PMVABF and Signed Copies of TOSH for this weekend

 

TOSH: Growing Up in Wallace Berman" Signed Copies

The link above will lead you to my page where you can purchase a signed copy of my book.

Tosh Talks: Tosh on Marcel Duchamp's La Boîte-en-valise (Box in a Suitc...

"Word Book" by Ludwig Wittgenstein. Translated by Bettina Funcke. Critical Introduction by Désirée Weber. Art by Paul Chan. (Badlands)

 

ISBN: 9781943263240

"Word Book" by Ludwig Wittgenstein.  Translated by Bettina Funcke. Critical Introduction by Désirée Weber.  Art by Paul Chan. (Badlands)

I can't imagine myself as a child and having Ludwig Wittgenstein as my teacher.   Without a doubt, he would hate me.  Wittgenstein was a school teacher in rural communities in Austria between the years 1920 and 1926.  Concerning his biography, he was strict and stern with his young students.  It's reported that Wittgenstein hit one of the students, and they collapsed from the force of his slap or fist. That ended his career as a teacher, but he wrote a book before his unfortunate act of violence.  "Word Book" is a children's dictionary, and Wittgenstein, as a teacher, feels that students needed a book that they can easily go to for spelling corrections and to look up words.  The standard dictionary during those days was expensive or not focused on young student's needs.  

I can't think of more of a perfect philosopher to write such a book.  Wittgenstein's obsession with words and how language is used in the world is a long time concern.  What is the meaning of a word, and how is it used, with the additional thought of a thinking pattern behind the vocabulary.  Wittgenstein was sensitive to word usage in different dialects and communities. 

This beautiful book looks like a student's book from the 1920s.  This book is suitable for people who are studying German. In actuality, it's a replica of a book in a specific time and, more important, by the great Ludwig Wittgenstein.  Beyond his child-hitting approach to teaching, he must have been a great instructor to acknowledge a need that the students had for language that speaks for them.  Like my elementary school years, the teacher taught different subjects, and Wittgenstein taught them science, math, grammar, and writing.  "Word Book" is recommended to all Wittgenstein fans and anyone who loves language and understands the importance of the art and craft that is a dictionary. 

WILLIAM N. COPLEY: SELECTED WRITINGS edited by Anhony Atlas (Walther König)

 

WILLIAM N. COPLEY: SELECTED WRITINGS edited by Anthony Atlas (Walther König) ISBN: 978-96098-776-5

I know the name of William N. Copley (1919-1996) as a gallerist in Los Angeles during the late 1940s who focused on Surrealist art. Copley Galleries were the first to focus on the paintings and sculptures of Man Ray and do the first Joseph Cornell exhibition in Los Angeles. Overall, as a business, the gallery was a failure. However, like a cat with nine-lives, Copley focused his life as a painter, but still drawn into the world of Surrealism. There is a cartoon quality to his visual work that reminds me of a colorful Krazy Kat comic strip but with a strong sense of eros. Philip Guston also comes to mind. "William N. Copley Selected Writings" is a collection of his texts. They are unique works, like his paintings, that fully express his 'fun' character.

The exceptional quality of Copley is his relationship with the old Surrealist guard. He was a younger man when he met Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Cornell, and Max Ernst. So, one can feel the generational difference between him and the others. Still, Copley has a wicked sense of humor that must have been a delight to the European artists. His 'American' quality to accept failure and move on is an excellent trait by Copley. As an anthology of one person's writing is all over the map, but his devotion to the world of Ernst and others never tired him. Reading this book, you get some stories over again, but the context is the key here. In a manner, Copley is an outsider. Adopted to a wealthy and influential family, he is the black sheep in the family structure. Yet, his outside view of the world is a tool for him being involved in the arts—both as an admirer or collector and artist. Copley didn't use art jargon in his essays. He's very much a journalist reporting on the facts that are in front of him. His reading audience is people who are not necessarily into the visual or literary arts. He wrote for publications such as The San Diego's Evening Tribune, Herald News from Illinois, etc. All small-time and neighborhood newspapers. His first-person accounts with Man Ray, Duchamp, and Cornell make this book a worthy read. A generous slice of cultural history as it happened. -Tosh Berman.

Tosh for ARTBOOK/D.A.P. on Jeff Divine Seventies Surf Photographs

Tosh on Jeff Divine 70s Surf Photography.  Ever since the Lockdown, I have been spending a serious amount of time studying Surf Culture for a project I'm working on.  Divine is a great photographer on both the surfer on the surfboard as well as portraits of surfers.  - Tosh Berman.

Tosh for ARTBOOK/D.A.P. on Félix Fénéon: The Anarchist & The Avant-Garde

Tosh For Artbook/D.A.P. on Edward Hopper : A Fresh Look At Landscape (HATJE CANTZ/ Fondation Beyeler)

Tosh Berman on the American Painter Edward Hopper

Tosh For ARTBOOK/D.A.P. on Cecil Beaton's Bright Young Things & Cocktail...