By Susan Michals writing in The Wall Street Journal, Feb.4, 2011
We meet at Mr. Taschen's residential compound high above Hollywood, which is really two houses: a John Lautner-designed spaceship, and the home down below he shares with his wife and new baby (he has three adult children from a previous marriage). While he gives me a quick tour, Souci, his French bulldog, follows him around like the puppy she actually isn't (she's hovering around the 14-year mark). "We need to stay close to her," he says as we wander through the garden. "Souci is not moving so fast these days and the coyotes—they travel in packs up here."
Just like the scavengers in these Hollywood hills, Mr. Taschen is well aware of those circling and waiting for the right moment to pounce. Not many publishers can be heralded and begrudged at the same time as vigorously as he has over the past 30 years. He doesn't adhere to rules; he makes his own. Mr. Taschen, who turns 50 this month, has cornered the book market in a way that most sellers only dream of: Cult status, with massive sales. "He has built his empire solely on personal vision and taste; this is niche publishing to the extreme," says Matt Tyrnauer, a writer for Vanity Fair and the filmmaker behind "Valentino: The Last Emperor" (2008) whose interviews were included in a book on the fashion designer published by Taschen. "Benedikt makes these remarkable documents with incredible attention to quality; he is only interested in getting the most complete and extremely interesting subjects, if only for their eccentricity."
Mr. Taschen started out selling comic books when he was in his teens, with his first store called Taschen Comics. Then there was a chance encounter in 1984 with 40,000 remainder copies of a book on Magritte; he bought them for a pittance, sold them for double and began his career publishing his own books with the money made. Today, the company publishes about 100 titles per year.
Mr. Taschen admits he puts too much love and attention into his creations to ever go into the orbit of mass publishing, adding that he wants to make collectibles, not disposables. "Most books look so s— and dispassionately done; they are disposable from the beginning," says the publisher. "Their books are not designed to become significant objects, so most books have no identity, no soul. I'm not saying all, but the vast majority [of publishing houses], with a few exceptions, have lost their profile and personality. It doesn't look like they have spent a lot of care and love."
His most recognizable book changed his empire forever. "SUMO" (1999) by Helmut Newton was an oversized heavyweight, at 35.4 kilograms with 420 images. The book sold out in its limited run of 10,000 copies and became the most expensive book of the 20th century. Initially, it retailed at $1,500 (€1,091); today, it sells for $15,000. The first "SUMO" copy sold at auction in Berlin in 2000 for $430,000.
The book's success made Mr. Taschen the pivotal new force in collectible books, and gave artists an ally. "Benedikt Taschen is a miracle of taste in publishing," muses Matt Weiner, the creator of the television show "Mad Men." (The two are collaborating on a book of interviews and never-before-seen images of Mr. Weiner's landmark show to be released this fall). "He consistently maintains incredible quality in content and style.…He documents both the present and the past in an indispensable way." Mr. Taschen says he was thrilled when it was decided the two would collaborate. "Matt had this vision for his show and nobody wanted it for years, and now look. That's what I admire and, in this way, he and I are totally compatible. Few people are that persistent. I love to showcase the artists like him."
Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal.
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