Peter Milton: Complete Prints, 1960-1996

by Robert Flynn Johnson

Peter Milton is one of America's most intriguing artists. His black-and-white figurative etchings and engravings are at once surreal, erotic, and technically complex. This fascinating volume showcases all of Milton's etchings to date, from 1960 to the present, including two extensive series that illustrate the Henry James masterworks The Jolly Corner and The Aspern Papers. The etchings, many of which are accompanied by details enlarged to actual size, are illuminated by an in-depth introduction by curator Robert Flynn Johnson. Providing added insight into Milton's career and techniques are a fascinating interview between Johnson and Milton and Milton's essay about his famous Daylilies and Nijinsky Variations series and the inspirations behind them. A biography and bibliography complete this rich portfolio.

Genres: Art

165 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1996

Reviews

[W.B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know he's very controlled, and that the work borders on a sort of anal-retentive surrealism, but somehow the temporal arrangements made spatial really work for me. These later works I am referencing really are closeto the way I want to perceive civic spaces, shared spaces. I think we need to feel and even see the ectoplasm, or we are just hyenas lying around on futons. I like the work. I like the political content too. The polis. Ghosts. Works for me.

POSTSCRIPT: I have spent more time with this book now, and have really enjoyed it. I just posted a fuller review of it on my blog, Joe Brainard's Pyjamas. For interested parties, here's a link...

http://joebrainardspyjamas.blogspot.com/

[Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

While one can browse Milton's prints online, this book is full of very very good reproductions of the vast majority of his work. He has a deft hand, and a rather playful sense of how to put together the prints he makes- often, rather an Edwardian / Victorian sense of composition that creates a startling juxtaposition against the somewhat surrealist aesthetic he employs.
This book is the next best thing to dropping four grand on buying one of his lithos, I suppose.