CATHERINE JOHNSON
BOOKS
Click on individual photos for more details.
Dreamer With a Thousand Thrills: The Rediscovered
David Webb The Quintessential American Jeweler
Thank You Andy Warhol A collection of interviews on the influence of Andy Warhol. Curator of accompanying exhibition at Benrimon Contemporary. Published by Gliteratti.
Paris 1962 Photographs by Jerry Schatzberg with an essay by Patricia Bosworth. Limited Edition of 500 copies. Trade Edition published by Rizzoli.
The Luminous Years Introduction by Gore Vidal; published by Abrams Books.
Dogs Introduction by William Wegman; published by Phaidon. Comprised of my collection of vintage photographs of people and their dogs. Curated and designed to accompany an exhibition at the Alice Austen House, Staten Island.
Stieglitz and the Photo-Secession Introduction by William Innes Homer; published by Viking Press, a division of Penguin Books.
ACCOMPANYING EXHIBITIONS
Exhibition at Benrimon Contemporary in Chelsea, NYC
Exhibition at Benrimon Contemporary in Chelsea, NYC
Exhibition at Alice Austen House, Staten Island, NYC.
DREAMER WITH A THOUSAND THRILLS: THE REDISCOVERED
Photographs of Tom Palumbo
Author: Patricia Bosworth
Photo Editor: Catherine Johnson
Publisher: Powerhouse Books, 2018
Palumbo led a fascinating life: international travel, photographing for fashion the venerable Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and learning and perfecting his craft under the watchful, masterful eyes of legends Alexey Brodovitch, Carmel Snow, Diana Vreeland, and Alex Lieberman. His portrait work includes a series on Miles Davis, Jane Fonda & Jack Kerouac.
These rediscovered photographs, celebrated in their time but not seen in decades, are presented here with text by the award-winning author and Palumbo’s widow, Patricia Bosworth.
Primarily recognized for his fashion work, included in this book are never before seen series: an annual Catholic festival in his Italian hometown; an intimate, smoky Parisian café; and a NYC street parade honoring US hero and Astronaut John Glenn's return from space in 1962.
Palumbo’s rediscovered work is a beautiful collection of mid-twentieth century time capsules.
DAVID WEBB: THE QUINTESSENTIAL AMERICAN JEWELER
Author: Ruth Peltason
Photo Editor: Catherine Johnson
Publisher: Assouline, 2013.
Jackie Kennedy compared him to Cellini. The Duchess of Windsor said he was today’s Fabergé, and The New Yorker described him as “the new meteor around town.”
Born in Asheville, North Carolina, David Webb became the go-to jeweler for society swans and Hollywood stars during the cultural revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. At the height of his career, he operated two workshops with 200 master jewelers and 50 setters.
David Webb: The Quintessential American Jeweler is the first monograph on this important designer who redefined mid-twentieth-century American jewelry. The country was changing, and David Webb was in the center of it all—the right man at the right place at the right time. He understood that women wanted one-of-a-kind pieces, and Webb the designer made them jewelry that offered bold shapes and exuberant color.
His signature animal bracelets and richly colored assortment of jewelry, all set in the warmth of his favorite yellow gold, has attracted a vast clientele over the decades, including Nan Kempner, Diana Vreeland, Elizabeth Taylor, Brooke Astor, Gloria Vanderbilt, Doris Duke, Mrs. Paul Mellon, Evelyn Lauder, Mitzi E. Newhouse, and Marisa Berenson.. Published on the occasion of the company’s 65th anniversary, this lavishly produced book honoring the man whose distinctly American jewelry can be summed up in two words: “Always modern.”
THANK YOU ANDY WARHOL
Author: Catherine Johnson
Publisher: Glitterati Inc., 2012
Andy Warhol died more than twenty-five years ago, and we still are talking about his life, his work, and his wig. These stories begin to explain why.
The Thank You Andy Warhol project began one morning in January 2011, when I witnessed the economic depression that was crippling the creative community -- we were completely 'frozen' with no jobs and no work. I wondered, 'What would Andy do?' He would, of course, adapt the way he had time and again during his lifetime.
I decided to interview 65 artists, designers, and others and ask them what Andy’s influence was in their lives & work. I also asked them to cite one piece of art by Warhol that most inspired them: it could be a personal or collaborative piece. The interviewees included Ivan Karp, Billy Name, Brigid Berlin, Danny Fields, Ken Heyman, Bibbe Hansen, George Lois, Bob Colacello, Sylvia Miles, Liza Minnelli, Kenny Scharf, Vik Muniz, Simon Doonan, Ryan McGinness, Eric Shiner, and Jamie Warhola. Amazingly, no two interviewees cited the same piece of Warhol art as being the most influential.
What started as a single inquiry resulted in a surprisingly personal biography of one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century.
PARIS 1962
Photographer: Jerry Schatzberg
Creative consultant: Catherine Johnson
Designer: Bridget de Socio
Limited Edition Publisher: Empire Editions, 2007
500 copies w/ signed by the artist w/ a print included.
Publisher/Trade: Rizzoli, 2007
On assignment for Esquire magazine in 1962, fashion photographer and filmmaker Jerry Schatzberg documented the ultra-exclusive world of French haute couture in stunning photographs of famous fashion icons. All the glamour and drama of the runway is presented, including images of Yves Saint Laurent’s first collection after leaving Dior, as well as tastemakers such as American Vogue editor Jessica Daves mingling in chic crowds. As an insider, Schatzberg was permitted entry into the private, behind-the-scenes world of the models and photographers, which he reveals in candid images of renowned photographers such as Helmut Newton, Hiro, and Norman Parkinson.
Schatzberg’s images embody an era in fashion history and document the glamour, intrigue, and opulence of the Parisian runway shows. With an eye for subtle moments of elegance, drama, and humor, Schatzberg captures the essence of the period’s style and grace.
“a stunning series of images shot by Jerry Schatzberg, who documents the grand salons of Yves Saint Laurent and Dior over the course of a single runway season.” Vogue magazine
THE LUMINOUS YEARS: PORTRAITS AT MID-CENTURY
Photographer Karl Bissinger
Editor: Catherine Johnson
Contributor: Gore Vidal
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, 2003
Abrams Editor: Christopher Sweet
Karl Bissinger photographed the luminaries of New York's café society and haute bohemia in the years following World War II, and then suddenly dropped out of the scene in the late 1950s. Now, decades later, his compelling portraits of writers, poets, dancers, actors, musicians, and movie stars—either published here for the first time or not seen in over 40 years—capture a lost, golden era of the cultural life of New York City.
His subjects include Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Gore Vidal, Walter Lippmann, James Baldwin, and Katharine Hepburn in settings that include lofts, studios, and apartments, Greenwich Village gardens, brownstone stoops and shabby outer edges of Manhattan. These portraits offer a collective portrait of an artistic and literary milieu the likes of which will never be seen again. Bissinger also evokes the European cultural scene in remarkable portraits of notable figures from Jean Renoir, Jean Cocteau, Colette, Aldous Huxley, Alec Guinness, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
“..a gorgeous book that brings back a too-soon-forgotten time and place.” Jeff Baker, The Oregonian
DOGS
Author & Editor: Catherine Johnson
Vintage SnapShots from the Collection of Catherine Johnson
Introduction: William Wegman
Publisher: Phaidon, 2007
The volume presents my collection of anonymous snapshots of dogs from the turn of the century to the early 1950s in ordinary and extraordinary settings. There are dogs under the Christmas tree, on front porches, at play on the beach, and posed beside babies, birthday girls, and in the casual family portrait.
Each photograph in the collection reflects a unique moment in time and surprising, occasionally humorous, and always intimate relationships people have with their dogs. My collection is a visual celebration of our magical bond with the canine.
“Johnson’s choices are spot-on, making this one the few collections of vernacular material to actually make a strong case for the art of the found photo.” Vince Aletti
Accompanying exhibition @ the Alice Austen House on Staten Island and at the Opening of the Museum of Dog in Manhattan in 2019.
STIEGLITZ & THE PHOTO-SECESSION: 1902
Editor: Catherine Johnson
Author/historian: William Innes Homer
Publisher: Viking Studio, 2002
Viking Studio Editor: Christopher Sweet
This book is my centennial tribute to Stieglitz's landmark exhibition hosted by the National Arts Club in New York in March 1902
It was one of the most important photographic exhibitions in American history. The show titled "American Pictorial Photography" was organized and curated by Alfred Stieglitz.
It was his first curatorial effort to represent photography as an art. The photographers included in the exhibition such as Edward Steichen, Gertrude Käsebier, Frank Eugene, Clarence H. White, F. Holland Day are still revered and considered as the founding artists of American art photography.
This book presents the original exhibition catalog, which lists 162 items, and 86 of the photographs that diligent research could find. William Homer's introductory essay is illustrated with period photos and ephemera.
“A glorious centennial commemoration and must-have Americana.”
Ray Olson, American Library Association.
