Billy Al Bengston: Set of two books: Billy and Billy II [Both SIGNED & INSCRIBED]

BENGSTON, Billy Al, RUSCHA, Ed (Edward), MONTE, James, LIVINGSTON, Jane, TSUJIMOTO, Karen, HOPKINS, Henry T., TUCHMAN, Maurice

ISBN 10: 0877014736 / ISBN 13: 9780877014737

Published by The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (for Billy) and The Contemporary Arts Museum, The Oakland Museum and Chronicle Books (for Billy II), Los Angeles (Billy) and Houston, Oakland and San Francisco (Billy II), 1968

About this Item

1968/1988. Set of two books (Billy and Billy II), each signed, inscribed and dated 2003 on acetate dust jackets. Billy: First edition, first printing (1968). Inscribed and signed by Bengston, "For the sweetest of Malibu kooks / Billy Al Bengston / AKA Moondoggie." Soft cover. Sandpaper wrappers with the title "Billy" in pink flocking on cover, bound with machine screws and nuts, with a pink satin ribbon page marker. Paintings by Billy Al Bengston. Text by James Monte. Includes a list of plates, exhibition history and bibliography. Designed by Ed Ruscha. Unpaginated (64 pp.), with 10 four-color and 36 black and white plates and additional illustrations printed in Los Angeles by Toyo Press. 9 x 11 inches. This first edition was limited to 2,500 copies. Published on the occasion of the 1968 exhibition "Billy Al Bengston" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (installation designed by Frank Gehry). No ISBN. [Cited in Andrew Roth, ed., The Open Book. (Göteborg, Sweden: Hasselblad Center in association with Steidl Verlag, Göttingen, Germany, 2004).] Very scarce. Billy II: (Paintings of Three Decades): First edition, first printing (1988). Inscribed and signed by Bengston, "To the cool Malibu kooks / Billy Al Bengston / AKA Moondoggie." Soft cover. Photographically illustrated French-fold wrappers. Paintings by Billy Al Bengston. Text by Jane Livingston, Karen Tsujimoto, Henry T. Hopkins and Maurice Tuchman. Includes a chronology, exhibition checklist, selected exhibitions and a selected bibliography. Designed by Dana Levy. 144 pp. (including two 2-page gatefolds), with 60 four-color plates and numerous black-and-white illustrations. 9-5/8 x 10 inches. This first edition was limited to 7,500 copies. Published on the occasion of an exhibition organized by the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, and The Oakland Museum. ISBN: 0877014736. Billy: Near Fine (moderate wear to the extremities, front cover slightly curled, 1/8-inch chip to upper edge of front cover, 1/8-inch closed tear to upper edge of front cover, pin hole at lower right front corner [affecting all pages]). Billy II: (Paintings of Three Decades): Near Fine (moderate surface wear and wear to the extremities, faint crease to back cover, first two pages stuck together, sticker residue on first page, pin hole at lower right corner [affecting all pages]). Featuring one of Ruscha's most inventive book designs, with the front cover being a sheet of 100-grit sandpaper and the back cover a coarser 50-grit sheet. The contrasting pink flocked title provides yet another witty articulation of Ruscha's and Bengston's collaborative sensibilities as demonstrated in their book Business Cards, published the same year. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 108062

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Billy Al Bengston: Set of two books: Billy and Billy II [Both SIGNED & INSCRIBED]
• Publisher: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (for Billy) and The Contemporary Arts Museum, The Oakland Museum and Chronicle Books (for Billy II), Los Angeles (Billy) and Houston, Oakland and San Francisco (Billy II)
• Publication Date: 1968
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0877014736
• ISBN 13: 9780877014737
• Binding: Soft cover
• Illustrator: Over 100 Color & B/w Illustrations
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: No dust jacket as issued
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Artists' Books
  • Signed Books
  • Sets (Series)
  • Rare Acquisitions