JAN SAUDEK: REALITIES by Saudek, Jan (Artist/Photographer); Crump, James & Wood, John (Authors/Editors) - 2002

Santa Fe, NM: Arena Editions, 2002. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. As New/As New Dust Jacket.. Santa Fe, NM: Arena Editions, 2002. Hardcover. As New/As New. First Edition/First Printing. 223 pages. Retrospective collection of photographs. The very first book-length publication on the Czech artist/photographer published in the United States. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a hardcover original only whose entire print run was not completed (because the publisher shut down). The First Edition is now scarce. A brilliant production by Jan Saudek and James Crump: Oversize-volume format. Blue cloth boards with gilt titles embossed on cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by Jan Saudek. Essay, "Paradise And the Innocent Eye", by John Wood and James Crump. List of Plates appended at the end. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper by EBS in Verona, Italy to the highest standards. The reproduction quality is exemplary in every respect. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents Jan Saudek's "Realities". The singular images of the artist/photographer whose work defies any standing categories. "One of the definitive books on Jan Saudek and contains many new as well as never-before-published images. The photographs that have secured his unique place in contemporary photography are all here. Saudek has always been a maverick and an outsider. He has delved into a dreamworld, where eroticism and aesthetics combine in a photographic style that retains its distinctive power. Based on the pornographic studio photographs of the 19th century, classical painting, and historical portraiture, Saudek's nudes and erotic images reveal a world of fantasy, where artistic play and expression are unfettered by any notion of reality" (Publisher's blurb). "I don't have the capacity to portray other people's lives. I am portraying my own" (Jan Saudek). An absolute "must-have" title for Jan Saudek collectors. This title is an erotic art photography classic. This is one of few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. 131 color plates. One of the greatest artist/photographers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JAN SAUDEK TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1892041618.