Multiples: The First Decade

John Tancock [editor]

Multiples: The First Decade

Philadelphia, USA: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1971

[106 pp.], 23 x 14 x 4 cm., softcover

Edition of 4000

Published in conjunction with an exhibition held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, from March 5th to April 4th, 1971, Multiples: The First Decade is one of the earliest publications on the subject of artist’s multiples and editions. Additionally, it is wisely designed to function as both a book and an object. 

The catalogue is comprised of brightly coloured cardstock pages, held closed wrap-around bellyband with a snap affixed. The title includes sixty-five black and white images on tipped-in glossy white pages. 

Artists include: Arman, Jean Arp, Richard Artschwager, Enrico Baj, Mary Bauermeister, Miguel Berrocal, Joseph Beuys, Max Bill, Mel Bochner, K.P. Brehmer, Marcel Broodthaers, Ursula Burghardt, Pol Bury, John Cage, Alexander Calder, Christo, Walter De Maria, Jim Dine, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Robert Filliou, Lucio Fontana, Gilbert & George, Hans Haacke, Donald Judd, Iwao Kagoshima, Milan Knizak, Sol LeWitt, Roy Lichtenstein, Shoji Lida, Rene Magritte, Piero Manzoni, Enzo Mari, Marisol, Bruno Munari, Bruce Nauman, Louise Nevelson, Kazuo Okazaki, Claes Oldenburg, Dennis Oppenheim, Palermo, Alicia Penalba, Robert Rauschenberg, May Ray, Dieter Roth, Mimmo Rotella, Gerhard Rühm, Ed Ruscha, Lucas Samaras, Robert Smithson, Daniel Spoerri, Takis, Takao Tanabe, Andre Thomkins, Joe Tilson, Jean Tinguely, Gunther Uëcker, Victor Vasarely, Wolf Vostell, Andy Warhol, Lawrence Weiner and dozens of others. 

Despite the high edition size of 4000, pristine or even intact copies are notoriously hard to come by, a result of the innovative but impractical design (and fifty-five years).