Michael Shamansky, Bookseller Inc.
Importer of European Publications in the Fine Arts
P.O. Box 3904, Kingston, New York 12402 Phone: 845-331-8519 Email: mshamans@artbooks.com

Item Number: 136868
Title: JOHN BAEDER'S Road Well Taken
Author: Williams, Jay
Price: Not Available
ISBN: 9780865653191
Description: New York: Vendome Press, 2015. 25cm., hardcover, 272pp., 300 illus. Summary: Echoing Paul Gauguin’s momentous decision of a century earlier, John Baeder, in 1972, suddenly made up his mind to forgo the growing riches of a career on Madison Avenue to become a full-time painter. With little more to bank on than an offer by the legendary Ivan Karp of a future show at his New York gallery, Baeder bravely gambled his livelihood on Karp’s evaluation of his first four efforts at serious painting: a diner, a motel, a gas station, a tourist camp. “They were works of cultural consequence, . . . works of visual power.” Based on color-postcards in his growing collection of roadside memorabilia, John had made blow-ups of the cards “to see what they’d look like as paintings.” It was a bold, inventive move, but typical Baeder as he continued to lay the groundwork for what soon became known, through his efforts, as “Diner Culture.” And his masterful technique inevitably put him at the forefront of the growing photo-realist movement, along with Ralph Goings and Richard Estes. Baeder’s paintings, particularly of vintage diners, were an immediate art world success, and this led him to continue scouring the countryside for prime examples to document before they all vanished from this earth. His dedicated efforts at capturing and preserving the remnants of this treasured phenomenon led to the publication of his famous book Diners, which remained in print for the better part of two decades, only to be followed by a revised edition. His popular imagery so successfully tied in with the pulse of the American quotidian that it fueled a secondary market in reproductions on posters, calendars, advertising, fashion, and even in three-dimensional form, as a 20-piece diner-themed line of ceramic giftware, including, among other items, colorful canisters, planters, frames, and mugs.

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Michael Shamansky, Bookseller Inc.
P.O. Box 3904, Kingston, New York 12402 US
Phone: 845-331-8519
Fax: 845-331-0852
Email: michael@artbooks.com

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