Taschen

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Taschen
Taschen Logo.svg
Founded 1980; 44 years ago (1980)
Founder Benedikt Taschen
Country of origin Germany
Headquarters location Cologne
Publication types Books
Nonfiction topics Arts
Official website www.taschen.com

Taschen is an art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany.[1]

Overview

Taschen headquarters on Hohenzollernring 53, Cologne
Some art books edited by Taschen.

The company began as Taschen Comics, publishing Benedikt's extensive comic collection. Taschen has been a noteworthy force in making lesser-seen art available to mainstream bookstores, including some fetishistic imagery, queer art, historical erotica, pornography and adult magazines (including multiple books with Playboy magazine). Taschen has helped bring this art into broader public view, by publishing these potentially controversial volumes alongside its more mainstream books of comics reprints, art photography, painting, design, fashion, advertising history, film, and architecture.[2]

Taschen's publications are available in a variety of sizes, from large tomes detailing the complete works of Leonardo da Vinci, to their "Icons" series of small, flexicover volumes which encapsulate themes of everything from old ads of Las Vegas, Nevada to male nudes. The company has also produced calendars, address books, and postcards of popular subjects.

The company's stated mission has been to publish innovative, beautifully designed art books at popular prices. The Icons series, for example, has several new volumes published a year, and retailing for about $10 are inexpensive for published collections of art. Another popular series is their 'Basic Art' series, which has around 50 volumes, each about a separate artist, ranging from artists such as Michelangelo to more contemporary artists such as Norman Rockwell. They also publish a 'Basic Architecture' series in the same style as 'Basic Art' that covers some of the most prominent architects in history, such as Frank Lloyd Wright.

Taschen has published one of the most expensive books in publishing history[citation needed], the $15,000, 75 pound, 700 page GOAT (Greatest of All Time), a tribute to the American boxer Muhammad Ali which Der Spiegel called "the biggest, heaviest, most radiant thing ever printed in the history of civilization." They have also published the $15,000 Helmut Newton retrospective Sumo and a $4,000 limited edition Araki volume.

In the spring of 2014 Taschen's Basic Art Series was criticised in Swedish public media for its focus on male artists. The series then consisted of 95 books, only 5 of which were about female artists. Malmö Konsthall in Sweden was the first institution to report the problem highlighted by the artists Ditte Ejlerskov and EvaMarie Lindahl.[3][4][5]

Stores

Dedicated flagship Taschen bookstores are located in:

See also

Notes

  1. Taschen.
  2. Degen Pener: Taschen Books Chief Reveals New Projects, Talks 'Fifty Shades' and $12M Books, published in The Hollywood Reporter, November 25, 2014
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References

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External links