HOYO/EMBRACE: PHOTOGRAPHS BY EIKOH HOSOE

Tokyo, Japan: Shashin Hyoronsha Publishing House, 1971. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. Tokyo, Japan: Shashin Hyoronsha Publishing House, 1971. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 96 pages. Collection of nudes, presented as an Artist Book. One of the greatest erotic art photography books of the 20th century. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. There is no ISBN. The First Edition is now rare. A brilliant production by Eikoh Hosoe: Oversize-volume format. The book weighs 3 pounds. Cloth boards with titles embossed on cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by Eikoh Hosoe. Preface by Yukio Mishima, the greatest Japanese novelist of the 20th century. Mishima famously collaborated with Hosoe on "Ba Ra Kei". Cardboard slipcase with titles printed on black paper that is pasted on the slipcase. Printed in gravure on pristine-white, thick uncoated stock paper by The Nissha Printing Company in Tokyo, Japan to the highest standards. The gravure reproduction quality is outstanding in every respect. In pink DJ with black titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents Eikoh Hosoe's "Hoyo/Embrace". One of the most stunning and most influential explorations of the nude in the history of photography. Abstracted, choreographed down to the smallest detail, and yet sensuous, made palpably so by exquisite gravure printing, these nudes will not be surpassed. As the title suggests, every image is an embrace, showing a completely nude and physically intimate male and female couple, whose interest to us is the line formed by the erotic proximity of their bodies, which nevertheless remain discrete and never become "as one" (in the overtly sexual sense). They are posing, that is, re-enacting - if are not actually engaged in - sexual intercourse. Hosoe's goal - and genius - is to somehow make us see and think not about sex, but about the power of beauty: That the erotic is ultimately an aesthetic, not a sexual, experience: It's about pleasure, not arousal. An absolute "must-have" title for Eikoh Hosoe collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed and placed in pencil on the half-title page by the artist/photographer: "Eikoh Hosoe Tokyo". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great erotic art photography book. As far as we know, this is the only such signed and placed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: While the slipcase is in fragile condition (but it's intact), the book itself is uniformally fine. If both were perfect, this First Edition would command twice as much given its exquisite gravure printing and sheer rarity. A rare signed copy thus. 62 gravure plates. "Ba Ra Kei" and "Kamaitachi" were selected as two of the greatest photography books in "The Photobook". One of the greatest artist/photographers of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER EIKOH HOSOE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG).