After testing the waters this past spring by having D.A.P./Distributed Arts handle distribution for the companion volume to its Gerhard Richter retrospective, Gerhard Richter: Forty Years of Painting, edited by Robert Storr, the Museum of Modern Art's Publication Department is leaving Harry N. Abrams and going with D.A.P. beginning this month.
"For anybody who knows the business well, it's a good match," MoMA publisher Michael Maegraith told PW. "I've been following D.A.P.'s progress since the early '90s, when it started." The museum, which has published books since its founding in 1929, puts out about 20 new titles each year. Among the lead nonexhibition titles on its fall list is a reissue of William Eggleston's Guide, which includes 48 color photos shot between 1969 and 1971. The book, which accompanied MoMA's first one-man show of color photographs and was its first book of color photography, is being reshot from Eggleston's original 35mm slides. It is part of MoMA's expansion into publishing more titles not tied to a current exhibit.
For D.A.P. president Sharon Gallagher, the addition of MoMA to its list of 250 clients caps what has been a strong recovery this year from the effects of September 11. "We are up 55% for the first half of this year," she said, "and what's very nice is that our backlist sales have really taken off. It's heartening to know that backlist sales are possible."
In conjunction with increased sales, D.A.P. is restructuring its ales and marketing areas. Jane Brown, who previously managed national accounts for Harry N. Abrams/Stewart Tabori & Chang, has been appointed director of national account sales. Former INDEX magazine editor-in-chief Cory Reynolds has been hired to fill the newly created position of marketing director.
