Artists' books

Artists' books are books by artists, often inexpensively produced and distributed in small editions.Artists' book have been known since the 1950s and is a very popular medium among artists today. The books can consist of images only, combine tekst and image or may be pure text books. The aesthetic is entirely controlled by the artist. More

What does the collection cover?

The collection of artists' books cosists of more than 300 publications. The predominant part is Danish, as this type of material is difficult to cover internationally. While artists' books used not to gain specific attention in the Library, around the year 2000 it was decided to designate them as a special collection and to treat them separately in order to let them keep as much of their original artistic qualities as possible. Thus, they are not labelled and tagged in the same way as other books and can not be borrowed home.

How do I find them?

In the Library's catalogue you can search the subject term "kunstnerbog". Then you can reserve the books for consultation in the reading room at Nyhavn 2.
The National Danish Art Libraray also holds books about artists' books as a phenomenon. These books can be found in the catalogue by using the subject term "kunstnerbøger".

How do I see them?

As our artists' books are often composed of many parts and and can be fragile, you can only consult them in our reading room at Nyhavn 2.