Castleman 1994

Castleman, Riva. A Century of Artists Books. Museum of Modern Art, 1994.

"Several ground-breaking examples of the diretions in which artists wished to take books at the end of the nineteenth century are studied before a description of the collaborative aspects of making books is given. Producing books in more than one copy is always a matter of organization and having money to pay for the costs. Entrepreneurs who felt inspired by art and books and who cultivated artists' interests in illustrating or embellishing them became the encouraging and often inventive publishers whose work is reviewed here. Then the various relationships between artists and authors are explored. The perceived primacy of art or text in books often defines the conditions under which the two are brought together. Artists with authors, artists as authors, and artists for authors are three aspects of this subject. Another is how artists dispense with text altogether without departing from the essential components of the book: integrity of idea and sequential presentation. Yet the text is a perennial and expected component, so that certain themes that have been traditional vehicles for the meeting of word and art over the centuries are also examined. Ways of dealing with the physical parts of books— their covers, paper, typography, and shape— evolve from the interactions of artist' ideas. Finally, the integration of the book form into the mainstream of art making is indicated by noting the kinship artists' books have with other kinds of works they create." (13)