Christian Boltanski: Reconstitution
Paris/Karlsruhe: Éditions du Chêne/Badischer Kunstverein, 1978. 1st Edition. Small quarto, publisher's white cloth, upper board stamped in black, original illustrated dust jacket.
First edition monograph on French conceptual artist Christian Boltanski by art critic and scholar Andreas Franzke. Boltanski worked as photographer, filmmaker, painter, and sculptor throughout his career. His output is noted for "making truth felt" rather than solely documenting history, with many of his installations functioning as conceptual memorials to the victims of the Holocaust, his Jewish identity being a major influence on his work. This early survey is a compilation of Boltanski's efforts to conceptually reconstruct or "reconstitute" memories, childhood artifacts, and biographical elements, themes that foreshadowed his enduring artistic concerns. Illustrated with black-and-white photos and reproductions, with some plates in color; with an exhibition history and a selected bibliography. Text in French. Light soiling to cloth, corners gently bumped; unclipped dust jacket with some chipping to spine-ends and flap-folds, moderate soiling, and light edgewear. About very good. Item #13322
$75.00