Assemblage, environments & happenings

New York : Harry Abrams, 1966.  Thick quarto, lettered hessian, original acetate wrapper, pp. 341, extensively illustrated. A little staining along the top edge, else a very good copy. An important book of experimental art in the 1960s.

‘In the 1950s, artist and lecturer Allan Kaprow coined the term “happening” to describe many performances and events. These included a number of theatrical productions that were traditionally scripted and invited only limited audience interaction. Above all, happenings emphasized the organic connection between art and its environment. The Guggenheim Museum Library Special Collections and Archives holds ephemera and materials influential to this movement. One of the movement’s major texts, Assemblage, environments & happenings is in the special collections. It features Kaprow’s theory of the evolution of abstract expressionist painting into Neo-Dada, assemblage, environments, and happenings of the early 1960s. This rare book documents works by Kaprow and artists including Robert Rauschenberg, Red Grooms, Robert Whitman, Jackson Pollock, Jim Dine, Yayoi Kusama, Claes Oldenburg, George Segal, Jean Tinguely, and the Gutai group.’ How Allan Kaprow Helped Create “Happenings”. By Jillian Suarez. https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/findings/how-allan-kaprow-helped-create-happenings