The Bookshop Nick Higbee
Some years ago, Pallant House Gallery asked Chichester Gallery Art Books, who have been selling art books for over fifteen years, whether we would be interested in helping set up the gallery shop. From the beginning we all had an idea of the type of shop we had in mind: a unique bookshop which modelled itself on the famous art book shops of the past such as Zwemmers in London, a shop which stocked both new, out of print and remaindered titles, and was able to offer a range of books and art magazines which complemented and reflected the importance of the Gallery’s own collection. The new shop will primarily focus on books on Modern British Art, though it will also cover international contemporary art. We hope to be able to offer the most comprehensive range of books on Modern British Art outside of London and possibly in the country. Pallant House Gallery Bookshop will also stock artists’ books. These are art objects in the form of a book, usually printed in limited numbers. We will be 64
working closely with Ron King and his Circle Press, who have been making beautiful books for the past thirty-five years. The Gallery Bookshop will also be working closely with other artists, and will be specially commissioning prints and multiples. We are particularly excited to have had a piece specially created by Peter Blake for the opening of the shop and Gallery, as well as two pieces by younger artists, Paul Catherall and Susie MacMurray. The enormous growth of the art market over the last fifty years has been reflected in a massive increase in the number of art books being published. Every month hundreds of new books and catalogues are published throughout the world and every month many of them go out of print. The demand for out of print books is such that they fetch extraordinarily high prices. This is the case for books on Modern British Art, a growth area in publishing in recent years. The recent Royal Academy exhibition catalogue on Frank Auerbach published only in 2001 at around £25 is now selling for over £100, whilst the complete catalogue of the prints