Dada Art and Anti-Art by Richter, Hans - 1965

E-327: Harry Abrams, Inc., Pub. Very Good. 1965. Hardcover. Hardcover. 8vo. Published by Harry Abrams, Inc. , New York. 1965. 216 pgs. Illustrated with 179 plates and figures, 8 color and 171 b/w.. First Edition/First Printing. DJ has light shelf-wear present to the DJ extremities. Bound in cloth boards with titles present to the spine. Boards have light shelf-wear present to the extremities. No ownership marks present. Text is clean and free of marks. Binding tight and solid. Written as it was by an early dadaist, this book is as much a historical record of the movement as it is a primary source. As an artist, and an actual participant in the movement, Richter understands dada from the inside-out; he "gets it" in a way that the art historian or art critic cannot. This book is a wonderful combination of autobiography, art theory, on-the-scene reportage, gossip column, and investigative reconstruction of the life and times of dada from someone who there--or near-there, or in contact with someone who was. Richter's account of dada has no doubt been a text that subsequent accounts have leaned on for facts. But Richter gives more than just the names, dates, and places--he conveys something of the spirit of dada, but does so with a certain critical detachment, the result of the passing of decades and his own orderly turn of mind. He writes, too, of Breton and the surrealists, who co-opted much of the best of what dada had been, while imposing upon it an unfortunate hierarchy of superstructure and orthodoxy of viewpoint. In this, as in all else, Richter does an admirable job of trying to maintain his objectivity, but he doesn't--nor should he have--completely suppressed his own judgments, including his rather scathing view of pop art and neo-dada, so-called. EB; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 246 pages .