Phobia: An Art Deco Graphic Masterpiece

By John Vassos and David A. Beronä

A leader in promoting the Art Deco style in advertising art and book illustration, John Vassos undertook his most personal and ambitious work in this 1931 volume. Its twenty-four gripping images represent visceral depictions of common fears—the dread of heights, open and enclosed spaces, the dark, and the menace lurking behind other everyday situations. Doctors and the general public alike hailed Phobia as a masterpiece of psychological insight.
Vassos's creations exercised a profound influence on subsequent artists. His use of the hard-edged draughtsman's line, a technique that endows these images with their distinctive Art Deco character, is among his original contributions to the style. This edition features faithful reproductions of illustrations made from the original gouaches employing advanced printing techniques unknown in the 1920s and '30s. The result, superior in quality to the original publication, offers an outstanding opportunity to appreciate an innovative artist's classic work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Release date: Feb 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9780486137940

Book preview

ORIGINAL FRONTISPIECE

Man emerges from an artificial womb

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Made in the United States

Printed on Recycled Paper

Text: 10% Cover: 10% Learn more: www.greenedition.org

At Dover Publications we’re committed to producing books in an earth-friendly manner and to helping our customers make greener choices.

Manufacturing books in the United States ensures compliance with strict environmental laws and eliminates the need for international freight shipping, a major contributor to global air pollution.

And printing on recycled paper helps minimize our consumption of trees, water and fossil fuels. The text and cover of Phobia: An Art Deco Graphic Masterpiece were printed on paper made with 10% post-consumer waste. According to Environmental Defense’s Paper Calculator, by using this innovative paper instead of conventional papers, we achieved the following environmental benefits:

Trees Saved: 7 • Air Emissions Eliminated: 711 pounds

Water Saved: 2,334 gallons • Solid Waste Eliminated: 386 pounds

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Copyright

Introduction copyright @ 2009 by David A. Beronä

All rights reserved.

Bibliographical Note

Phobia: An Art Deco Graphic Masterpiece, first published in 2009 by Dover Publications, Inc., is an unabridged republication of the text of the work as originally published by Covici, Friede, Publishers, New York, in 1931. In order to provide the highest quality reproductions, the plates are taken from the 1976 Dover volume Contempo, Phobia and other Graphic Interpretations, for which they were made directly from the artist’s original paintings, under his personal supervision. This edition also contains a new Introduction by David A. Beronä.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Vassos, John, 1898-1985.

[Contempo, Phobia and other graphic interpretations]

Phobia : an art deco graphic masterpiece / John Vassos; with an introduction by David A. Beronä.—Dover ed.

p. cm.

Originally published: Contempo, phobia and other graphic interpretations. New York: Dover Publications, 1976.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

9780486137940

1. Vassos, John, 1898-1985. I. Title. II. Title: Art deco graphic masterpiece.

NC975.5.V37A43 2009

759.13—dc22

2009005729

Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation

47032601

www.doverpublications.com

DEDICATED TO THE BRILLIANT POLYMORPHIC MEMORY OF

HARRY STACK SULLIVAN

John Vassos, 1973. Photo by Douglas Fedor.

INTRODUCTION TO THE DOVER EDITION

DAVID A. BERONÄ

Prior to the Internet, whenever I entered a used bookstore, I would first locate the area where illustrated books were shelved. With my interest in wordless books, it was an exciting moment–though admittedly a rare occasion–when I found a work by Frans Masereel or Lynd Ward in those dusty and dimly lit stores. On some