Assemblage, Environments & Happenings

New York, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1969. First Edition First Printing . Soft cover. Very Good. An insider's look at "assemblages, environments, & happenings" (the last a term coined by the author) which characterized the avant-garde art movement, expanding earlier, static forms of art off the canvas or pedestal into pieces that seemed to (& oftentimes actually did) move & shift & breathe. In 316 pages of brown paper text, complemented by two adjoining, unpaginated sections of black-and-white photos, including images of works by the 9 Japanese of the Gutai Group, Jean-Jacques Lebel, Wolf Vostell, George Brecht, Kenneth Dewey, & Milan Knizak. No date, c. late 1960s. An unusual book about an unusual art form, first written (but never published) in 1959 at the suggestion of the directors of the Reuben Gallery in New York City, where much of the art herein was centered. Kaprow revised the text as the art world (& his own mind) changed in the 1960s. From the library of a Stanford graduate, activist, & founding chair of the Theatre Dept at UC Davis (with his name in neat pen in front matter, no other markings), this softcover square (9.5" x 9.5") small 4to has brown decorative wrappers lettered in lighter brown & black. Condition is VG: completely clean inside, with moderate rubbing to extremities, chipping at corners & spine tips, & heavily faded spine. Pages white, binding strong & straight. Our photos depict the Exact book you will receive, never "stock" images of books we don't actually have! Same Day Shipping on all orders received by 2 pm Weekdays (Pacific); later orders, Weekends & holidays ship very next business day.