PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Robert Smithson (1938-1973), one of the most important artists of his generation, produced sculpture, earthworks, drawings, and paintings in addition to the writings collected here. Jack Flam is Distinguished Professor of Art History at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His Matisse on Art: Revised Edition (1995) is also available from California.
Smithson read widely and used that reading to create a style of criticism that is unique and deeply personal. 'One must remember,' he says, 'that writing on art replaces presence by absence by substituting the abstraction of language for the real thing.' His own vivid and very beautiful prose often provides some equivalent for that presence. * Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism * Smithson's writings transcend immediate occasions and achieve significance as the products of an original, gifted, startling mind. * Art Journal * Featuring more than 150 works including paintings, works on paper, essays, photographs, objects and films * CAA Reviews * The perfect book for someone who is interested in space, time, systems, engineering, and the nitty-gritty of life as an artist in the 20th century. * Publishers Weekly *
