Rago Auctions

Contemporary art book publisher Giampaolo Prearo first met John Baldessari at the artist’s exhibition ‘John Baldessari: Choosing, Aligning, Floating, April 1972” held at Franco Toselli Galleria in Milan. Baldessari had recently finished his series, “Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line (Best of Thirty-Six Attempts)” and Prearo, intrigued by the project, proposed that they collaborate in the creation of a small catalog. 

The series consisted of the artist throwing the three balls into the air simultaneously while his then-wife, Carol Wixom, photographed the efforts in an attempt to capture the moment that all three balls were perfectly aligned in space. The resultant 36 frames were pared down to the twelve most successful images, each displaying unique “hanging sculptures” that had been determined by chance atmospheric variables and the randomness of gravity.

Prearo completed his production of the booklet, printing a total of 2,000 copies containing the twelve frames but, as he later lamented to Artribune, “I must confess that of the whole edition, despite the paltry price of two dollars, I was unable to sell even a single copy. Only a few copies were given as a gift to friends, journalists and artists, the few people who understood the importance of Baldessari's work and who had the pleasure of owning this little book of mine.”

10 years later a flood damaged Prearo’s warehouse, destroying 1200 of the remaining copies. The resulting 500 booklets languished until Prearo reunited with Baldessari, this time at his exhibition at the Prada Foundation in Milan. Franco Toselli, the gallerist who had been present at the conception of the project, was also in attendance and suggested that the remaining booklets be given new blue silk bindings, reminiscent of the California sky under which the work was created. Prearo recounted, “We added our signature to the colophon, mine and Toselli’s, as a testimony of our long friendship.”