Amsterdam, Landshoff, 1985. Small 8vo (15.1 x 10.6 cm). 92 pp.; numerous black-and-white photos. Original laminated pictorial paperbound.

An archetypal work by the Dutch photographer and cinematographer Ed van der Elsken (1925-1990). Signed and illustrated in ink on the title page, “1985 Ed van der Elsken”, below a simple flower motif. “His imagery provides quotidian, intimate and autobiographic perspectives on the European zeitgeist spanning the period of the Second World War into the nineteen-seventies in the realms of love, sex, art, music (particularly jazz), and alternative culture. He described his camera as ‘infatuated’, and said: ‘I'm not a journalist, an objective reporter, I'm a man with likes and dislikes’.” (Wikipedia). La Grande Parade was Edy de Wilde’s farewell exhibition as director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 1984. Highlights from the post-1940 painting were exhibited until mid-April, 1985. The exhibition was visited by around 400,000 people. There were masterpieces by such artists as Karel Appel (featured on the front cover of Van der Elsken's book), Francis Bacon, Georg Baselitz, Max Beckmann, Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti, Jasper Johns, Asger Jorn, Ellsworth Kelly, Anselm Kiefer, Yves Klein, Willem de Kooning, Fernand Léger, Sol LeWitt, Robert Mangold, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Piet Mondrian, Barnett Newman, Pablo Picasso, Sigmar Polke, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Frank Stella, Cy Twombly and others. At this event, Van der Elsken acted as journalist, asking smart questions and noting remarkable quotes whilst photographing. Slight wear to front joint, otherwise an excellent, clean copy. Added: a second clean and unmarked copy, in also in near mint state.