The definitive collection of the artist's graphic works in a beautifully produced volume.

R. B. Kitaj has emerged as one of the most independent-minded and influential artists since his student days in the late 1950s, producing an extraordinary body of work - not the least have been his prints. This study reveals that Kitaj's prints have functioned as a visual diary, documenting the vicissitudes of an artistic life, a life characterized by a constant search for new subject-matter and new means by which to depict it. Amongst other things, The Prints of R. B. Kitaj explores Kitaj's collaborations and associations with some of the most gifted printers of today, including Chris Prater, Aldo Crommelynck and Stanley Jones. It also demonstrates how he drew inspiration from some of the key figures in American modern literary life, such as T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Robert Creeley and Robert Duncan. As a life-long bibliophile, Kitaj initially found the direct impetus for much of his art in books. More recently, however, it is the images from his favourite artists which have proved influential. Jane Kinsman's study is notable for its insight into Kitaj's print oeuvre. Of equal importance is the light it sheds on the development of a complex artistic temperament. In addition R. B. Kitaj, himself, has contributed over 30 'Afterwords' which appear throughout the text. They form a running autobiographical commentary on his art and his life.

Ronald Brooks Kitaj (1932-2007), born in Ohio (USA), was one of the most important artists Unpacking My Library2in London's art scene of the 1960s. He was a fervent reader and book collector and his colourful and sometimes provocative paintings contain many political, philosophical and literary references. Kitaj's Jewish identity played an important role in his life and work. Bringing together paintings from collections around the world and a series of screen prints of book covers that Kitaj made in 1969-70 with the master printer Chris Prater, the exhibition Unpacking My Library offers a fascinating insight into Kitaj's unique Jewish, bibliophile sensibility. The series In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part reflects the humour and irony with which Kitaj questioned the role of spirituality and morals in the modern age. The exhibition takes place in the print room.00Exhibition: Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (20.03.-12.07.2015).