Bill Henson (complete set of three books in different illustrated dustjackets)

Melbourne : National Gallery of Victoria, 2017. Quarto, boards in dustjacket, pp. 75, illustrated. New copies, still sealed in shrinkwrap.

Three copies of the standard edition, printed with three variant dustjacket illustrations in equal numbers (marble sculpture, face of a girl and a seascape). The dustjackets fold out to make a large poster of a Bill Henson photograph. According to the photographer, the designer of the exhibition catalogue presented him with three different versions to choose from, but he liked them all so they decided to print copies of the book in each of the jackets,

A deluxe limited edition version of 100 signed copies with original signed photograph was also issued.

‘His powerful and edgy images approach the painterly and the cinematic, bringing formal and classical qualities to the gritty, casual dramas of the everyday. This publication presents a selection of images, compiled by the artist, that range from sublime landscapes and nudes to classical sculpture shown in museum settings, all heightened by the velvet-like blackness of the shadows and the striking use of chiaroscuro to selectively obscure and reveal form. Henson’s nudes portray his subjects as self-contained, focused on internal reveries; his landscapes are photographed at twilight, underscoring the transitional mood of the moment; and his museum images juxtapose graceful marble statues against the transfixed visitors observing them. Beautiful, enigmatic and unforgettable, Henson’s images enliven our own sense of being.’ – the publisher.

Catalogue of an exhibition held at NGV International, Melbourne, 10 March – 27 August 2017 and the Art Gallery of Western Australia, 16 September – 11 December 2017.

A scarce collection of the three different dustjackets.