John Baldessari

A Suite of Five Lithographs for Tristram Shandy

1988
fünf Lithografien auf Bütten
herausgegeben in Verbindung mit der dreiteiligen Buch-Ausgabe Tristram Shandy von Laurence Stern (mit Illustrationen von John Baldessari)
Exemplar Nr. 44 von 50 (+15) signierten und nummerierten Exemplaren
Druck: Donald Farnsworth und Rick Dula, Magnolia Editions, Oakland
Verlag: The Arion Press, San Francisco, 1988

PRINT 1
A fix ‘d in flexible sorrow
Man collapsed on sofa; man tied to chair.
Black with red and green inks.
Quotation from volume III, chapter xxix, page 205.

PRINT 2
The promontory of Noses
Two nude women perched on a rock.
Black with red, yellow and blue inks.
Quotation from volume IV, chapter o, page 237.

PRINT 3
The thing to be concealed
Man and woman in bed, obliterated; hand holding fountain pen.
Black with red and white inks.
Quotation from volume IV, chapter xxxii, page 318.

PRINT 4
Fly for my life
Man running; men carrying coffin.
Black with blue and yellow inks.
Quotation from volume VII, chapter i, page 454.

PRINT 5
No more sin
Man and woman, uncoupled embracers and kissers.
Black with red and green inks.
Quotation from volume VII, chapter xxv, page 482.

Mappentext:
John Baldessari
A Suite of Five Lithographs for Tristram Shandy
published in conjunction with his illustration of the novel by Laurence Stern
The Arion Press
San Francisco 1988

The Lithographs
Printed by Donald Farnsworth and Rick Dula at Magnolia Editions in Oakland, California, on T.H. Saunders Waterford Hot Press Paper. Issued in an edition of fifty suites for sale, plus fifteen suites hors commerce for the artist, printer and publisher.
The images were chosen by the artist from thirty-nine photo-collages in the volume of illustrations that accompanies Tristram Shandy as published in a limited edition of 400 copies.
The Arion Press
Images copyright 1988 by John Baldessari

PRINT 1
A fix ‘d in flexible sorrow
Man collapsed on sofa; man tied to chair.
22 1/4 x 25 1/4 inches.
Black with red and green inks.
Quotation from volume III, chapter xxix, page 205.

The moment my father got up into his chamber, he threw himself prostrate across his bed in the wildest disorder imaginable, but at the same time, in the most lamentable attitude of a man borne down with sorrows, that ever the eye of pity dropp‘d a tear for.—The palm of his right hand, as he fell upon the bed, receiving his forehead, and covering the greatest part of both his eyes, gently sunk down with his head (his elbow giving way backwards) till his nose touch‘d the quilt;—his left arm hung insensible over the side of the bed, his knuckles reclining upon the handle of the chamber pot, which peep‘d out beyond the valance,—his right leg (his left being drawn up towards his body) hung half over the side of the bed, the edge of it pressing upon his shin-bone.——-He felt it not. A fix‘d, inflexible sorrow took possession of every line of his face—He sigh‘d once,— heaved his breast often,—but utter‘d not a word.
An old set-stitch‘d chair, valanced and fringed around with party-colour‘d worsted bobs, stood at the bed‘s head, opposite to the side where my father‘s head reclined.—My uncle Toby sat hirn down in it.

PRINT 2
The promontory of Noses
Two nude women perched on a rock.
24 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches.
Black with red, yellow and blue inks.
Quotation from volume IV, chapter o, page 237.

—‘Tis a long journey, Sir, replied the master of the inn—unless a man has great business.--Tut ! tut ! said the stranger, I have been at the promontory of Noses; and have got me one of the goodliest and jolliest, thank heaven, that ever fell to a single man‘s lot.

PRINT 3
The thing to be concealed
Man and woman in bed, obliterated; hand holding fountain pen.
30 x 20 1/4 inches.
Black with red and white inks.
Quotation from volume IV, chapter xxxii, page 318.

No wonder I itch so much as I do, to get at these amours—They are the choicest morsel of my whole story ! and when I do get at ‘em—assure yourselves, good folks,— (nor do I value whose squeamish stomach takes offence at it) I shall not be at all nice in the choice of my words;—and that‘s the thing I have to declare—l shall never get all through in five minutes, that I fear—and the thing I hope is, that your worships and reverences are not offended—if you are, depend upon‘t I‘Il give you something, my good gentry, next year, to be offended at—that‘s my dear Jenny‘s way—but who rny Jenny is—and which is the right and which the wrong end of a woman, is the thing to be concealed— it shall be told you the next chapter but one, to my chapter of button-holes,—and not one chapter before.

PRINT 4
Fly for my life
Man running; men carrying coffin.
16 1/2 x 30 inches.
Black with blue and yellow inks.
Quotation from volume VII, chapter i, page 454.

But there is no Iiving. Eugenius. replied I, at this rate; for as this son of a whore has found out my lodgings—
—You call him rightly, said Eugenius,—for by sin, we are told, he enter‘d the world—I care not which way he enter‘d, quoth I, provided he be not in such a hurry to take me out with him— for I have forty volumes to write, and forty thousand things to say and do, which no body in the world will say and do for me, except thyself ; and as thou seest he has got me by the throat (for Eugenius could scarce hear me speak across the table) and that I am no match for him in the open field, had I not better, whilst these few scatter‘d spirits remain, and these two spider legs of mine (holding one of thorn up to him) are able to support me— had I not better, Eugenius, fly for my life? ‘tis my advice, my dear Tristram, said Eugenius—then by heaven! I will lead him a dance he little thinks of—for -I will gallop, quoth I, without looking once behind me to the banks of the Garonne; and if I hear himn clattering at my heels—I‘lI scamper away to mount Vesuvius—from thence to Joppa, and from Joppa to the world‘s end, where, if he follows me, I pray God he may break his neck—

PRINT 5
No more sin
Man and woman, uncoupled embracers and kissers.
22 1/4 x 27 3/4 inches.
Black with red and green inks.
Quotation from volume VII, chapter xxv, page 482.

Now I see no sin in saying, bou, bou, bou, bou, bou, a hundred times together; nor is there any turpitude in pronouncing the syllable ger, ger, ger, ger. ger were it from our matins to our vespers: Therefore, my dear daughter, continued the abbess of Andoüillets—I will say bou, and thou shalt say ger; and then alternately, as there is no more sin in fou than in bou—Thou shalt say fou—and I will come in (Iike fa, sol, la, re, mi, ut, at our complines) with ter.

Laurence Stern
Tristram Shandy
dreiteilige Buchausgabe mit Illustrationen von John Baldessari herausgegeben in Verbindung mit
„A Suite of Five Lithographs for Tristram Shandy“

„Wir müssen neue Werke schaffen, damit die alten sich verkaufen lassen. Ist das nicht wahr? Ich will damit sagen, ein guter Künstler ist seiner Zeit immer ein bisschen voraus.“
John Baldessari in einem Interview

Biografie
Geboren 1931 in National City/Kalifornien. Lebt in Santa Monica. Konzeptkünstler. 1949-53 Studium San Diego State College, 1954-56 University of California, Berkeley; 1955-57 San Diego State College; 1957-59 Otis Art Institute und Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles. 1970 Übersiedlung nach Santa Monica/Kalifornien. 1970 Professor am California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles. John Baldessari begann in den 50er Jahren seine Arbeit als Maler, die er 1966 in einer dramatischen Aktion beendete – der Künstler verbrannte sein gesamtes malerisches Werk. Diesen Vorgang dokumentierte er fotografisch. Beeinflusst von Marcel Duchamp begann Baldessari in den frühen 60er Jahren mit experimentellen Arbeiten, in denen er die traditionellen Grenzen der künstlerischen Gattungen zu überwinden suchte. Nach Übermalungen von Plakaten und Fotos entstanden Foto-Geschichten mit erläuternden Texten, welche um den Themenkomplex Kunst und Künstler kreisen. Er kontrastierte, beschnitt und bearbeitete das Bildmaterial in Verbindung mit Texten. Die Montage aus Fotografie und Schrift kontert immer wieder die von den einzelnen Szenen ausgelösten narrativen Assoziationen und bietet ein breiteres Spektrum an Bedeutungen. Seine zur Narrative Art der 1970er Jahre gezählten Arbeiten aus Fotos mit erläuternden Texten übermitteln Geschichten, die sich meist als Kunstparabeln verstehen (Tugend und Laster. Für Giotto, 1981). In den 70er Jahren folgten Fotoserien, Kurzfilme und Videoarbeiten, die sich mit den Intentionen zeitgenössischer Künstler wie John Cage, Joseph Beuys oder Nam June Paik auseinandersetzen. Seit den 80er Jahren arbeitet er an Filmbildern mit psychologisch orientierten Themen (Virtues and Vices). Baldessari geht es in seinen Arbeiten stets darum, die mythische Infrastruktur der Kunst als Vergeistigung des Materiellen, als Entgrenzung der Sprache und als Möglichkeit des Überschreitens der Grenzen zwischen Wahrheit und Fiktion aufzudecken und erfahrbar zu machen. Bis heute bedient sich Baldessari vor allem der Medien Fotografie und Text. Sie sind im alltäglichen Gebrauch Sinnbild für Wahrheit und Authentizität. Der Künstler nimmt Bilder aus ihren Zusammenhängen heraus, überarbeitet sie durch fast unmerkliche Retuschen oder auffällige Übermalungen. Der 70-jährige Baldessari gehört zu den wichtigsten amerikanischen Künstlern und Erneuerern der zeitgenössischen Kunst.

Bibliografie (Auswahl)
While something is happening here, something else is happening there / Works 1988-1999,
Katalog San Diego 1997