The Essential Duane Michals (Hardcover)

~ Marco Livingstone (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Proverbially already worth a thousand words each, Michals' photographs usually have several more words attached to them. No pure visualist, Michals conceives scenarios for his images and handwrites titles and texts directly on the same photographic paper that bears the pictures. One recurring theme of his work is that photography captures only appearance, not reality in all its sensory, temporal, and cognitive complexity. The text to an image of an all-but-nude young man comments wittily on this limitation: "He was unaware that at the exact moment he removed his undershirt, his body had grown to its perfection. With his next breath, the moment had passed." Also recurrent are fresh-faced young beauties of both sexes, a refined gay sensibility (two of Michals' book projects are homages to the poets Cavafy and Whitman), humor (see the silly, lightly homoerotic "Burlesque"), natural light (a Michals preference that makes his work recall the window-lit paintings of Vermeer), and love (outstanding in the stunning realization of "The Return of the Prodigal Son"). Ray Olson

Product Description

A collection of the works of American photographer Duane Michals, an innovative and influential artist who has reinvented the medium as an instrument of thought and emotion rather than simply an instrument for recording the visible world. Using works from his entire career, the photographs are grouped together according to the themes that have preoccupied him, rather than on the basis of chronology or formal resemblances. Here can be found some of his best loved works, illuminating his breadth of vision, notably his portraits of artists including Warhol and Duchamp and of actors such as Warren Beatty and Jeanne Moreau. The work collected here demonstrates the rare ability of an artist to be freed from all restraints and preconceptions while remaining true to himself. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bulfinch (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821224638
• ISBN-13: 978-0821224632
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 10.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,078,876 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book For The Poor Duane Michals Fan, January 12, 2000

By	Kimberly Wingard (Irvine, CA United States) - See all my reviews

If you love Duane Michals but don't have the money to buy all his books, this is definitely the book for you. It provides a broad overview of some of his most famous works with enlightening commentary by Marco Livingstone. I get so sick of art compliations with more commentary than there is art, but Livingstone's comments are brief and meaningful. And I don't mind mentioning that this Amazon price is just great. I was a doof and paid list price and now I wish I'd gone here first. Anyway, I would love to have all of Duane Michals' work but this book is wonderful and fits my budget much better.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a compilation of one of the most original eyes !, September 10, 1999

By	[e-mail] (chelsea, MA. 02150-3846) - See all my reviews

Duane Michals has enthralled me for many years with his highly original take on the "world" of photography. It is about time that there is a wonderful compilation of some his most famous images. He gives depth to what is usually a one dimensional world (photography). His wit and sly way with double entendres and nuance are always FUN and funny and profoundly moving. He is to photography what David Hockney THINKS he is to the world of painting. Duane is the genuine article- a genius!!! Thank you so much for printing this book, is a good start. Need to start thinking about volume 2? While a lot of his images are related to attractive young men, he does not disinclude the sensual female form! His "essay" on the most sensual portions of the male and the female anatomy are funny, BUT, right TO the point, and real. PLEASE start working on volume 2!!!

2 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not enough of the early innovative work, February 15, 2002

By	"jmaszle" (NY, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Michals has gone steadily downhill for decades, but this book includes a lot of crap from the 80's and 90's. the ideas are gone by now, and the late work at best looks like sophomoric excercises in the "Michals style" . At worst they are sentimental portraits of the glamorous.