Calvin Tompkins (Books)

Calvin Tompkins Books

Calvin Tomkins is renowned for his insightful profiles of artists and cultural figures, gracing the pages of The New Yorker. His writing delves into the creative process and psychology of makers, offering deep explorations into their minds and motivations. Tomkins's style is marked by precision and understanding, allowing readers to gain an intimate perspective on the art world and its innovators. His essays and biographies often examine how artists shape and are shaped by the world around them.

Off the Wall: A Portrait of Robert Rauschenberg

352 pages
13 hours of reading

4.3(410)Add rating

This book chronicles the creative period of the 1950s and 1960s, a high point in American art. In his collaborations with Merce Cunningham and John Cage, and as a pivotal figure linking abstract expressionism and pop art, Robert Rauschenberg was part of a revolution during which artists moved art off the walls of museums and galleries and into the center of the social scene. Rauschenberg's vitally important and productive career spans this revolution, reaching beyond it to the present day. The book features the artists and the art world surrounding Rauschenberg--from Jackson Pollock, and Willem de Kooning to Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, and Andy Warhol, together with dealers Betty Parsons, and Leo Castelli, and the patron Peggy Guggenheim.