ICONS OF POP ART: INSCRIBED BY WARHOL

BASQUIAT, Jean-Michel. CLEMENTE, Francesco. WARHOL, Andy. Collaborations. Zurich: Bruno Bischofberger, 1984. Slim octavo, original blue and white cloth, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box. $8500.

First edition, boldly inscribed by Andy Warhol to photographer Christopher Makos on the front flyleaf.

A landmark moment of 20th-century art: the exhibition catalogue documenting 15 collaborative multimedia works created by visionary art-world star Basquiat, Italian artist and publisher Clemente and legendary figure Warhol. Bruno Bischofberger, who represented all three artists, brought them together by commissioning these pieces; the canvases were displayed from September 15 to October 13, 1984 in Bischofberger's gallery and are reproduced here in full color, accompanied by a black-and-white portrait of the artists. "The successful outcome of these Collaborations stems from a compositional method that recalls that of the 'exquisite corpses' used by the Surrealists: each artists paints without knowing what the others are painting. In the works that result from these shared labors one fully senses how each artist was able to express himself with his typical and distinctive stroke, style and imaginative universe, and how at the same time the specific qualities of each blend perfectly with those of the others" (Chiara Bertola, Collaborations 1996-1997, Castello di Rivoli). For Warhol and Basquiat, the project marked the start of an extraordinary working relationship that became one of the most iconic artistic partnerships of the 1980s. This copy inscribed by Warhol to "Chris": Christopher Makos, dubbed by Warhol "the most modern photographer in America"—a close friend of the artist's who often photographed both him and Basquiat.

Book fine, in a near-fine dust jacket with minor rubbing to spine head.