A Chinese art dealer
Collected from all over the world
24 artist books.

This book introduces 24 rare artist books from the private collection of Chinese art collector Wang Ji. This book itself can be called a strange book, but it can also be said with confidence that it is one of the most beautiful "books of books" that have been published in the world in recent years.

This book does not feature artist books made with simple printing and binding, such as those by Ed Ruscha. It also does not feature book designs that stand out among commercial publishers, such as those by Irma Bohm, Kohei Sugiura, or Lu Jingren. Collector Wang Ji focuses on handmade numbered editions (special editions with limited numbers) published in small quantities, and has put together a collection of first-class works from around the world that would be included in a book art hall of fame.This will be China's first comprehensive and systematic introduction to the world of artist books, and will also feature several handmade books by Chinese artists who have since moved abroad to countries such as the United States and France.

All 24 books are bound and bound in a way that makes us want to call them "well-made books." It is clear that the selection was made with great care. The common thread is that the presence of the authors or original authors is particularly prominent. They include SANYU, Andy Warhol, Inoue Yuichi, Salvador Dali, Günter Grass, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Zao Wou-Ki, Walasse Ting, Henri Matisse, Rauschenberg, Chagall, Enrico Baj, Zhu Dequn, and the ancient Chinese poet Tao Yuanming. Their birthplaces, eras, and professions are incredibly diverse.

The only Japanese book to be selected is "Inoue Yuichi Collection of Small Works: Manabe 1955-1978" (1981/UNAC TOKYO). This volume contains 12 plates of Inoue Yuichi's small works, such as "One-character Calligraphy," faithfully reproduced at almost full size. The cover is a portfolio style with the plates sandwiched together without binding so that each plate can be taken out and appreciated. The print run of 500 copies is quite large compared to the other books introduced in this book. FRAGILE BOOKS also has a collection of one book, which I hope to make public soon.

The main text, which is over 600 pages long, is composed of photographs of the details of each book and text that carefully introduces each "person." The preface includes the "Tenshu" (Chinese Book), a work of fictitious Chinese characters that does not exist.Book from the Sky" is a Chinese artist known for / XU Bing and Italian artist Angela Occhipinti contributed text.Xu Bing is chosenFrom the careful preparation,You can really feel how serious they are about connecting books and art.

The bold, almost A3-sized pages were designed by Pan Yanrong, an up-and-coming Chinese designer, who has also designed some other interesting books that I would like to introduce on another occasion. The book was printed by Artron, the world's largest art book printing company headquartered in Beijing, who specially ordered six types of special paper from Taiwan, Japan, and Germany for this book. I think that the book design and printing/binding are worthy of the title "The Ultimate Book."



Text by Osamu Kushida