NEW YORK, NY.- Kasmin announced the release of William N. Copley: Selected Writings. Edited by Anthony Atlas, in cooperation with the William N. Copley Estate, and published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Selected Writings is now widely available in the U.S. via Artbook D.A.P. and associated booksellers, including at Kasmin’s 509 West 27th Street location.




Though best known for his radical work as a painter, which he pursued under the name CPLY, William N. Copley (1919–1996) was also a talented writer. The texts gathered in Selected Writings present an essential companion for readers interested in the extraordinary life, work, and milieu of this singular artist. Among Copley’s reflections on art and artists (from Man Ray to Joseph Cornell) is “Portrait of the Artist as Young Dealer,” a vividly humorous account of his brief tenure as a dealer in Surrealist art in 1940s Los Angeles. Included are key interviews and correspondence illuminating Copley’s own practice and a selection of his newspaper articles, reporting entertaining encounters in France with artists such as Picasso and Constantin Brancusi, originally published in the 1950s and reprinted now for the first time.

Sections include: Writings About Art and Artists; Interviews, Texts, and Letters; and Early Writings; as well as a new Chronology by the editor.

This book has been released alongside Copley's current solo exhibition at Kasmin,
The New York Years, which is on view by appointment at 509 West 27th Street, New York. A comprehensive look at the evolution of the artist’s painting during three pivotal decades in New York City, the exhibition traces this central period through key paintings from multiple series and a corresponding presentation of photographic, publishing, and research materials drawn from the archives of the William N. Copley Estate. This is Kasmin’s sixth solo exhibition of the artist’s work since the gallery began representing the Estate in 2010.