(Abstract Expressionism) | The extraordinary Tiber Press four-volume set

(Abstract Expressionism)

A set of 4 volumes of poetry by New York School poets, each illustrated by a second generation Abstract Expressionist. New York: Tiber Press, 1960

4 vols, large folio (447 x 355 mm). Each volume with three full-page color silkscreen prints, with additional silkscreens on the title-page and front cover. Cloth-backed boards. Publisher's acetate dust-jackets. Buckram slipcase.

The Tiber Press's splendid set, created and issued when the poets and artists were at the height of their talents and influence. Each volume if numbered 64 of 200 copies, and is signed by the respective poet and painter:

John Ashbery. The Poems. Illustrated by Joan Mitchell — Frank O'Hara. Odes. Illustrated by Michael Goldberg — James Schuyler. Salute. Illustrated by Grace Hartigan — Kenneth Koch. Permanently. Illustrated by Alfred Leslie.

According to the prospectus (not present here), the collaborators all "lived in New York City where they knew one another well for a number of years and followed one another's work with involved interest. Tiber Press left the choice of partners in this project to the individuals themselves, and, in collaborating, the poet and the painter were acknowledging an awareness of some real relationship between their work."