Book of the Day > Betye Saar: Call and Response. Published by Prestel & Los Angeles County Museum of Art. “This publication presents Betye Saar's sketchbooks--which she has kept during her entire career--for the first time and offers insights into the artist's creative process. A child of the Great Depression and one of the only African American students in her UCLA art program, Betye Saar has, over the course of more than six decades, made work that exposes stereotypes and injustices based on race and gender. From early prints and watercolors to Joseph Cornell-inspired assemblages and full-scale sculptural tableaux, her work has inspired generations of artists. This ingeniously designed publication plays off the format of Saar's original sketchbooks. Made throughout her extraordinary career, Saar's sketches are an integral part of her creative process and offer a greater understanding of the themes woven into her finished works, which are also featured in the book. Saar's sources and influences range from Simon Rodia's Watts Towers and Haitian Vodou fetishes to Australian Aboriginal paintings, Native American leatherwork, and African American history, literature, and music. An original, intimate, and valuable resource for Saar's many fans, this book will also educate future generations about Saar's significant contributions to American art.”

Book of the Day >  Legaspi: Larry Legaspi, the 70s, and the Future of Fashion. Published by Rizzoli. "The first volume documenting the life and work of Larry Legaspi, the designer behind the iconic looks for musical acts including KISS, LaBelle, George Clinton, and Parliament. One of the unsung heroes of fashion in the '70s, Larry Legaspi was a designer ahead of his time. Crafting a space-age look in silver and black leather, Legaspi created the look for the defining musical acts of the era, including KISS, Labelle, George Clinton, and Parliament. Dying of AIDS in 2001, Legaspi left twin legacies as both designer and curator that remain largely unexplored. This volume, authored by Rick Owens, fills in crucial gaps in the knowledge of Legaspi's work and impact on the fashion world, while providing a dynamic visual presentation of the life and work of a legend. Filled with a blend of previously unpublished photographs of Legaspi's creations as well as new images of Owens's work, this stunning volume tells the story of the designer's subversive sensibility. An essay by André Leon Talley and interviews with Patti LaBelle, Paul Stanley, Valerie Legaspi, and Pat Cleveland offer a intimate glimpse into Legaspi's world."

Another great loss this week -- R.I.P. Fred Herzog. Book of the day > Fred Herzog: Modern Color. Published by Hatje Cantz. " The most comprehensive book yet published on the Canadian color-photography pioneer Fred Herzog is best known for his unusual use of color photography in the 1950s and 1960s, a time when art photography was almost exclusively associated with black-and-white imagery. In this respect, his photographs can be seen as prefiguring the New Color photographers of the 1970s. The Canadian photographer worked largely with Kodachrome slide film for over 50 years, and only in the past decade has technology allowed him to make archival pigment prints that match the exceptional color and intensity of the Kodachrome slide, making this an excellent time to reevaluate and reexamine his work. This book brings together over 230 images, many never before reproduced, and features essays by acclaimed authors David Campany, Hans-Michael Koetzle and artist Jeff Wall. Fred Herzog is the most comprehensive publication on this important photographer to date."
 

Book of the Day > Robbert Frank: The Americans. Published by Steidl. "That crazy feeling in America when the sun is hot on the streets and music comes out of the jukebox or from a nearby funeral, that’s what Robert Frank has captured in tremendous photographs taken as he traveled on the road around practically forty-eight states in an old used car (on Guggenheim Fellowship) and with the agility, mystery, genius, sadness and strange secrecy of a shadow photographed scenes that have never been seen before on film. For this he will definitely be hailed as a great artist in his field… Robert Frank, Swiss, unobtrusive, nice, with that little camera that he raises and snaps with one hand he sucked a sad poem right out of America onto film, taking rank among the tragic poets of the world. To Robert Frank I now give this message: You got eyes.” —Jack Kerouac, The Americans.

Book of the Day > Richard Diebenkorn: A Retrospective. Published by Rizzoli. “The quintessential book on the beloved California artist reveals new scholarly research and firsthand reflections by fellow artists and friends and relatives. A fresh and new overview of this treasured West Coast artist, with hundreds of his paintings, drawings, and prints covering five decades of his illustrious career. The book surveys the extraordinary achievements of Diebenkorn, who successfully explored both abstract and figurative painting. Produced in a slipcase box, this is the ultimate source for art enthusiasts, from his early work of the mid-1940s to his Berkeley and Ocean Park series. The book includes not only his iconic paintings of the California landscape and interior figures but also many of his less-well-known and rarely published works.”

Book of the Day: Jonathan Daniel Pryce: Garçon Style. Published by Laurence King. "Delve into New York, London, Milan, and Paris with close to 300 street-style images by the award-winning photographer Jonathan Daniel Pryce. From impeccable tailoring to vintage finds, these evocative images capture the myriad ways men in the fashion capitals express themselves sartorially. Featuring a foreword by Paul Smith and interviews with a selection of each city's most stylish men, this is a stunning showcase of menswear today."