Siskind & Raeburn: The Master & His Advocate

[Siskind, Aaron] (1903–1991) ; [Photographer]

Road Trip: Photographs 1980-1988 [Association Copy] [Inscribed to Ben & Pearl Raeburn]

San Francisco: The Friends of Photography, 1989.

A profound association copy of Siskind’s final body of work, inscribed to his primary publisher and lifelong friend Ben Raeburn.

This monograph, issued as 'Untitled 49', captures the 'Late Style' of one of America’s premier abstract expressionist photographers. The inscription—to 'Ben and Pearl, Precious Friends'—documents a decades-long creative alliance that began with the publication of Siskind’s landmark first book in 1959.

KEY FEATURES
+++ Visuals: [41] full-page black-and-white plates printed on high-gloss heavy stock.
+++ Binding: Pictorial stiff wrappers with a high-contrast 'Road Line' design. 
+++ Content: Introduction by Charles Traub and Preface by David Featherstone; explores Siskind’s 'search for order' in the chaos of the road. 
+++ Imprint: San Francisco: The Friends of Photography, 1989. 'Untitled' Series, No. 49. 
+++ Specs: Square 4to (9.5×9.75 inches); 56 unnumbered pages. 
+++ Provenance: Inscribed by Siskind to Ben and Pearl Raeburn.

CONDITION: Fine / As New. No flaws or blemishes. The bindings are tight, square, and uncreased. The text and plates are clean and bright with no toning or foxing. Minimal to no shelf-handling visible. An 'unsophisticated' and superior example.

SCHOLARLY FEATURES
+++ The Siskind-Raeburn Narrative: This volume represents a premier association between Aaron Siskind and his definitive publisher, Ben Raeburn (1914–1997). As the founder of Horizon Press, Raeburn was the visionary who gambled on Siskind’s first monograph in 1959 at a time when abstract photography lacked a commercial or institutional foothold. For thirty years, Raeburn acted as Siskind’s primary advocate, translating the 'New York School' aesthetic into the physical medium of the book.

+++ Interpretive Value: The warmth of the inscription—'To Ben and Pearl, Precious Friends'—indicates a relationship that had transcended the professional. Siskind’s late-life work was deeply personal, and by gifting this copy of his penultimate monograph to the man who launched his publishing career, the artist acknowledged the foundational role Raeburn played in the construction of his legacy. For the collector, this copy serves as a primary source for the study of mid-century American artistic networks.

+++ Artistic Merit: These 'Road Trip' images represent Siskind’s transition from the 'Harlem Document' social realism of his youth to a total, meditative abstraction found in the quotidian textures of asphalt and stone.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE —
Aaron Siskind was a central figure in the 'New York School,' translating the energy of abstract painters like Franz Kline and Mark Rothko into the photographic medium. This specific edition, Road Trip, was published near the end of his life, serving as a coda to a career that fundamentally redefined photography as an autonomous art form independent of its subject matter.

SUBJECTS: Aaron Siskind, Ben Raeburn, Horizon Press, Abstract Expressionist Photography, The Friends of Photography, San Francisco Art History, Association Copy, Signed First Edition, Photography Monograph.

Item #21712
ISBN: 0933286538

Price: $650.00