Book Synopsis

From gallery shows to philosophical musings, from queer eroticism to Dadaesque provocations, Basen's work reveals a complex artist who bridged genres with visionary intensity

Dan Basen (1939-70) was a captivating yet largely overlooked artist of the 1960s Manhattan scene. He helped introduce Allan Kaprow's Happenings to Baltimore, blurred the line between Pop art and Nouveau réalisme, and exhibited alongside icons Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg. Yet he resisted easy classification, criticizing commercial Pop, dabbling in folk art, surrealist film, performance and assemblage. This monograph is the first academic art historical treatment of Basen, the result of two years of research drawing on letters, diaries, archival footage, interviews and long-lost ephemera. With renewed scholarly interest in outsider and folk traditions, Basen's legacy, marked by raw experimentation and fierce independence, deserves a rightful place in the broader narrative of postwar American art.