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PORTRAITS IN LIFE AND DEATH by Hujar, Peter (Photographer) & Sontag, Susan (Contributor) - 1976

by Hujar, Peter (Photographer) & Sontag, Susan (Contributor)

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PORTRAITS IN LIFE AND DEATH by Hujar, Peter (Photographer) & Sontag, Susan (Contributor) - 1976

PORTRAITS IN LIFE AND DEATH

by Hujar, Peter (Photographer) & Sontag, Susan (Contributor)

  • Used
  • Fine
  • Hardcover
  • first
New York City, NY: Da Capo Press, 1976. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Da Capo Press, 1976. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 96 pages. The photographer's breakthrough debut collection. One of the most beautiful art photography books of the 20th century. The First Hardcover Edition. Should not be confused with the Softcover Edition, which was published simultaneously with it. Published in a small and limited print run of a reported 50 copies only. The First Edition is now rare. An austerely elegant production by Peter Mohring: Oversize-volume format. Pale gray cloth boards with titles embossed on cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by Peter Hujar. Essay by Susan Sontag. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in the United States 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 Peter Hujar's "Portraits In Life And Death". The first and only book published in his lifetime, cut drastically short by AIDS. A perfect book, it opens with a sequence of definitive portraits of Fran Lebowitz, Susan Sontag, Divine, John Waters, William S. Burroughs, and Edwin Denby, among others, portraits of The Living taken in deliberate "death poses", as if each subject is reflecting upon his or her mortality. The collection then, cinematically, cuts to and closes with Hujar's sequence of The Dead, life-like mummies in the catacombs of Palermo, Sicily. Hujar's mummy-portraits are hauntingly "alive" in their evocation of Death, "living portraits of death" (Toni Morrison) . Hujar was a Modernist whose closely intertwined themes of vitality/morbidity rejected the pervasive development of his (and our) time, Post-Modernism, which he derisively called "Looks-Like-Art". As a result, he never gained in his lifetime the fame he deserved. The purity of Hujar's portraits bewildered and frustrated the "art elite", given its postmodernist expectations: Why are they so simple and so spare? Hujar now enjoys a global cult following, with collectors forking over serious thousands of dollars for his prints, many of which Hujar had to sell for $100 apiece when he was felled by his "death sentence" illness. The dying Hujar calmly reassured Nan Goldin and Annie Leibovitz, two of his closest fellow artist/friends, that their grief was superfluous because he and his work will be recognized posthumously through these portraits of life/death's "sweet poetry and panic" (Susan Sontag) . An absolute "must-have" title for Peter Hujar collectors. <b><i> This title is a great art photography book. 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. It is the single most beautiful copy we have ever seen. Please note: Should NOT be confused with the Softcover Edition, which was published simultaneously with it, and is also scarce. Published as a hardcover original of a reported 50 copies only. Copies available online have very serious flaws, but nevertheless command a premium because the book, in any condition, is rare. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. </b></i> 40 plates. One of the greatest photographers of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER PETER HUJAR TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0306800381.
  • Bookseller Modern Rare US (US)
  • Format/Binding Hardcover
  • Book Condition Used - Fine
  • Jacket Condition Fine Dust Jacket.
  • Quantity Available 1
  • Edition First Edition. First Printing.
  • Binding Hardcover
  • ISBN 10 0306800381
  • ISBN 13 9780306800382
  • Publisher Da Capo Press
  • Place of Publication New York City, NY
  • Date Published 1976
  • Pages 96

We have 4 copies available starting at $500.00.

Portraits in Life and Death
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Portraits in Life and Death

by HUJAR, Peter

  • Used
  • first
Condition
Used - A fine copy internally, the wrappers with some very light yellowing and a few stray marks. Essentially a fine, unread copy
Edition
First edition (issued similtaneously in paperback, as here, and
ISBN 13
9780306800382
ISBN 10
0306800381
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Ardsley, New York, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$500.00
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Description:
New York: Da Capo Press, 1976. First edition (issued similtaneously in paperback, as here, and hardcover with jacket). A fine copy internally, the wrappers with some very light yellowing and a few stray marks. Essentially a fine, unread copy. 11 x 10 inches. 40 black-and-white reproductions. Printed wrappers. "I am moved by the purity and delicacy of his intentions. If a free human being can afford to think of nothing less than death, then these momento mori can exorcise morbidity as effectively as they evoke its sweet poetry and its panic" (from the introduction by Susan Sontag, whose renowned portrait by Hujar, showing her supine on a bed, is included in the book). The book is divided into two series: portraits taken between 1975-75, and photos of the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo taken in 1963. They form a provocative resonance. Portraits comprise: John Waters, Robert Wilson, Michèle Collison, Jose Rafael Arango, Edwin Denby, Linda Moses, Bill Elliott, Kenneth King, Peter Hujar (self… Read More
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Portraits in Life and Death
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Portraits in Life and Death

by Peter Hujar

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Collectible - Very Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780306800382
ISBN 10
0306800381
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Frederick, Maryland, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$504.93
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Description:
Da Capo Press. Collectible - Very Good. New York: De Capo Press, 1976. 1st edition. Sm 4to paperback. Illustrated paper wraps. [91pp] B/W photos. Very Good book. Covers slightly toned. In polypropylene bag. (Artistic Photography, Catacombs, Portraits) Inquire if you need further information.
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Portraits in Life and Death
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Portraits in Life and Death

by Hujar, Peter; Sontag, Susan (Introduction)

  • Used
  • Paperback
  • first
Condition
Used - VG-
Edition
First Edition First Printing
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780306800382
ISBN 10
0306800381
Quantity Available
1
Seller
La Mesa, California, United States
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This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
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Description:
New York, New York: DaCapo Press, 1976. First Edition First Printing . Soft cover. VG-. One of the most arresting photographic books ever published,'' in two sections counterposing life & death: the first, shot 1974/75, offers 29 some nude or semi-nude) of creative people (including Susan Sontag, who wrote the Introduction), & the second, shot in 1963, constitutes a
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Portraits in Life and Death
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Portraits in Life and Death

by Peter Hujar; Susan Sontag [Introduction]

  • Used
  • very good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780306800382
ISBN 10
0306800381
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Stamford, Connecticut, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$635.00
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Description:
Da Capo Press, 1976-10-01. Paperback. Very Good. 10x10x0. Ownership name stamped to half title page very light shelf wear. Slender large format softcover tight and otherwise unmarked. Oversized. Please email for photos.
Item Price
$635.00
$5.00 shipping to