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Art Books Published in Australia 1 The Art Book Publishing Industry in Australia Anita Pisch Ask any art historian,1 and they will tell you that it is quite difficult to get books published on art in Australia. Why this should be so in a nation that demonstrates increasing interest in and engagement with the arts is an interesting question, which generates both simple and complex answers. While it may be tempting to dismiss the issue as simply part of the broader challenges faced by the publishing industry as a whole, both in Australia and internationally, this would be to fail to recognise the distinct features and challenges of the art publishing industry as a niche market for a high-quality product which carries specific symbolic and cultural capital.2 In this paper I will briefly examine some of the key issues in contemporary Australian art book publishing, within both a historical and international context. The analysis here of the issues in contemporary Australian art book publishing will be brief, abridged and, somewhat unavoidably, synoptic. The term ‘art’ is fairly narrowly defined and restricted to the visual arts,3 and will not include books on design, fashion or architecture,4 many of which share salient qualities with the art book and sometimes target the same audience.5 I will also exclude books as art (livres d'artistes, or artists books),6 zines, art magazines, almanacs, instruction manuals,7 colouring books, and art ephemera promoting small exhibitions (usually in commercial galleries).8 Art book publishing comprises only a tiny fraction of the publishing industry as a whole, and differs from other areas of the industry in several ways, including high publication costs, target audience, 1 I have done this informally on many occasions and, as an art historian who publishes in the field, I feel qualified to make this general statement. 2 Due to space limitations, these notions will not be discussed or elaborated here. Pierre Bourdieu’s The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature, (edited and introduced by Randal Johnson, Columbia University Press, 1993) is the seminal text in this area and a good place to start an investigation into these concepts. 3 That is, not the performance arts or music 4 Design, fashion and architecture publications have a strong, built-in audience among professionals in these fields, many of who enjoy comparatively high incomes and for whom the purchase of work-related publications is a tax-deductible expense which can be comfortably met. 5 This is especially so today, as exhibitions in these fields occur increasingly in the major art galleries and museums. Andrew Bolton’s Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, a 2011 Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) publication to accompany the museum exhibition, was one of the best selling catalogues in history. Paola di Trocchio’s lavish catalogue for the NGVA’s current show, 200 Years of Australian Fashion, has already sold out.. Last year’s The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk catalogue at the NGV is almost impossible to find. 6 For an in-depth examination of artists books in Australia, see Sasha Grishin, ‘The anxious image: Printmaking and artists books in Melbourne 1999–2010,’ http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/view-discuss/sasha-grishin- printmaking-artists-books-melbourne and ‘Both a picture and a thousand words: the contemporary artists book,’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0uLuAC9s78 ; Helen Cole, ‘Public collections of artists’ books in Australia,’ The La Trobe Journal, No. 95, 2015, pp. 8-20. See also Robert Holden, Australian limited edition art books: 1973-1983, Paddington, Bloomfield Galleries, 1984 and Michael Richards, People, print & paper, Canberra, National Library of Australia, 1988. 7 Watercolour for Dummies, Oil Painting for Dummies and Manga for Dummies are even available as ebooks from Booktopia. See http://www.booktopia.com.au/ebooks/non-fiction/arts-entertainment/art-forms/cAF-p1- e.html 8 Although there are some blurred lines and crossover, each of the above are published and funded in different ways to the art book, and are characterised by their own distinctive histories and challenges. 2 layout and design, and suitability for digitisation. Where the art book is successful in Australia today, this frequently occurs when the publication of a book is linked to an exhibition at a major gallery or museum, and the book is available as merchandise at the exhibition venue. Art books essentially fall into two very broad categories: books on the history of art, theory of art, art movements or individual artists, and books that are published as art catalogues relating to specific exhibitions. The first category includes art textbooks, scholarly and academic publications,9 books created for collectors, and monographs that are devoted to the oeuvre of a particular artist or group of artists.10 Generally speaking, art books are not expected to turn a profit, and their publication is usually subsidised in some way. This may be by virtue of a philanthropic bequest to the publishing house,11 through a grant or subsidy awarded to the author, or even by the featured artists agreeing to contribute to printing and production costs out of their own pocket. Authors are not usually paid and may, or may not, eventually see some financial return out of royalties, although this is often only in the unlikely scenario that the book gets to a second edition. Publishers may also release numbered special limited editions of art books, accompanied by original drawings and prints, personalised covers and slipcases or other limited edition paraphernalia, to attract collectors as buyers.12 The profit made on the limited edition helps subsidise the cost of the general print run. Although art books are not particularly profitable, publishers may decide to publish an art title due to personal interest in the subject matter, because they feel that the work is in the public interest, 9 Although I include these in the category of art books under discussion here, I will not be examining these at length, as today they are a subset of academic publishing, often published by university e-presses, frequently available under open access, and sometimes with print-on-demand. As such, the primary aim is to facilitate global access to the proceeds of university higher research, without any expectation of profit to either the author or the publisher. Rewards may eventuate in other forms, such as satisfying the publishing criteria for university staff, enhancing the reputation of the scholar, the faculty and the university, and improving university rankings. 10 A few recent examples of art books published in Australia which fall into this category are John Olsen: An Artist’s Life by Darlene Bungey (2014 – Harper Collins); Modern Love: the Lives of John and Sunday Reed (2015 – Miegunyah Press) by Lesley Harding and Kendrah Morgan; Sasha Grishin's Australian Art: A History (2014 hardback, 2015 paperback – Miegunyah Press) and John Wolseley: Landmarks III (2015 - Thames & Hudson); and Patrick McCaughey’s Strange Country: Why Australian Painting Matters (2014 – Miegunyah Press). All of these books were published by trade publishers for a general audience (as opposed to university e-presses with an expectation of a primarily scholarly readership). 11 For example, Miegunyah Press is funded by the Russell and Mab Grimwade Miegunyah Press Fund. 12 In recent times, this is particularly true of exhibition catalogues from major galleries such as the NGV, which has a limited edition of Andy Warhol|Ai Weiwei for sale for $3000 featuring ‘a hand-applied silver-gilt edge … presented in a stunning hand-made silver foiled linen box which contains a specially produced print by Ai Weiwei’ (http://store.ngv.vic.gov.au/products/andy-warhol-ai-weiwei-limited-edition-catalogue ); as well as Two Hundred Years of Australian Fashion Limited Edition Art Book with silk scarf by Dion Lee for $750. Both of these publications accompany NGV exhibitions – the exhibition catalogue as an art book will be discussed below. Lou Klepac’s Beagle Press, based in Roseville, NSW, sells several limited editions, including books on artists such as Brett Whiteley (by Wendy Whiteley, 2014, $5500); Rick Amor (by Lou Klepac, 2013, $200); James Gleeson (by Lou Klepac, 1984, $1500; by Lou Klepac, 2013, $1100; and by Lou Klepac, Ken Wach, Renee Free and Bruce James, 2004, $1500 ); Bruno Leti (by Sasha Grishin, 2002, $440); Jeffrey Smart (by Barry Pearce, 2006, out of print); and Lloyd Rees (by Hendrik Kolenberg, 1986, $2000) (See http://www.beaglepress.com.au/limitededitions/index.cfm ). German publisher Taschen produces a large range of limited editions costing thousands of pounds including, for example, Ai Weiwei. Art edition of 100 copies for £10,000, many of which have sold out. The Taschen Ai WeiWei has been issued in another limited edition of 1000 copies for £900 (see https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/collectors_editions/all.htm?crt_page=1 ). 3 and/or because of the gains in cultural capital.13 Australian art publishing, more so than in Europe or the USA, has been dominated by individual maverick art publishers. If Sydney Ure Smith was a prominent presence between the 1920s and the 1940s, the scene from the 1970s onwards has been dominated by a number of strong individual personalities. These include Nevill Drury at Craftsman House, Jenny Zimmer at Macmillan Art Publishing, Lou Klepac at Beagle Press and the Grimwades and Miegunyah Press. The first of the great Australian art publishing giants, Sydney Ure Smith (1887 – 1949) co-founded the advertising firm Julius & Smith in 1906, distinguished by its use of outstanding colour printing and artwork which employed some of Australia’s most notable artists.14 He had an early major success when he produced a catalogue to accompany the J.J.
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