Dan Flavin (1933–1996) is considered one of the most important and innovative artists of the late twentieth century. The simplicity and systematic character of his extraordinary work, along with his relentless exploration and ingenious discovery of an art of light, established him as a progenitor and chief exponent of Minimalism. Uniquely situated outside the media of painting and sculpture, the majority of Flavin's works after 1963 consists of art made from light, which was often focused in relationship to specific architectural contexts.

This landmark book—the first retrospective publication of Flavin’s art since 1969—includes around 45 of the artist’s most important light works, beginning with a pivotal series of constructed boxes with attached incandescent or fluorescent lights, called “icons,” made from 1961 to 1963. Works spanning Flavin’s career are discussed in depth, including examples that integrate light with the surrounding space and show the particular characteristics of blended fluorescent light, large-scale installations, and constructed corridors. The book also includes reproductions of Flavin’s drawings, which show his thought processes and working methods.

Three critical essays offer overviews and new interpretations of Flavin's work, while an extensive chronology, comprehensive bibliography, and exhibition history present scholarly data never before available. In addition, this book includes Flavin's seminal text "'. . . in daylight or cool white.' an autobiographical sketch," originally published in <i>Artforum</i> in 1965, and two interviews with the artist—one from 1972 and the other from 1982.

Exquisitely designed and produced, with many new stunning color reproductions, <i>Dan Flavin: A Retrospective</i> captures the brilliance of the artist's challenging contribution to twentieth-century art and will be the authoritative volume on Flavin for years to come.

Dan Flavin was born in New York City in 1933. He died in Riverhead, New York, in 1996.

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