| ▪ ▪ KREMOS: Lost Art of Niso Ramponi Vols. 1 & 2 ▪ ▪ Lost Art Books celebrates fifth year at Small Press Expo ▪ ▪ Forthcoming No. 8 – September 2015 
| | World's first Kremos collection available now! |
Lost Art Books publishes the first collection of its sort anywhere in the world: a grand two-volume set on Niso Ramponi (1924–2002), covering the Italian cartoonist and animator's entire career. As part of the ongoing Lost Art Books imprint, Kremos: The Lost Art of Niso Ramponi was a decade in the making and represents the publisher's ninth collection of never-before-reprinted art. Although Ramponi worked under numerous names—Kremos, Niso, Nys O'Ramp—he occupies a singular space as Italy's premiere pin-up cartoonist. From the mid-1940s through the early 1960s, Ramponi's work was everywhere. In an Allied-occupied Rome, Ramponi and future film legend Federico Fellini industriously set up shop, collaborating on caricatures to sell to American soldiers (Ramponi worked out the backgrounds, and Fellini filled in the likenesses). Capitalizing on Ramponi's war-time career in television animation, the pair parlayed their skills and experience into a collaboration on an animated featurette for Roberto Rossellini's film Rome, Open City (1945). |
 Watch the Kremos video! |
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By the late 1940s, Ramponi found himself in high demand as a movie-poster artist for the likes of Walt Disney and as a gag cartoonist and cover artist for some of Italy's more irreverent satirical magazines. It was in these sometimes-confiscated periodicals that Ramponi made his name drawing some of the world's best "good girl" art for over a decade. As contemporary cartoonist Jerry Carr describes in Volume 2's foreword, "Kremos's work reminds us of the layouts of Hank Ketcham, the polish of Bill Ward, the humor of Dan DeCarlo, and the grace of Jack Cole—while exemplifying something entirely original." Eventually, however, beautifully drawn covers were slowly displaced by photography on the newsstands, and in the mid-1960s Ramponi returned to working in animation for the remainder of his career. |
Benefiting from careful restoration, Volume 1 collects over 200 of Kremos's bodacious black and white cartoons and illustrations and is fronted by a 6,000-word introduction by Ramponi's friend and current-day animator, Mario Verger. Volume 2 adds 250 curvaceous color comics and covers to the set, with a foreword by contemporary comic artist Jerry Carr. Combined, these volumes offer nearly 500 examples of his work and a comprehensive overview of a maverick artist at the height of his powers. Vol. 1: $27.95 • 200 pp. • B&W • paper • ISBN: 978-0-9906932-3-9
Vol. 2: $34.95 • 260 pp. • Color • paper • ISBN: 978-0-9906932-4-6 |
PRE-ORDER COMBO SPECIAL Volumes 1 & 2 Pre-Order: $49.95 (Retail: $62.90) PUBLICATION DATE: October 2015
To reward our early supporters we are offering the two-volume set at a pre-order discount. Amazon's recent policies for book publishers of all sizes, including this one, make it impossible for us to offer these books to Amazon for distribution. Pre-orders will ship in October. Thanks in advance for your continued support. |
 Find us at table #M7 at the Small Press Expo! |
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Lost Art Books made its debut at the Small Press Expo in 2010 launching with three titles right out of the gate. We haven't missed a show since, and this year we will debut our latest release, Kremos: The Lost Art of Niso Ramponi, Vols. 1 & 2 (we're air shipping some advanced copies from the printer just for the SPX faithful). We'll also have the full line of Lost Art Books releases available at the show, as well as the usual convention-only items we bring along, like the Lost Art Chapbooks, t-shirts, and limited-edition posters and prints. Stop by and introduce yourself...meeting all of you is our favorite part of exhibiting at these shows! |
 Click above for a PDF of the SPX map! |
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The Lost Art of Dan Smith Another book that has been years in the making, Lost Art Books is proud to officially announce our most ambitious project yet, The Lost Art of Dan Smith. This massive tome will include hundreds of pieces by this unsung master reproduced from original art, proof sheets, and meticulously restored newspapers and books. We are working closely with Smith's only known descendants not only to provide a wealth of beautiful art but also to weave together a tapestry of an artist's life that has been shrouded in obscurity. Look for more information in future newsletters or on our website.
Spring 2016 |
The Lost Art of Ethel Hays Foreword by Trina Robbins / Essay by Katherine Roeder Hundreds of beautifully rendered pen-and-ink drawings from this pioneering flapper-era cartoonist. Spring 2016 |
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 Publishers Joe and Ellen |
Please help us spread the word! Most of our resources go toward producing our books, with little left for paid promotion and advertising. It means the world to us when you share our videos, pictures, and this newsletter with your friends on social media. Lost Art Books needs you! Thanks for anything and everything! |
Picture This Press is dedicated to broadening the appreciation and awareness of artists who work in the fields of illustration, cartooning, graphic arts, photography, and poster design. Picture This Press founder Joseph Procopio and co-publisher Ellen Levy have a combined 40 years of publishing experience as writers, managing editors, and publications directors for a variety of organizations. Lost Art Books, the award-winning flagship series from Picture This Press, collects and preserves the works of illustrators and cartoonists from the first half of the 20th century. Too many of these artists have gone underappreciated for too long, with much of their work uncollected or unexamined for decades, if at all. The Lost Art Books series aims to preserve this cultural heritage by re-introducing these past masters to new generations of working artists, historians, and admirers of things beautiful. |
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| | ©2015 Lost Art Books / Picture This Press | Silver Spring, Maryland |
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