Riva Castleman (1930–2014)

Exhibition catalogue published in conjunction with show held October 23, 1994 - January 24, 1995. Text by Riva Castleman. Large-scale catalogue documenting not artists' books but rather livre d'artiste or livre de peintre style publications.
Whereas contemporary artists such as Edward Ruscha, Sol LeWitt, Gilbert & George, Carl Andre, Robert Barry, Douglas Huebler, Joseph Kosuth, Robert Morris, and Lawrence Weiner receive only fleeting, perhaps grudging, inclusion. Other contemporary artists show more are ignored, or worse. So the title of the book is a misnomer, the contents are myopic, and the text is thin. However, it does deal with pre-1960s deluxe publications well enough, and luxuriously enough, that the book remains worthwhile in terms of documenting that aspect of artistic bookmaking.

This celebration of the illustrated book as an art form begins with remarkable works produced in France by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin at the end of the 19th century, and traces the international development of the modern illustrated book to the last decade of the 20th century. Major artists of the modern movement, among them Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso, turned to the "illumination" of poems, classical literature, and their own writings to make books that are now collectors' objects, luxuriously produced. Such limited editions have continued to be produced alongside other types of artists' books aimed at a much larger audience. The more available artists' books have served a different purpose, often expressing aesthetic and political principles, in the hands of such artists as Kasimir Malevich, Marcel Duchamp, Ed Ruscha, Joseph Beuys, and Barbara Kruger. Accompanying texts consider the historical background, complex relationships between artists and book manufacturers, technical constraints, and recent changes. show less

Published in conjunction with TECHNICS AND CREATIVITY : GEMINI G.E.L., at The Museum of Modern Art, 1971. The exhibition featured selected prints and multiples by artists: Anni Albers, Josef Albers, John Altoon, John Chamberlain, William Crutchfield, Allan D'Arcangelo, Ron Davis, Sam Francis, Joe Goode, Jasper Johns, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Edward Kienholz, Roy Lichtenstein, Man Ray, Claes Oldenburg, Ken Price, Joe Raffaele, Robert Rauschenberg, Edward Ruscha, Ben Shahn, Frank Stella, show more and Wayne Thiebaud. This object consist of a white plastic clam-shell case containing a catalogue raisonné of all Gemini publications through 1970, with 364 illustrations (20 in color), and a text by Riva Castleman [then the Museum's Associate Curator of Prints]. Also included in the box is a 10 1/2 x 8 1/2-inch multiple commissioned for this publication. A two-colored offset lithograph with a collage of three watercolor pads and a brush, the multiple invites you to collaborate with Jasper Johns in creating your own version of his Target alongside a facsimile of Johns' signature. show less

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