Helen Frankenthaler: Late Works, 1988-2009

Georgia O’Keeffe’s early watercolor paintings: vivid, free-wheeling and full of surprise.

– Karen Wada, Los Angeles Times

Georgia O'Keeffe: Watercolors catalogs the first major exhibition in 2016 of the nearly 50 watercolors created by O’Keeffe between 1916 and 1918, while she lived in Canyon, Texas. These years mark a period of radical innovation for the artist, during which she firmly established her commitment to abstraction. While her work in Texas is often understood as merely a prelude to her career in New York City, these watercolors and drawings mark a seminal stage in O’Keeffe’s artistic formation, representing the pivotal intersection of her disciplined art practice and her allegiance to the revolutionary techniques of her mentor, Arthur Wesley Dow. 

O’Keeffe’s watercolors explore the texture and landscape of the Texas desert and the artist’s own body in an exceptionally fragile and sensitive medium, representing a substantial achievement in their own right. These early works also relate to O’Keeffe’s large-scale oil paintings, which in their handling of color and texture in some ways seem to aspire to the condition of watercolor.

I think we’ve fallen into an elaborate but beneficent trap that Agnes Martin has set for us. She gives the paintings these titles so that when you speak of them, you can say something like, “I love Happiness” or “I’m very moved by Innocence” or “I came around a corner and saw Friendship.” She’s giving us language in an unembarrassed way, so that things can happen to us when we actually say those words.

— Teju Cole

This is a re-envisioned, fresh look at Agnes Martin, the enigmatic, influential, highly independent painter whose life (1912–2004) spanned much of the twentieth century and extended into the twenty-first. Martin’s abstract, deceptively simple paintings continue to resonate with contemporary artists and writers. In a series of essays commissioned especially for this volume, the contributors write about Martin’s influence on their creative lives and work, and offer new interpretations that defy stereotyped notions about Martin’s life. The result is a varied tapestry of voices, proving that Martin’s art still influences the contemporary world, and offering glimpses into modes of being and making that are still relevant nearly two decades after her death.

LeWitt’s work calls our attention to the disparity between the world of language and that of objects and actions. By focusing on the disjunction between these terms, LeWitt bridged the gap between Minimalism and Conceptual art.

— Saul Ostrow, BOMB

Sol LeWitt: Not to Be Sold for More Than $100 explores the little-known but fascinating body of conceptualist pioneer Sol LeWitt’s folded, torn, and cut paper works, which he created from approximately 1971 to 1980. LeWitt referred to these works as the “R” drawings (for rip) and also as “hundred dollar drawings,” since he wanted them to be sold for $100 in perpetuity. “His wall drawings were already selling for thousands of dollars, so he wanted to have some artwork that everybody could buy,” notes Jason Rulnick. Thanks to extensive research throughout various private and public collections around the world, this volume includes over 100 color plates. In the high-flying commerciality of the contemporary art world, LeWitt’s intention and foresight for this body of work resonates more than ever.

… his masterpiece, the grandest exploration of pure color and form in a seven-decade career spent testing the boundaries of both.

— M. H. Miller, The New York Times

Envisioned by Ellsworth Kelly as a site for joy and contemplation, Austin is a cornerstone of the Blanton Museum of Art’s permanent collection and a new icon for the city in which it stands. This comprehensive book provides a thorough look at the project, from its inception to its current position as one of the artist’s most important and enduring works. Though mostly abstract, Kelly’s work is deeply rooted in his love of nature and his close observation of the world around him, and Austin’s design elements are no exception. 

An essay by Carter E. Foster, Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Blanton Museum of Art, sheds light on how Austin fits with Kelly’s wider practice.

This book is now RARE | $150