Arcana:

(ARTIGAS, LLORENS) (DERRIERE LE MIROIR). Artigas, Llorens and Pierre Courthion. Paris: Maeght Editeur, 1969. First Edition. Folio. Illustrated Wrappers. Artist Monograph. Very Good.. 22pp, 9 color and 11 b&w illustrations + covers. Text in French. This is a monographic edition of Maeght's legendary periodical "Derriere Le Miroir" (featuring the great artists and writers of the 20th Century) devoted solely to Llorens Artigas' 1969 exhibition of ceramic vessels. A handsome example showing just a hint of light foxing at the rear. Inventory Number: 012268

(BLUNK, J.B.). Blunk, J.B., Lucy R. Lippard, Louise Allison Cort, Fariba Bogzaran, Mariah Nielson, Rita Lawrence, Alyssa Ballard & Rick Yoshimoto. Mariah Nielson & Abake, Editors. Inverness, CA: Blunk Books, I00200511, 2020 (2022). Third Edition. 8 x 10 in. Hardbound. Artist Monograph. New/No Jacket - As Issued.

The first survey of the ceramics and sculptures of beloved Californian artist JB Blunk, in a handsome foil-stamped hardcover volume

"Born in 1926 in Kansas, James Blain Blunk was a Northern California-based sculptor who worked primarily with wood and clay. Following a period of apprenticeship in Japan, Blunk settled near the Marin County town of Inverness, California, where he built his own studio, and developed a lifelong friendship with the painter Gordon Onslow Ford. This is the first publication to explore the entire oeuvre of JB Blunk, with previously unseen examples of his work in stone, clay, painting and jewelry. The design beautifully combines archival images of Blunk's work in situ and at his home and his studio, with color plates of newly photographed pieces. In an essay, Lucy R. Lippard discusses Blunk's reverence for ancient art and places, while Smithsonian Curator of Ceramics Louise Allison Cort details Blunk's formative years in Japan. Glenn Adamson, Senior Scholar at the Yale Center for British Art, contributes an essay that explores the essence of Blunk himself along with his artwork." A brand new, most handsome example of the 2022 third edition of this vital document still in the publisher's shrinkwrap. 1-907908-55-2 Inventory Number: I00200511

(BLUNK, J.B.). Blunk, J.B., Lucy R. Lippard, Louise Allison Cort, Fariba Bogzaran, Mariah Nielson, Rita Lawrence, Alyssa Ballard & Rick Yoshimoto. Mariah Nielson & Abake, Editors. Inverness, CA: Blunk Books, 2020. First Edition. Small 4to. Pictorial Boards. Decorative Arts Monograph. As New/No Jacket - As Issued. 228pp, profusely illustrated in color and b&w. "Born in 1926 in Kansas, James Blain Blunk was a Northern California-based sculptor who worked primarily with wood and clay. Following a period of apprenticeship in Japan, Blunk settled near the Marin County town of Inverness, California, where he built his own studio, and developed a lifelong friendship with the painter Gordon Onslow Ford. This is the first publication to explore the entire oeuvre of JB Blunk, with previously unseen examples of his work in stone, clay, painting and jewelry. The design beautifully combines archival images of Blunk's work in situ and at his home and his studio, with color plates of newly photographed pieces. In an essay, Lucy R. Lippard discusses Blunk's reverence for ancient art and places, while Smithsonian Curator of Ceramics Louise Allison Cort details Blunk's formative years in Japan. Glenn Adamson, Senior Scholar at the Yale Center for British Art, contributes an essay that explores the essence of Blunk himself along with his artwork." A brand new, most handsome example of the quickly unavailable 2020 first edition of this vital document still in the publisher's shrinkwrap. 1-907908-55-2 Inventory Number: 027439

(FERUS GALLERY). Turnbull, Betty & Walter Hopps. Newport Beach, CA: Newport Harbor Art Museum, 1976. First Edition. 4to. Pictorial Wrappers. Exhibition Catalog. Very Good.. np, profusely illustrated in b&w. Designed by Jerry McMillan. With a complete Ferus Gallery chronology. In a protective clear acetate dustwrapper. This invaluable reference catalogue was produced in conjunction with a 1976 Newport Harbor Art Museum exhibition of sixty-two artworks celebrating Ed Kienholz and Walter Hopps' visionary Ferus Gallery. During its ten year run, the gallery was home to such influential California artists as Robert Alexander, John Altoon, Billy Al Bengston, Wallace Berman, Streeter Blair,, Bruce Conner, Jay DeFeo, Richard Diebenkorn, Llyn Foulkes, Sonia Gechtoff, Robert Irwin, Craig Kauffman, James Kelly, Edward Kienholz, Frank Lobdell, John Mason, Edward Moses, Richard Pettibone, Kenneth Price, Philip Rich, Arthur Richer, Richards Ruben, Edward Ruscha, Paul Sarkisian, Hassel Smith, and Julius Wasserstein. It was also the site of Los Angeles exhibitions by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, Ellsworth Kelly, and Joseph Cornell. The publication reproduces thirty-six of the gallery's highly sought-after announcement posters - many featuring photographs by Dennis Hopper - as well as vintage documentary and installation images. A handsome example of this exceedingly uncommon and important document. Inventory Number: 027190

(HERMAN, ROGER). Connors, Matt & Roger Herman. Los Angeles: Self-Published, 2019. First Edition 1/250. 4to. Printed Wrappers. Artist Monograph. As New. 426pp, profusely illustrated in color. Designed by Ross McLain / Art Design Office. This is the massive, beautifully illustrated book documenting Roger Herman's polychrome ceramics. It features a brief text by artist Matt Connors, followed by hundreds and hundreds of color images of nearly two decades worth of the noted Los Angeles artist's striking pieces. A brand new, pristine example of this comprehensive monograph limited to two hundred and fifty copies SIGNED by the artist in pencil on the title page, as issued. 0-578-50456-1 Inventory Number: E000RHC

(HIGGINS, FRANCES & MICHAEL). Johnson, Donald-Brian & Leslie Piña. Altglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2005. First Edition. 4to. Cloth in Dust Jacket. Decorative Arts Monograph. Fine/Fine. 240pp, 763 illustrations in color and b&w. "With its arresting mix of geometric and curved lines, and bold use of colors, Higgins glass transformed ordinary table and giftware, from chip bowls and cake stands to candleholders and cigarette boxes, into something vibrant and exciting. Useful as well as attractive, the designs of artists Frances and Michael Higgins harnessed vivid imagination to innate practicality. Newly discovered promotional photos, original designs, and advertising materials as well as extensive commentary by Frances Higgins and other Studio personnel highlight the informative, entertaining text, including a personal view of the creation of Higgins glass". One of the most beautiful, and well-designed of the Schiffer modernist decorative arts publications, this is an invaluable guide to more than five decades worth of the Higgins' lovely objects in glass, virtually none of which none of which appear in the authors' previous Higgins monograph - "Adventures in Glass". A brand new, most handsome example. 0-7643-0021-0 Inventory Number: 009860

(MIRO, JOAN) (ARTIGAS, JOSEP LLORENS I). Bernier, Rosamond, Joan Miro & Josep Llorens i Artigas. New York: Pierre Matisse Gallery, 1956. First Edition. 8vo. Illustrated Wrappers. Artists Monograph. Very Good -.. np (32pp), profusely illustrated in b&w with two color lithographs. With an exhibition checklist. In a protective clear acetate dustwrapper. This is the charming catalogue published in conjunction with a 1956 exhibition of twenty five collaborative ceramic sculptures by the Catalonian masters Joan Miro and Josep Llorens i Artigas held at Miro's longtime New York gallery, Pierre Matisse. It features a lithograph in colors that wraps around both covers along with a gatefold two sided color lithograph - both printed by Mourlot Freres - bound in, as issued. The black and white photographs are by Sabine Weiss, and the text is a transcribed interview with Miro and Artigas by Rosamond Bernier that first appeared in "The Selective Eye". A handsome example (entry number thirty-eight in Patrick Cramer's "Joan Mirò: The Illustrated Books - Catalogue Raisonné") showing some mild insect damage along the edges of the textblock. It has been priced accordingly. Inventory Number: 024733

(MIRO, JOAN) (DERRIERE LE MIROIR). Miro, Joan, Joan Gardy Artigas, Rene Char, Jacques Dupin, Josep Luis Sert, Joan Brossa, Joan Prats & Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues. Paris. 1961, 1961, 1961, 1963 & 1965.: Maeght Editeur. First Edition Thus. Folio. Wrappers Bound in Cloth. Artist Monograph. Fine/No Jacket - As Issued. np + np + np + np, profusely illustrated in color and b&w. Text in French. This is a compilation of five issues of Maeght's legendary periodical "Derriere Le Miroir" (featuring the great artists and writers of the 20th Century) devoted solely to Joan Miro. Bound by Maeght in dark blue cloth-over-boards with debossed white lettering in 1965, it collects the complete contents of DLM numbers 123 (Fevrier 1961): "Joan Miro: Ceramique Murale Pour Harvard"; 125-126 (Avril 1961): "Miro"; 128 (Juin 1961): "Miro: Peintures Murales"; 139-140 (Juin-Juillet 1963): "Miro et Artigas"; and 151-152 (Mai 1965): "Miro Cartons." A most handsome example whose contents are complete and intact first printings with the wrappers bound in that contain in total fifty-one original color lithographs showing some faint brown spotting to the edges of the textblock and endpapers that does not affect the internal lithographs in any meaningful way. PLEASE NOTE: Additional shipping costs are required for this item beyond our standard rates due to its weight and value - we will inform you of the applicable amount at time of purchase. Inventory Number: 024990

(MORGIN, KRISTEN). Morgin, Kristen & Marc Selwyn. Beverly Hills, CA: Marc Selwyn Fine Art, 2022. First Edition. 10 x 8 1/2'. Printed Boards with Illustrated Pastedown. Artist Monograph. As New/No Jacket - As Issued. 120pp, profusely illustrated in color. 978-0-578-33196-6

"Kristen Morgin lives and works in Los Angeles. Her work, which is formed with a mixture of clay, glue, cement and other media, comes from a ceramic background but goes far beyond traditional uses of the medium. Her sculptures have an affinity to the constructions of George Herms, Edward Kienholz, and Michael McMillen, but evoke relics of contemporary culture that may have been buried and unearthed at a later date. Toys, books, comics and other objects are rendered true to scale in unfired clay and recall the artist’s childhood. Corroding surfaces evoke mortality, decay and the passage of time. Eccentric narratives and playful juxtapositions come together to form new objects with unexpected connotations."

A brand new, pristine example of this newly published, elegantly designed comprehensive hardbound monograph featuring a lengthy transcribed interview with the artist by her gallerist, Marc Selwyn, that is additionally SIGNED BY THE ARTIST WITH A SMALL DRAWING AT THE REAR COLOPHON.

Inventory Number: E000KMPMTE

(PRICE, KEN). Mizuno Gallery & Kasmin Limited. Los Angeles & London. 1969 + 1970: Mizuno Gallery & Kasmin Limited. First Editions. 8vo. Printed Postcards. Exhibition Announcements. Very Good or Better.. np, 3 b&w illustrations. This is a group of three photographically illustrated postcard announcements published in conjunction with gallery exhibitions of the work of the late, great Kenneth Price. Two are from the artist's first post-Ferus Gallery one person shows held at London's Kasmin Limited Gallery in 1968, and Los Angeles' Mizuno Gallery in 1969; and the third appears to be a late sixties Holiday / New Year's card from the Riko Mizuno Gallery. The two Mizuno cards are contemporaneously addressed by hand from the gallery to the noted late Los Angeles Contemporary Art collectors Dr. Judd and Katherine Marmor. The Kasmin card came from their archive as well. A most handsome group of these exceedingly uncommon ephemeral items. Inventory Number: 027286

(SEVRES PORCELAIN). Garnier, Edouard. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1891. First American Edition 1/283 Deluxe. 4to. Printed Wrappers. Decorative Arts Monograph. Very Good -.. 32pp + np (8pp), ten printed paper portfolios each containing five 8 ½ x 11 ¾" individual heavy card sheets printed recto only by chromolithography, 250 color illustrations. With an index. This is the 1891 deluxe first American edition of Edouard Garnier's important illustrated survey of the soft porcelain of the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres. Limited to two hundred and eighty-three numbered copies, this lavish publication consists of two descriptive text booklets accompanied by ten paper portfolios printed by letterpress each housing five beautiful loose chromolithographic plates - most including stunning gold metallic inks to reproduce the use of gilt in the original ceramic works. These reproduce a total of two hundred and fifty watercolour renderings of significant examples of the mark, including numerous pieces from collections belonging to European royalty and nobility. This example contains all fifty plates along with their individual caption sheets and the publisher's hand-numbered limitation sheet (#5/283). The plates and captions show tiny discreet ink numbers at their corners that in no way detract from the images themselves. Fourteen plates exhibit some insignificant to mild foxing to the versos, however due to the thickness of the paper stock on which they have been printed, only three show a minute trace of spotting on the recto. Several of the paper portfolios have very minor wear, age-patination and soiling; with three bearing some brief ink annotations. All in all this is a bright, most handsome, fully-collated copy of this exceedingly uncommon and lovely reference. PLEASE NOTE: Additional shipping costs are required for this item beyond our standard rates due to its weight and value - we will inform you of the applicable amount at time of purchase. Inventory Number: 021477

(SHUBUCK, SIMONE). Shubuck, Simone, Janine Foeller, Jim Dempsey & Alex Wagner. New York, NY: Self-published. Printed in Poland by Szaransky, 2018. First Edition. 4to. Debossed Cloth. Artist Monograph. As New/No Jacket - As Issued.


"In the summer of 2017, Simone Shubuck launched WIFEY, a Brooklyn pop up that fused art, food, ceramics, flowers, and bit of retail in an elevated DIY way. During the process, Shubuck realized that so much of what she was doing directly connected to a show she staged as a student at the San Francisco Art Institute in the early 1990s. Wanting to formalize that multi-decade connection, she decided to make a book.


While at the Art institute, Shubuck studied painting, but probably spent more time tagging on the streets in the middle of the night than in her studio. When it came time to produce her student show, she constructed ten very unusual fake cakes festooned with pink ham hocks, a school of fresh sardines, a tent of chicken feet, and live crickets within a hat box within a cake. It was these images that attracted chefs Ignacio Mattos and Natasha Pickowicz of Estela, Flora Bar, and Cafe Altro Paradiso to the project. They became partners and began experimenting with dreamy layers cakes, which were served at WIFEY and were met with great acclaim.


As described by Ella Riley-Adams on Vogue.com: "She had made a paged project before; a short run of 'zines for Natasha Pickowicz’s bake sale benefit at Altro Paradiso. “It had more of a punk vibe,” Shubuck says—150 copies, printed in Chinatown. The new book feels more like a collector’s item: a retrospective of off-kilter cakes, blossoming drawings, and character-filled ceramics that charts Shubuck’s creative course that would make the ideal gift for the cool girl in your life. As Alex Wagner writes, next to a bright yellow page in the book: “Simone’s work - on paper, in clay, in life! - retains a glorious sense of mess and possibility and freedom.”


Includes texts by Janine Foeller, Jim Dempsey, and Alex Wagner.








0-692-07877-0 Inventory Number: E000SS

(SWALLOW, RICKY). Holte, Michael Ned. London & Sydney, AUSTRALIA: Stuart Shave / Modern Art & Darren Knight Gallery, 2013. First Edition. 4to. Printed Boards. Artist Monograph. As New/No Jacket - As Issued. 112pp, profusely illustrated in color. Designed by A Practice for Everyday Life. "Ricky Swallow is known for intricately and attentively crafted sculptural works, often combining contemporary imagery with art historical references, and the traditional notion of nature morte. His current bronze works extend this practice while reflecting the more recent influences of twentieth century design, studio ceramics and the inventiveness of folk art. This lovely new hardbound co-edition from Stuart Shave / Modern Art, London and Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney surveys the artist's ongoing body of bronze sculpture made since 2010, and features an essay by Michael Ned Holte along with photographs by Fredrik Nilsen. A brand new, most handsome example additionally SIGNED by both Ricky Swallow and author Michael Ned Holte. PLEASE NOTE: Additional shipping costs are required for this item beyond our standard rates due to its weight - we will inform you of the applicable amount at time of purchase. 0-9567988-1-0 Inventory Number: 022762

(WOOD, BEATRICE). Wood, Beatrice. Los Angeles: MGM Press, 1992. First Edition 1/99 Deluxe. 4to. Tied Illustrated Wrappers. Illustrated Book. Fine.. np (24pp), 12 hand colored and 1 b&w illustration + hand colored cover. "Touching Certain Things" is a girlish memoir authored and illustrated in 1992 by the late, great "Mama of the Dadas", Beatrice Wood. Primarily renown for her ceramic sculpture, lusterware vessels, and dalliance with Marcel Duchamp, this gossamer bit of erotica recounts a youthful Ms. Wood and actress pal Helen Freeman's trip to Europe to hear Jiddu Krishnamurti speak, and the amorous hijinks that ensued. From the deluxe edition of ninety-nine copies only, it contains twelve illustrations by the author, each of which (and the front cover as well) has been hand colored by her in pencil. A brand new, pristine example of this rarity that has been SIGNED, NUMBERED AND DATED by Beatrice Wood in black ink at the rear colophon, as issued. PLEASE NOTE: Additional shipping costs are required for this item beyond our standard rates due to its value - we will inform you of the applicable amount at time of purchase. 0-9620574-5-2 Inventory Number: 017047

(WOOD, JONAS) (KUSAKA, SHIO). Wiley, Chris. New York: Gagosian Gallery & Rizzoli International Publications, 2015. First Edition. 4to. Pictorial Boards. Artist Monograph. As New/No Jacket - As Issued. 220pp, profusely illustrated in color and b&w. Designed by An Art Service. This is the nicely appointed hardbound catalogue published in conjunction with a 2015 joint exhibition of work by the noted Los Angeles-based artists Shio Kusaka and Jonas Wood at Gagosian Hong Kong. A brand new, most handsome example of the unavailable 2015 first printing additionally BOLDLY SIGNED by both artists WITH A LARGE DRAWING OF A BASKETBALL DATED "2015" by Jonas Wood in black marker on the front pastedown. 0-8478-4701-2 Inventory Number: 026474

(WRIGHT, RUSSEL AND MARY). Golub, Jennifer. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, I00220427, 2021. First Edition. Large 4to. Cloth in Pictorial Dust Jacket. Design Monograph. As New/As New. 1-64896-019-7

Please join us for a discussion with author Jennifer Golub & Eames Demetrios

Sunday, May 1st 2022 from 4:00 - 6:00 PM

Helms Design Center - 8745 Washington Boulevard (1/2 block West of Arcana!) Culver City

208pp, profusely illustrated in color and b&w. Designed by Simon Johnston. "In the mid-century era of TV dinners and suburban conformity, Russel and Mary Wright were individualists. Their home Dragon Rock at Manitoga is situated on forested woodlands, sited at an abandoned quarry located an hour north of New York City, now part of the Historic Artists' Homes and Studios program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Although best known for American Modern dinnerware, the Wrights rejected rigid modernism for a life that invited ambiguity. Mary's role as a partner, designer, and entrepreneur is explored here for the first time. This lavish volume is filled with personal histories and over one hundred stunning photographs, synthesizing multiple archives and charting the innovation of their design practice, their lives, and the development of their Dragon Rock home and the Woodland Paths of Manitoga."

A brand new, most handsome example of this charming new work additionally SIGNED by author Jennifer Golub.

Inventory Number: E00JGRMW

Cohen, Arthur A.. New York: Ex Libris, 1982. First Edition. 4to. Stapled Pictorial Wrappers. Bookseller's Catalogue. Fine.. np (30pp), 62 b&w illustrations. New York's Arthur Cohen was the premier purveyor of books and ephemera on twentieth century Modern Art movements for nearly twenty years. Ex Libris' copiously researched, scholarly, illustrated catalogues stood as unparalleled bibliographic tools at a time when there was a paucity of available reference to the documentary literature of the modernist avant-gardes. This slender hord serie catalogue was devoted entirely to The Bauhaus and its impact - featuring one hundred and ninety fully described original photographs, weavings and textiles, drawings, books, periodicals, pamphlets, and printed ephemera related to the likes of Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, Aenne Biermann, Walter Dexel, T. Lux Feininger, Walter Gropius, Joannes Itten, Paul Klee, El Lissitzky, Hannes Meyer, Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, Lucia Moholy, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Xanti Schawinsky, Oskar Schlemmer, Joost Schmidt, Thonet, Jan Tschichold, "Umbo" (Otto Umbehrer), Theo Van Doesburg, and many, many others. And while at the time of its publication the prices here seemed astronomical, some thirty-five odd years later they are finally downright bargains! A most handsome example this uncommon reference. Inventory Number: 025895

Donnan, Christopher B.. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin America Center Publications / University of California, 1976. First Edition. 4to. Boards in Dust Jacket. Very Good/Very Good -. 146pp, 128 b&w and 16 color illustrations. With a bibliography. Published by the UCLA Latin America Center in 1976, this is the second monograph devoted to Moche material culture written by the preeminent American researcher on the subject, Christopher Donnan. A handsome example bearing a bold ink ownership inscription of the noted late Los Angeles artist and collector Emerson Woelffer in his hand on the first preliminary whose dust jacket shows a short closed tear with some attendant creasing on the front near the crown of the spine. 0-87903-033-X Inventory Number: 016169

Swallow, Ricky. Alexis Kerin & Stuart Krimko, Editors. New York & Los Angeles: Rainoff & David Kordansky Gallery, 2013. First Edition 1/500. 4to. Printed Self-Wrappers. Exhibition Catalog. As New.. 88pp, profusely illustrated in color. Designed by Sinisa Mackovic and Robert Milne. With a fully illustrated exhibition checklist. "Grapevine~" documents an exhibition curated by artist Ricky Swallow at David Kordansky Gallery during the summer of 2013. It focuses on the work of five California-based artists who redefined the use of clay in contemporary art, and includes images of works created over a period of more than fifty years. Ceramic sculptures by Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, Michael Frimkess, John Mason, Ron Nagle, and Peter Shire exemplify the ways in which the medium underwent dramatic changes after World War II. Also included are select works by other artists influential in this dialogue, such as Ken Price and Peter Voulkos. An essay by Swallow explores the movement's idiosyncrasies and cross-currents, as well as its influence on subsequent generations of artists." A brand new, bright white example of this exquisitely designed and printed labor of love limited to five hundred unnumbered copies additionally signed by Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, Michael Frimkess, John Mason, Ron Nagle, Peter Shire, Peter Voulkos and curator Ricky Swallow at an after-hours publication party at Los Angeles' Mandrake Bar following the exhbition opening. 0-9806516-6-2 Inventory Number: 026582