Small Fires by Ruscha, Signed (3 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Pages unnumbered, illustrated in B&W. - Various Small Fires (second edition 1970) - Edward Ruscha - SIGNED : To Maria ! : Ed Ruscha 1970 - very good copy, interior fine with some small spots on the last two pages, a fragile protective paper cover is pasted on the inside cover. Size: 178 x 140 Mm. Signed by Author(s). Book.

Condition: Fine. Signed second edition of Ruscha's second artist's book, an enigmatic series of controlled burns in the human landscape. The fifteen yellow-tinted fires of VARIOUS SMALL FIRES are man-made, mostly domesticated and indoors, mostly under control: a gas stove, a welder's torch, a cigarette lighter, a cigar - with just a few blurred, unidentifiable snapshots of flames on a sidewalk, by a car, in the dark, whose purpose and safety are unknown. Ruscha stressed the subject if what is important, not the photographer: "I went to a stock photograph place and looked for pictures of fires, there were none. It is not important who took the photos, it is a matter of convenience, purely" (quoted in Coplans). One of Ruscha's most confounding books, it is uncommon signed. 7'' x 5.5''. Original black and white printed wrappers. Edition of 3000 unnumbered copies. 16 photographs. [48] pages. Signed by Ruscha in pencil on front free endpaper. PROVENANCE: From the collection of longtime MIT Press editor Roger Conover, who published several books by and about Ruscha. Minor edgewear. Signed.

Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. Second Edition. Second edition, one of 3,000 copies. Signed by Edward Ruscha on the front free endpaper and inscribed "To Annie & the small fires, Jan. 1971." Unpaginated; 16 pages of photographs printed recto only, preceded by title and copyright pages. Bound in publisher's white printed wraps. Near Fine with faint edge toning to covers and contents, light soiling to first page and front cover verso. Original glassine wrapper glued along flaps inside covers. Various Small Fires was Edward Ruscha's second artist book. "There are not many books that would fit into this style of production," Ruscha said in a 1965 interview with Artforum. "Considered as a pocket book, it is definitely better than most. My books are as perfectly made as possible.".