Phobia

A leader in promoting the Art Deco style in advertising art and book illustration, John Vassos undertook his most personal and ambitious work in this 1931 volume. Its twenty-four gripping images represent visceral depictions of common fears—the dread of heights, open and enclosed spaces, the dark, and the menace lurking behind other everyday situations. Doctors and the general public alike hailed Phobia as a masterpiece of psychological insight. Vassos's creations exercised a profound influence on subsequent artists. His use of the hard-edged draughtsman's line, a technique that endows these images with their distinctive Art Deco character, is among his original contributions to the style. This edition features faithful reproductions of illustrations made from the original gouaches employing advanced printing techniques unknown in the 1920s and '30s. The result, superior in quality to the original publication, offers an outstanding opportunity to appreciate an innovative artist's classic work.