The Dinner Party: From Creation to Preservation [Hardcover]

Judy Chicago (Author), Donald Woodman (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2006

Judy Chicago's masterpiece "The Dinner Party" is a monumental work of art conceived as a symbolic history of women in Western civilization. Strategically countering the traditional erasure of women's achievements, this epic installation honours 1038 iconic, mythical, archetypal and historical women. This, the most definitive book to be published on Chicago's masterwork, reveals more fully than ever before the art and the artist's expanded research into the rich history embodied in the installation. In lively contextualizing sections, Chicago discusses the creative genesis of "The Dinner Party", the technical processes involved, and the work's early - often hostile - reception by the art world, and its subsequent preservation and permanent exhibition. "The Dinner Party" is profusely illustrated throughout with documentary images and new photography that displays the work in detail making this the ultimate source on an iconic work that is taught in art history and women's studies courses around the world.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The world's most famous and controversial work of feminist art, Judy Chicago's Dinner Party has found a permanent home some 30 years after its creation in the Brooklyn Museum's new Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. Chicago celebrates in a sumptuous and comprehensive volume dedicated to her radical and extraordinarily crafted sculptural installation, telling the compelling story of its five-year collaborative creation, phenomenal popularity with the public, and vicious critical condemnation. Long committed to making socially conscious art, Chicago marvels over how much has changed in the field of women's history since the 1960s, when she began researching women's lives. Never one to stint on hard work, or miss the opportunity to educate people, Chicago presents brief and vivid updated biographies of the 39 women represented at the triangular table with elaborate ceramic plates and beautifully embroidered runners and the 999 women whose names appear in the porcelain-tiled Heritage Floor. Gorgeous new photographs by Woodman, Chicago's husband, offer stunning close-ups. For more on Chicago and her work, see Gail Levin's biography, Becoming Judy Chicago (2007). Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Carefully, thoroughly and vividly educates in all the ways Chicago intended three decades ago - SELVEDGE Sumptuous - CERAMIC REVIEW

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 308 pages
• Publisher: Merrell Publishers; 1St Edition edition (February 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1858943701
• ISBN-13: 978-1858943701
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > Arts & Photography > Sculpture

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent, illustrated guide to the art of Judy Chicago., May 18, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dinner Party: From Creation to Preservation (Hardcover)

The Dinner Party: From Creation to Reservation offers up an excellent, illustrated guide to the art of Judy Chicago. All other books documenting her DINNER PARTY are all out of print, but even when they were available, none offered such an extensive, full-color treatment as does THE DINNER PARTY: FROM CREATION TO RESERVATION. Documentary photos follow its creation and an essay by Judy Chicago surveys the history of women, the collaborative effort involved, and the history of the work's exhibition. Perfect for college-level art libraries; especially those with some works on Judy Chicago already in their holdings.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!, November 2, 2008

By 

Patchouli Medusa (denver, colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dinner Party: From Creation to Preservation (Hardcover)

I love judy chicago's dinner party. The art is organic and really fits the different representations of the women she is trying to portray. This book has pictures of the plates, as well as the individual runners for the plates. It also has information about the 999 women who's names form the dinner party. Not everyone has a plate, but there is a little bio about them. I really like to pull this book out for inspiration and information about the women represented in this book. It's a great art book that really illustrates this piece, since I may never see it in person.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, April 18, 2010

By 

Yale Hirsch "Great Songs Lover" (NY) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Dinner Party: From Creation to Preservation (Hardcover)

A most unusual book! In addition to the originality of Judy Chicago's art, you have the refreshing words and thoughts of nearly a thousand great women of history.