Jane Kinsman

R. B. Kitaj

R. B. Kitaj has emerged as one of the most independent-minded and influential artists since his student days in the late 1950s, producing an extraordinary body of work - not the least have been his prints. This study reveals that Kitaj's prints have functioned as a visual diary, documenting the vicissitudes of an artistic life, a life characterized by a constant search for new subject-matter and new means by which to depict it. Amongst other things, The Prints of R. B. Kitaj explores Kitaj's collaborations and associations with some of the most gifted printers of today, including Chris Prater, Aldo Crommelynck and Stanley Jones. It also demonstrates how he drew inspiration from some of the key figures in American modern literary life, such as T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Robert Creeley and Robert Duncan. As a life-long bibliophile, Kitaj initially found the direct impetus for much of his art in books. More recently, however, it is the images from his favourite artists which have proved influential. Jane Kinsman's study is notable for its insight into Kitaj's print oeuvre. Of equal importance is the light it sheds on the development of a complex artistic temperament. In addition R. B. Kitaj, himself, has contributed over 30 'Afterwords' which appear throughout the text. They form a running autobiographical commentary on his art and his life.

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