Taschen is an art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. It 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.
Taschen's publications are available in a variety of sizes, from large tomes detailing the complete works of Leonardo Da Vinci, to surprisingly uncommon middle-sized books, 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 the second most expensive book in publishing history, the $12,500, 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 $1500 Helmut Newton retrospective Sumo and a $2500 limited edition Araki volume.
Stores
53, Cologne]]
Dedicated flagship Taschen bookstores are located in:
Berlin, (Friedrichstraße 180-184)
Beverly Hills, (354 N. Beverly Drive)
Brussels, (Grote Zavelplein)
Cologne, (Hohenzollernring 28)
Copenhagen, (Østergade 2A)
Hamburg, (Bleichenbrücke 1-7)
Los Angeles, (6333 W. 3rd Street)
London, (12 Duke of York Square)
Miami, (1111 Lincoln Road - opening spring, 2010)
New York City, (107 Greene Street)
Paris, (2 rue de Buci)
Title sampling
Eric Kroll, Best of Bizarre. Taschen, 2001. ISBN 3-8228-5555-3.
Eric Kroll, Bizarre: The Complete Reprint of John Willie's Bizarre, Vols. 1-26. Taschen, 1996. ISBN 3-8228-9269-6.
Benedikt Taschen and Howard L. Bingham, GOAT, Taschen 2004. ISBN 3-8228-1627-2.
Helmut Newton, SUMO, Taschen 2000. ISBN 3-8228-6394-7.
Hunter S. Thompson, The Curse of Lono, Taschen 2005. ISBN 3-8228-4897-2.
See also
Taschen Basic Art
Taschen Basic Architecture
Notes
References
External links
Taschen website
Category:Book publishing companies of Germany
Category:Companies based in Cologne
Category:Erotic photography
Category:Companies established in 1980
Category:Visual arts publishing companies
