MoMA Is Selling Rare Books From Its Archive for as Little as $25 to Raise Money for Its Exhibitions and Education Programs

Like most cultural institutions
across the country, the Museum of Modern Art in New York is reeling
in the face of economic crisis.

Now, in an effort to raise a
little extra money, the museum is selling rare books from the
archives of its publishing arm.

More than 100 classic titles—from historic monographs and vintage how-to
books, to publications on painting and sculpture from MoMA’s
collection—are now on sale through the MoMA
Design Store’s website. The books, which went on sale last
week, range in price from $25 to $2,500, and the proceeds will go
towards the museum’s exhibitions and education
programs.

For the highest price in that
range, you can pick up a first-edition copy of William
Eggleston’s Guide,
widely considered to be one of the most influential photo books of
the 20th century. The book was published in conjunction with the
artist’s controversial 1976
exhibition, which
presented color photography in a fine-art museum for the first
time.    

If you have $500 to spend, you
can grab a hardcover collection of essays by Mies van
der Rohe, a
survey of Jan
Groover’s pictures, or
a monograph of
Dubuffet prints.

The majority of the books are on
sale in the more recession-friendly range of $50 to $200. Among
those is the catalogue
of a sprawling 1977 exhibition about works from the museum’s
collection ($150); a book surveying the work of Bill
Viola ($100);
and a primer on modern painting written by Alfred Barr, the
museum’s first director ($75). There is even a book on art by young
children ($100).

Stock for these rare and out-of-print books is limited, and
several titles have already been sold out. And for those not
willing or able to shell out,
but who still want to have a better understanding of MoMA’s storied
past, the museum is also offering a series of free online courses
covering topics such as contemporary
art, postwar
painting, and
photographic
literacy.

The post MoMA Is Selling Rare Books From Its Archive for as
Little as $25 to Raise Money for Its Exhibitions and Education
Programs appeared first on artnet News.