“A CENTRAL FIGURE OF HIS GENERATION”: FIRST EDITION OF WINOGRAND’S INNOVATIVE FIRST BOOK, THE ANIMALS

WINOGRAND, Garry. The Animals. New York: Museum of Modern Art, (1969). Oblong quarto, original stiff photographic wrappers. $850.

First edition of Winogrand’s witty first book, issued only in wrappers, with 46 black-and-white photogravure plates (including cover images) by “one of the most dazzling reckless members of… photography’s ‘new generation of primitives” (Roth).

Even with this first, unassuming monograph, it was clear that “Garry Winogrand was an innovator and one of the most dazzling reckless members of what John Szarkowski called photography’s ‘new generation of primitives… Several of the 46 photographs in The Animals, all taken in zoos, remain among Winogrand’s best known and most accessible images” (Roth, 192). “A central figure of his generation,” Winogrand clearly proclaims the artistry of a generation in pictures that combine formal elegance with a playfulness that barely conceals “a deeply troubled and troubling vision” (Parr & Badger I:257). In his Afterword, MoMA curator Szarkowski dubs Winogrand’s zoo “a surreal Disneyland… As for the pictures themselves,” he adds, “the richness of their observation and the sophistication of their graphic command amounts to virtuosity.” First edition, published only in wrappers; as issued without dust jacket. See Parr & Badger II:29.

Images quite fresh, four small red-inked corrections to first page of Afterword (not affecting images); fragile wrappers bright and unrestored. A scarce, about-fine copy.