INSULT TO INJURY [Hardcover]

Jake Chapman (Author), Dinos Chapman (Author), Balthasar Burkhard (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 21, 2008

In 2001, as part of their ongoing obsession with Francisco Goya's work, Jake and Dinos Chapman purchased one of the few remaining sets of the Disasters of War prints, made from the artist's original plates by the Goya Foundation in 1937. Produced by Goya between 1810 and 1820 as an attack on the horrors of war and its supposed romance and idealism, this group of 80 images has since become emblematic of art's moral voice, as well as a powerful template for the representation of the gross insanity of such conflict. Disasters of War has been idolized by generations of artists, notably Picasso and Dali, who were both directly inspired by Goya's anti-war polemic. The Chapmans meticulously "rectified" their Goya prints, drawing on top of what must be the most revered set of prints in existence. The artists superimposed cartoon faces, either those of clowns or puppies, onto figures Goya had intended as allegories of human suffering. Entitled Insult to Injury, this reworked series has been seen variously as an evil and meaningless desecration by vandals, and as the ultimate homage to Goya's masterpiece, a fitting extension of his despair. In making the book that records the Chapmans' new work, reproductions were made directly from the embellished Goya prints themselves. The result is an unprecedented print quality for the images, which are reproduced at actual size, and in four colors. The 80 plates are complemented by a previously unpublished text by Jake Chapman.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Steidl; First Edition edition (November 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3882439572
• ISBN-13: 978-3882439571
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 15.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,560,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, sadistic, terribly funny, October 29, 2006

By 

J. Riley "J. Riley" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: INSULT TO INJURY (Hardcover)

There is something inherently sassy about painting over Goya. This series, my first exposure to the snickering intellect of Jake and Dinos Chapman, is part sacrilege and part necessity: Goya's celebrity, which like any has grown with time, makes it almost unthinkable that his works should be tampered with, but yet here it is. That act alone should be enough to secure your attention. The keen draughtsmanship and hyperattentiveness to detail will earn your respect, but it's the outright comedy of the series that will win you over. Every page is alive with irony and playfulness, and, if you look closely, absolutely brilliant dialogue.

I'm an artist--not an art critic. And while I usually go for the stuff that makes me think, it's impossible to resist stuff that makes me smile this much. Perhaps the Chapmans themselves are commenting on the modern art scene: hey, they say, quit taking all this so seriously.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jackets, February 26, 2008

By 

Ian David Mcgowan "Ian" (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: INSULT TO INJURY (Hardcover)

A fine book by all means, if you're even looking at this page you have some idea of what you'll be getting into with Jake and Dinos.

But when looking at the 3rd party sellers know this: the book does not come with a dust jacket, for some reason some sellers are making a point of it as if it were supposed to.

Since this book is somewhat of a collectable item - as far as art books are concerned - the craftsmanship and printing processes are some of the best I've seen, the images themselves from what I gather are actual lithographs. So essentially these images are only thrice removed from Goya's own hands - somewhat tampered with by the 'middlemen' as it were.

Just know, a dust jacket doesn't exist for this edition.