Description: Jeff Koons: Versailles (Signed with elaborate drawing)Jean-Pierre Criqui; Edouard Papet; Jeff KoonsPublished by Editions Xavier Barral, 2009ISBN 10: 2915173419 / ISBN 13: 9782915173413 Signed/Inscribed "to John" by Jeff Koons in silver marker with an original drawing. Hardcover in extremely fine condition with the exception of front board bumping at corners and ever so slight bumping to back board at top corner. Spine shows ever so slight rippling possibly created during production. Light soiling front, back interior boards. All damage can be viewed in images. Dust Jacket is in very fine condition but has a tiny open chip to top of spine and an open tear 1/16" from that. Book is unread. A true collector's copy! Very large full color volume illustrating Jeff Koons exhibition at Versailles. Measurements: 13 1/2 x 12 2/5 inches. 191 pp. 100 color plates. Previously owned by ABAA/ILAB book dealer. Shipped bubble-wrapped in a sturdy box to protect value. Oversized and overweight hardcover requiring custom packaging and bubble-wrapping. This volume presents a marriage made in camp heaven--the splendid extravagance of the palace of Versailles as a backdrop for the gregarious, loud and equally extravagant sculptures of contemporary American Pop artist Jeff Koons, who mounted the first contemporary art exhibition ever in the apartments of the king in September 2008. What other artist could match Louis XIV's love of the saccharine gesture? Sugared up to the max, Koons here counterposes Versailles' rich detail with his more simplified forms, including a monumental red chocolate-box-style heart, balloon dog and suspended red aluminum lobster. Other works outdo Versailles for kitsch, such as Koons' marble self-portrait, playfully sited amid busts of Louis XIV, his infamous "Michael Jackson and Bubbles" sculpture and his ever-cryptic bare-breasted blonde clutching the Pink Panther. Yet others, such as the large vase of flowers, blend seamlessly with the decor. Needless to say, accusations of irreverence have abounded, but Koons avows only respect for the venue and has testified that he has drawn inspiration for his floral sculptures from the "fantasy and control" shown by Louis XIV himself. The degree of sympathy is as hard to contest as the edge of parody: Asked why he installed his vitrine of vacuum cleaners among the portraits of royalty in the Queen's antechamber, Koons replied that, among other things, vacuum cleaners are "very womblike." This monograph records each of the 17 works as exhibited and is supplemented with texts by Jean-Jacques Aillagon, chairman of Versailles and a former French culture minister, and controversial French novelist Michel Houellebecq, among others.In 2008, The Palace of Versailles opened its doors to 17 emblematic works by American artist Jeff Koons. This heir of pop art transforms the world of childhood and pop culture into imposing sculptures that play with reflections, materials and colors, like his famous inox balloon bunny. Beyond the cultural rifts they generate, Koon's artworks exhibited in the Sun King's apartments spark a lively dialogue with the sumptuous baroque decor, celebrating the encounter between the aesthetic intensity of the past with that of the contemporary imagination. An exceptional photographic document, this book first presents the works in situ, then offers a second section where they are interpreted out of the context of Versailles.
Price: 950 USD
Location: Newtown, Connecticut
End Time: 2024-11-03T21:01:44.000Z
Shipping Cost: 20 USD
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Special Attributes: 1st Edition
