Semina, No. 7, 1961.
Larkspur, CA: Privately printed and hand-assembled by Wallace Berman, 1961.
Item #SKB-11136
Limited to 200 copies. Folder with an altered photographic still of actress Susan Hayward on the cover. Laid into a pocket inside the folder are 18 inserts of various sizes printing photographs, texts, and drawings. This issue is devoted entirely to work by Berman---the only issue solely authored by him---and it features some of his most memorable images, including ones of Shirley and Tosh, to whom this issue is dedicated. It's the last issue that Berman created in his Larkspur houseboat before returning to LA, the "city of degenerate angels" that Berman was so happy to leave in 1957 after his Ferus Gallery bust. This issue has been described as being both autobiographical and elegiac, and Farnsworth in his paper on Semina 7 observes that: "Semina 7's imagery can be read as a swansong to the end of what is already seen as the artist's most hermetic period. Semina 7's somber mood, its tributes to recently deceased artists and other culturally marginalized figures---all set for the first time in the artist's own voice---can be understood as a eulogy to Berman's own secluded self." Exceptionally bright folder (minute tap to three corners), a couple of barely perceptible small stains to the pocket holding the inserts (a couple of which are slightly toned at the edges), but an unusually crisp copy overall. An important issue featuring some of Berman's best images, and scarce, especially in this condition.
Price: $7,500.00