Frank O’Hara & Willem de Kooning — Poems, 1988 — 17 Lithographs — Limited Editions Club — No. 204/550

Frank O’Hara & Willem de Kooning — Poems, 1988

17 Lithographs — Limited Editions Club — No. 204 of 550

Frank O’Hara (1926–1966)
Willem de Kooning (1904–1997), illustrator
Poems
New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1988

A monumental collaboration between two defining figures of the postwar New York avant-garde, pairing the poetry of Frank O’Hara with 17 lithographs by Willem de Kooning.

Number 204 of 550 copies, with de Kooning’s authorized facsimile signature on the colophon.

O’Hara and de Kooning were close friends and central participants in the overlapping worlds of the New York School poets and Abstract Expressionist painters. Following O’Hara’s sudden death in 1966, the Museum of Modern Art began planning a memorial publication of his poetry and invited artists associated with the poet to contribute illustrations. De Kooning, one of O’Hara’s closest artistic friends and admirers, created a group of expressive drawings on Mylar for the project.

More than twenty years later, the drawings were translated into lithographic form for this extraordinary Limited Editions Club publication. The resulting 17 full-page lithographs retain the spontaneous, gestural quality of de Kooning’s original drawings and provide a powerful visual counterpart to O’Hara’s poetry.

Printed on a grand scale, the book measures nearly 22 inches tall and is one of the most imposing productions issued by the Limited Editions Club during its modern period.

Bound in full black morocco by Jovonis Bookbindery, with gilt lettering, and housed in the original custom Ultrasuede-lined clamshell box by Portfoliobox. Tissue guards are preserved throughout.

This copy additionally retains the original Limited Editions Club newsletter announcing the publication, laid in.

Edition: No. 204 of 550 copies
Illustrations: 17 lithographs by Willem de Kooning
Signature: Authorized facsimile signature of de Kooning on the colophon
Binding: Full black morocco by Jovonis Bookbindery
Case: Original Ultrasuede-lined clamshell box by Portfoliobox
Publisher: The Limited Editions Club, New York
Date: 1988
Dimensions: 21¾ × 17⅞ in. (55.2 × 45.4 cm)

Condition

Very good to near fine overall. Lithographs and text leaves are well preserved with the original tissue guards present. Binding and custom clamshell box remain attractive. Original Limited Editions Club newsletter retained.

An exceptional large-format artist’s book joining Frank O’Hara’s poetry with Willem de Kooning’s gestural imagery, and an important document of the artistic and literary culture of postwar New York.