This important book is the first monograph on Desiderio’s oeuvre, and includes over 150 beautiful color plates in a broad representation of his 25 years of painting. An indispensable resource for anyone interested in the art of painting, this book includes numerous gatefolds and lavish details that allow the works to be fully appreciated. Desiderio’s working process is revealed through many sketchbook studies and preparatory works. Three original essays examine different aspects of the artist’s vision: Lawrence Weschler introduces us to Desiderio and his recent struggle with the painting Sleep; Mia Fineman explores the artist’s important, formative years; and Barry Schwabsky muses poetically about his lO-year magnum opus, Cockaigne. In addition to the essays, there is a substantial recent interview with Desiderio conducted by the esteemed art historian Donald Kuspit.

VINCENT DESIDERIO is widely known as one of the most interesting representational painters working today. Desiderio emerged in the 1980s, his work drawing immediate comparisons to artists like Eric Fischl and Hark Tansey, and he has continued to fascinate the public with his painstakingly detailed, often enormous triptychs. Although working primarily with representational imagery, Desiderio has been equally influenced by abstract expressionism, postmodern art theory, and philosophy. Over the years, his work has been referred to as both "new history painting" and "neo-intimist painting."Desiderio’s repeated themes and motifs, which often appear in perplexing narratives of great psychological complexity, strike at the intellect and heart: art history (often manifested in piles of books open to paintings), human intimacy, heroic behavior, and perhaps most viscerally, the plight of the artist’s disabled son, Sam.

UNFINISHED {on Vincent Desiderio’s Sleep} Lawrence Weschler

THE YOUNG MASTER OF MEDIA, PA Mia Fineman

PLATE SECTION I: 1975-1997

AN INTERVIEW WITH VINCENT DESIDERIO Donald Kuspit

PLATE SECTION II:1998-2005

THE FEAST IS OVER Barry Schwabsky

PLATE LIST 220   

BIOGRAPHY 223

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 224   

EXHIBITION HISTORY 228  

SELECTED AWARDS 231

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS 233   

PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS 234

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 235