leonard.
The Disconnected Sodality. Leeds, MA: Gehenna Press,
2005. $8,500
One of
22 copies from a total issue of 30 (8 of the copies are
deluxe with an extra suite and plate), all on various
Japanese and European handmade papers, each signed on the
colophon by Lisa Unger Baskin. Page size: 12-9/16
inches x 9-1/16
inches; 67pp. Bound by Daniel Gehnrich: quarter green
morocco, author and title in gilt on spine with single rule
at top and bottom, fine. (9776)
57. Janus Press. Meynell, Katherine.
Eat Book. Images by Katherine Meynell and Susan
Johanknecht. London: Gefn Press and New York: Janus
Press, 1990. $350
| First
Edition, one of 150 copies all on BFK Rives paper, each
signed by Meynell and Johanknecht. Page size: 9-½ inches x
13-3/8
inches. Illustrated with 6 duo-tones of photographs of still
lifes of cherries, sausages and white bread, 8 relief prints
(linecuts) of eating utensils and one etching in silver
(fork on half title). Text is a poem printed in letter
press by Johanknecht. |
 |
Bound: archival board painted in South
of Thames Plaster mixed with acrylic, wrapped in rumpled
linen dinner napkin, fine. (3120)
58. [Joseph, Jane] Levi, Primo.
If This is a Man. London: Westway Press, 2000.
$4,000
 |
One of
12 copies only, all on Arches and Somerset papers, with 14
original etchings, each etching signed and numbered and
titled by the artist, Jane Joseph, in pencil. Page size:
12-½ inches x 9-7/8
inches; 15 single leaves - poem printed letterpress
and 14 etchings. Bound: loose as issued in Arches
wrappers, housed in blue clamshell box with colophon
on inside front of box, fine. The colophon is also
signed and numbered by the artist, Jane Joseph, in
pencil. The etchings were reproduced (not original
etchings) by the Folio Society in their edition of
IF THIS IS A MAN. This edition is, however, the
original group of etchings. Primo Levi’s moving
verse, importuning the reader for compassion for the
hapless victims of tyranny, has been interpreted
with breathtaking simplicity by Jane Joseph.
|
The etchings represent particular
key phrases in Levi’s verse and have a directness that is
moving. Jane Joseph is an English artist who studied with
Robert Medley at the Camberweel School of Art and Crafts.
She has had a number of solo exhibitions in London; her work
is in the collections of the Arts Council of Wales, the
Government Art Collection, The British Museum, the Yale
Center for British Art, the Ashmolean at Oxford, among
others. (9516)
59. Joseph, Jane. Mel Gooding. A
Little Flora of Common Plants. London: Eagle Gallery,
2002. $1,700
One of
12 copies, all on BKK Rives and Tosa Shoji paper, each
signed and numbered by the artist. Page size: 11-7/8
inches x 7-3/8
inches; 78pp. All with 9 dry points by Jane Joseph,
editioned by Marie Walker and 9 poems by Mel Gooding printed
letterpress by Graham Bignell at New North Press on Tosa
Shoji, set in Legacy Sans. Bound by Tracey Rowledge:
handmade olive green Japanese paper over paper boards with
title printed in silver on front cover, housed in
publisher’s white slipcase, fine.
The nine dry points perfectly complement Gooding’s verse.
Joseph’s images of common plants such as pussy willow,
ragwort, bluebells, and the like are anything but prosaic.
Rather she infuses her images with the dignity of all living
things and finds beauty in the simple lines. Gooding’s verse
does the same - “Close garden cousin of wild ‘nonscriptus’ /
‘washes’ paler (but not less beautiful)...” - Garden
Bluebell. For anyone who loves flowers and gardening, this
book will have particular resonance. (9313)
60. Karasik, Mikhail . Dimitri
Shostakovich Jewish Songs from Jewish Folk Poetry, a Vocal
Cycle, Op. 79 (1948). St. Petersburg: M.K. Publishers,
1999. $6,000
| One of
13 copies, numbered and signed by the artist. Page size:
sheet music is 16-½ inches x 11-¾ inches. Bound: sewn with
self wrappers. The thirteen lithographs plus title page (10
polychrome and 3 monochrome) by Karasik are 21-½ inches x
15-7/8
inches, new. Bound: loose with title page printed
monochrome : The text of the sheet music in Russian
with English front wrapper, each of the 10
polychrome lithographs are signed and numbered.
Clamshell box in tan paper over boards with green
linen spine, the paper with original monochrome
lithograph in green of the sheet music for A GIRL’S
SONG. |
 |
Together with three pages of sheet music for WINTER in
monochrome lithograph in purple following the colored
lithographs. Each of the polychrome lithos are more or less
representational using traditional Jewish themes (Abraham
and Isaac) as well as contemporary images of musicians. This
is a beautiful book. (8869)
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