Bukowski photogravures available! (1 Viewer)

I worked on two collaborative photogravures (photo-engravings) with Michael Montfort, back when he was living in the Hollywood Hills. We developed a great friendship, which led to a Gargantuan (actually, more Panurgian, when I come to think of it) of German bier. We wound up showing the two photogravures at Coagula Projects, in the same exhibition with the photographic prints (which MJP is offering). There was an extremely limited number of large format gravures printed - the edition was only eight. I split the edition with Michael and still have my four numbered prints for each of the two images, as well as a couple of artist/printer proofs. I also have a number of unsigned trial proofs, some of which I hand-colored using the "a la poupée" tarletan technique. These are actually "etchings" and as such, they have a very rich texture that no modern photograph can match (although the old silver geletin photos come close). The unsigned trial proofs were done as experiments and I therefore have numerous images, each one being uniquely different from the next. Because they are unsigned "experiments" (also referred to as "trial proofs," I can offer them at a VERY reasonable price - a mere $30.00 each! The editioned large-format images are not yet for sale, although I suppose I could be persuaded to part with one if the right offer came my way. Interested Buk/Montfort aficionados are welcome to contact me directly. I would be happy to send jpg images of some of the trial proofs, for perusal and consideration for purchase. I am located in Marina del Rey, California. My website, contains some images. Here is the general link to my website: www.eisenbergworks.com. The specific link is: http://eisenbergworks.com/others.aspx. My project with Michael Montfort is situated near the bottom of that link page. I can be reached by phone at (310) 577-9146. I can also be reached by direct e-mail at [email protected]. I don't often visit this forum (never enough time, unfortunately!), so it would be best to contact me at my personal email address, and/or directly by phone.

For those of you who are very interested but also very broke (I know a lot of people in that position), worry not, about missing out on an opportunity. It has taken me close to a decade to make any effort at all to sell any of the work. I'm not in any great hurry and I suspect that given the present economy, even with the absurdly cheap offering price of $30/each, there will be plenty of prints available for years to come.

A couple of side-notes....I interviewed Linda Bukowski during the John Fante conference in Long Beach, back in the nineties. The interview was videotaped for permanent placement in the Fante archives at CSULB. There is a back-story on this, which perhaps I'll share at another time. I should also mention that i had a good friendship with Buk's champion bookseller in Los Angeles, whose name was Sholom "Red" Stodolsky. Red had a little bookshop called Baroque Bookstore. I ran a classical sheet music store around the corner, on Hollywood Boulevard, and frequently Red's shop on an almost daily basis. I purchased almost all of the books in my library from Red - and had some fascinating conversations with him.

Also I was the English language editor of a book that was written by Gundolf Freyermuth, who was one of Michael's close friends. Here's what Gundolf had to say about my editing - as well as the photogravures - in the forward to his book, "That's It."

"...Last but not least, Michael Montfort introduced me to Gary Eisenberg. Gary corrected the many grammatical and idiomatic mistakes a non-native writer is prone to make. I have had many editors in my writing life, and too many of them tried to "fuck with copy" as they say in journalism. Gary didn't. He was a great editor, and he made this manuscript as good as anybody possibly could.

Habent sua fata libelli - books have their own fate. This edition ends a long journey. Of course, I'd love to quote here Black Sparrow's rejection letter, as these letters tend to be pretty funny - at least, if you read them years later. (Trust me on this, I'm an expert. My second novel, for example, was rejected by 17 major German publishing houses, until it was finally picked up by a smaller one, garnered a prestigious German Mystery Award and was optioned by the inevitable producer.)

Unfortunately, I can't quote such a rejection letter, as I never got one from Black Sparrow. Later, a 2000-word-excerpt from the book won the 2nd prize for feature articles in the Writer's Digest Writing Competition. And Buzz Magazine, once well-paying, but now defunct, published an almost identical excerpt. No book publisher, however, would take the little book.

Somewhere along the road, I translated the manuscript into German and sold it within days. In 1996, ""That's it.' A Last Visit With Charles Bukowski" became ""Das war's.' Letzte Worte mit Charles Bukowski", a colorful coffeetable book with many of Michael Montfort's best BukShots.

This electronic edition cannot include Michael's pictures - or Gary's beautiful BukShot gravures. I can only hope that some of the following words will succeed in making the account of my last meeting with Charles Bukowski as unforgettable for the reader as it has been for me.

Gundolf S. Freyermuth Canyon Creek Ranch, AZ

Summer 2000"


Looking foreward to hearing from any interested Bukowkski/Montfort aficionados out there,

Gary Eisenberg
 

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Welcome to the forum Gary, you may as well hang around and read and see the many wonders of this great place. As you know Montfort is well loved in here. So a friend of his...
 
$30 sounds like a steal for an original work of art. I'll start saving my pennies. Welcome Gary. I love the orange Buk in Hollywood.
 

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