The art of the motorcycle

by Thomas Kren and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Book Overview

Illustrated with full-page and double-page photographs, this volume includes entries on over 100 spectacular bikes (BMW, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Indian, Triumph) as well as essays on the motorcycle... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0892072075
• ISBN13: 9780892072071
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Guggenheim Museum
• Length: 427 Pages
• Weight: 6.78 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Excellent book, worth every penny!!

I was not expecting such a large book! Great color and black and white photos. VERY well done.

A Can't Go Wrong Gift

This book contains a good overview of motorcycling history, but its claims to fame are the wonderful photography and the high production values with which it was printed. It is a wonder to think that the photos are of bikes that actually exist today.If you are searching for something to give to a person you know who enjoys riding motorcycles, who used to ride or who dreams of one day riding this is a can't miss gift. I received my copy as a gift two years ago, and I still enjoying reading it.

A CLASSIC

If you can only have one book of this type, this is the one to have. The photos alone are worth the cost and the thoughtful commentary and essays are an added bonus. A carefully crafted book that is the result of an historic exhibition of machines as art. I have perused this book over and over again and think that anyone interested in motorcycles will do so as well. Highly recommended.

Anyone who loves motorcycles will love this book.

Don't let the price put you off. This book is well worth the price. The color pictures alone are worth it all. The century of motorcycle development is well illustrated and the essays complete the story of the motorcycle. Your favorite bike may not be here (mine's the German Horex which Honda copied) but you could visit dozens of museums and never see the selection that was gathered for the Guggenheim Museum Exhibit.

this is the only way to take the bikes home

After have the privilege to view this marvelous display that the Guggenheim has put together you want to go back again & again to go over details you may have missed. Since this is not always possible why not have the next best thing. The photos alone are worth the price of the book especially as you can NOT take any pictures while viewing the bikes in their museum setting. Not all of them were on display in Chicago so for us it is the only way to see the ones that weren't there. But not only that to be able to go back & say remember that one, you know the one with the wooden wheels, the one that guy rode laying down on his stomach in a swimsuit, the Brittan....Thank you Thomas & crew for an excellent job.

A truly artistic representation of Motorcycles as art.

If you didn't get to the Guggenheim Museum to see the Motorcycle as Art exhibit, or did and want a great book showcasing this historic event, and the artistic contribution that motorcycles have made to the modern age, this is the book to have. The opening text, composed of observations of the motorcycle as an art form and reflection of the dawning machine age, through the present and even into the future, is written (mostly) by obvious non-motorcyclists and it shows in their sometimes incorrect facts and inane assumptions. Dennis Hopper wrote a long poem that is simply drivel. But the photos, and text that accompanies them, is superb and the choice of bikes to represent the history of motorcycles is near flawless. There are a few types of bikes or special individual motorcycles missing, that such a collection should have had. Something from Arlen Ness, maybe Russ Collins' triple engined top-fuel bike and even a Harley Davidson "Rat". But the entire collection from the exhibit is here and the photography is beuitiful. Non-motorcyclists will appreciate what the Guggenheim has set out to do and succeeded brilliantly at... to show that motorcycles have been a real contribution to the world's art and technology, despite whether you ride or not. There is surely no better book to place in your motorcycle library or on your coffee table, even if your not a motorcyclist. I bought mine at the museum, for $75, and it was worth that much and more.