The Museum of Modern Art New York: The History and the Collection by S. Hunter - 1984

Harry N. Abrams Inc, 1984. in4. 1984. Cartonné jaquette. 599 pages. To choose 1 000 works to represent a museum whose total collection exceeds 100 000--now that's curating. Imagine the restraint required to compile a catalog of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York--the first museum exclusively dedicated to art of the 19th and 20th centuries and the first to recognize modern-art disciplines (photography film industrial design installation). The collection is carefully and tastefully represented in this 600-page tome. Multiple frontispieces representing each of the museum's departments welcome the reader followed by a thorough and illustrated introduction to the museum's directors exhibitions donors acquisitions and architecture. Then comes the good stuff: 1 000 works from the museum's six curatorial departments: Painting and Sculpture Drawings Prints and Illustrated Books Architecture and Design Photography and Film and Video each section introduced by an essay explaining the development of the particular collection. Clear large color illustrations of Cezanne's The Bather Munch's Madonna Wyeth's Christina's World and sculpture by Oldenburg Serra Morris and Beuys leave a reader gasping "They have that?" First published in 1984 the book was reprinted in 1997 by Abradale Abrams's more affordable imprint. While the huge catalog is now less expensive keep in mind that its content has not been revised since its first edition. Regardless it's a valuable testament to the quality and scope of one of the world's greatest art collections. It's hard not to want to see all of the works that didn't make it into the catalog paperback. Très Bon Etat in english.