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Rauschenberg, Robert (Artist) & Hulten, Pontus (Contributor) : Robert Rauschenberg: Photographs

Pantheon Books, New York City, NY, 1981

ISBN 0394520548

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 140 pages. Retrospective collection of photographs. One of the greatest photography books of the 20th century. The first appearance of the title in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with the Softcover Edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. An austerely elegant production by Robert Rauschenberg and The Sonnabend Gallery: Oversize-volume format. Pale gray hard boards with black titles embossed on spine, as issued. Photographs and Introduction by Robert Rauschenberg. Preface by Pontus Hulten. Interview with the artist by Alain Sayag. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in Paris, France to the highest standards. In pictorial DJ with black titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Published on the occasion of the exhibition, "Rauschenberg Photographe", held at the Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou in 1981. Presents Robert Rauschenberg's "Photographs". The artist's photographic work, in its very first retrospective. One of the least well-known facts about Rauschenberg is that he began his career as a photographer. He makes no distinction between his photography and his painting. He has said that he brings the same pair of eyes to both. The photographs, like the paintings, are rigorous, acute, and sensuous. His celebrated method of appropriating "found" images and objects to capture the fabric, tempo, and "feel" of modern life is photographically-inspired and characterizes his large body of work. The idea of appropriation is not unique to Rauschenberg. It is a central tenet of Surrealism, and continues to be the latter Movement's enduring legacy. What makes Rauschenberg's work unique is the way he has "set in motion an interplay of shapes in which the human form is integrated to a rigorous yet flamboyant sense of design, pictures in which art and real life coincide" (Pontus Hulten). The photographs are presented in two parts: The first is the Series taken between 1945 and 1946, in such places as Tangiers, Rome, New York, and North Carolina. The second consists of photographs taken between 1979 and 1980, in Captiva Island (where he lived) as well as Boston, Atlantic City, Baltimore, and Charleston. "Mine is the need to be where it will always never be the same again. Photography is the most direct communication of non-violent contacts" (Robert Rauschenberg). An absolute "must-have" title for Robert Rauschenberg collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black pen-marker on the title page by Robert Rauschenberg. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great art photography book. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the First American Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Rauschenberg stopped signing books in the 1990's. Signed copies still available online are vintage, not recent, and few. Unlike copies available online, it is not remainder-marked, all of the internal pages are in pristine condition, and the boards are not bumped. A rare signed copy thus. 122 duotone plates. One of the greatest artists of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0394520548.

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