Gagosian's Rare Books Expert Offers New Private Library Advisory Service
Gagosian’s rare book specialist Douglas Flamm has set up an advisory service for people wanting to build a private library, either from scratch or to add to an existing collection.
The Building Libraries service will feature individual consultations with Gagosian's in-house rare books expert who has worked in the field for a quarter of a century and has been in post since 2016 to produce bespoke wish lists and source titles. These could feature rare books as well as modern volumes. Flamm's specialisms are reference and artist books, and the service will focus on 20th and 21st century art and artists. He featured in our Bright Young Booksellers strand in 2012 when he was at Ursus Books in New York City.
Gagosian, which specializes in modern and contemporary art across the United States, Europe, and Asia, already has more than a foot in the book market. It began publishing in 1986, the first gallery to set up a publishing house, and now produces a wide range of catalogues raisonnés, monographs, artist’s books, scholarly exhibition catalogues, and limited editions. It has published more than 600 titles, although in a recent New Yorker article Larry Gagosian noted that while popular among collectors, "in financial terms the books are 'a loser'.".
The gallery has also run its Picture Books imprint since late 2021, publishing fiction alongside paired contributions by contemporary artists.
