Many, but not all, of Don van Vliet’s art exhibitions have been accompanied by a catalogue. These have varied in size, content and quality. Some are now very difficult to find.

On this page you will find information about those catalogues we know about. Where possible we have included details about the catalogue but there are a few we have not had access to.

Please contact us if you can help with those we are missing or provide bigger and better scans.

Solo exhibitions

Don Van Vliet Paintings 1985 – 1995

Michael Werner Gallery, New York
31 May – 29 June 2007

Anton Kern Gallery, New York
31 May – 6 July 2007

Michael Werner Gallery, Cologne
3 September – 20 October 2007

paperback (91/2″ x 121/5″)
48 pages
Introduction by Polly Jean Harvey
1 photograph
3 poems

• A Long Time Ago
• Hearts On A Windmill
• Raven

32 paintings

• The Drazy Hoops No. 111
• The Drazy Hoops No. 11
• The Drazy Hoops No. 1
• April Bean
• untitled No. 22
• Garland
• untitled No. 14
• untitled No. 12
• Lion Colored Fish
• Wrought Iron Cactus
• Cross Poked a Shadow of a Crow No. 1
• Cross Poked a Shadow of a Crow No. 2
• Ghost Lemon
• Gray Ape
• China Pig
• One Step from the Jungle
• Parapliers the Willow Dipped
• Feather Times a Feather
• White Floating Man
• Castfat Shadows
• Whalebone Farmhouse
• The Navy Blue Vicar
• Red Shell Bats
• Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
• Bromboline Frenzy
• Sixteen Chrome
• Ming Move
• Pig Erases Statue in Passing
• Rolled Roots Gnarled Like Rakers
• Crepe and Black Lamps
• Provided You Go Outside
• Fur on the Trellis and Just up in the Air

Paintings from the Eighties 2001

Michael Werner Gallery, New York
12 July – 8 September 2001

1 page – typewritten list of the 7 paintings in the exhibition

Don van Vliet 2001

The Lowe Gallery, Atlanta
7 – 20 January 2001

card folded twice (8″ x 10″)

1 page biography
4 drawings (all on one page)

• Untitled, 1989
• Untitled, 1989
• Untitled, 1989
• Untitled, 1992

4 paintings (colour – one per page)

• Bat Day in the Night (on cover)
• Check Bif
• Bad Vaggum
• Dirty Champagne

New Work 1998

Knoedler & Company, New York
11 November – 5 December 1998

paperback (81/2″ x 11″)
12 pages
6 paintings (colour – one per page)

• Dreams in the Daytime Colored with Sunshine (on cover)
• Pointed Satchels
• Ten Thousand Pistols, No Bumblebees
• The Drazy Hoops, No. 2
• The Drazy Hoops, No. 3
• Curve in the Dirt

Don van Vliet 1996

Michael Werner Gallery, Cologne.
paperback (91/2″ x 121/2″)
32 pages
two line biography
“Captain Beefheart” a portrait by A.R. Penck
1 poem

• Skeleton Makes Good

13 paintings

• Poinsettia
• Flame and Speckled Chemistry
• Ohne Titel
• Avah Creen
• Aunt Cigar’s Baby
• Royal Hind Doer
• Two Rips in a Haystack
• Pig Erases Statue in Passing
• Fur on the Trellis and Just up into the Air
• Ming Move
• Measures Balance
• Sixteen Chrome
• Woman and Dog Walked By

Stand Up To Be Discontinued 1993 – 1994

Bielefelder Kunstverein, Museum Waldorf, Bielefeld
Kunsthallen Brandts Klaedefabrik, Odense
Museum & Art Gallery, Brighton

For full information about this essential catalogue/book see the bibliography entry.

Don van Vliet 1991

Michael Werner Gallery, New York

hardback (71/2″ x 5″)
48 pages
Introduction by John Yau
Exhibition checklist
Biographical note
1 photograph
12 paintings (colour – one per page)

• Tiger Boat
• Gray Ape
• Day Barrette
• One Bent, One Straight
• Cholla
• Circles Don’t Fly, They Float No. 2
• Circles Don’t Fly, They Float No. 1
• Puzzleloaf
• Cactus Blanch
• Wrought Iron Cactus
• Ghost Lemon
• Boat and Locks No. 2

Paintings and Drawings 1990

Fred Hoffman Gallery, Santa Monica
31 July – 8 September 1990

paperback (91/2″ x 121/2″)
44 pages
The Art of Don van Vliet by Fred Hoffman
Exhibition checklist
List of exhibitions and articles
2 poems/lyrics

• Skeleton Makes Good
• Making Love To A Vampire With A Monkey On My Knee

10 paintings (colour – one per page)

• Tint, Blush, Coo
• Cinnamon Chops
• Cross Poked A Shadow Of A Crow #2
• Don’t Ruin Step on Thing
• Flashlight in the Daytime
• Gorillacrow
• Day Barrette
• Dust Devil
• Boneless Spirit
• Yellow Scarab

16 drawings (full colour – four per page; untitled)

Zehn Bilder 1990

Michael Werner Gallery, Cologne.

paperback (81/4″ x 113/4″)
24 pages
3 photographs by Anton Corbijn
4 aphorisms in Don’s handwriting
10 paintings (colour – one per page)

• Tug
• One Step From The Jungle
• The Gray Twist
• Middle Flower
• One Bent, One Straight
• The Corn Thief
• White Tree and Black Gate
• Evening Bell
• Black Weed, Fire Hanger
• White Crepe Boat

Don van Vliet 1986/89 – 1990

Frank Hanel Gallery, Frankfurt/Main

paperback
32 pages
Don van Vliet by Kristine McKenna (in German)
Exhibition checklist
1 photograph
14 paintings (colour – one per page)
2 drawings

• Sea Wig
• Carp Catcher
• Garden Lion
• Candle Powered Rodeo Ghosts
• Green Gambler
• Treed But Not By Crow
• Light Rubber Mountains In The Distance Stretched
• [other paintings unidentified]

New Work 1988 – 89

Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
30 November 1988 – 29 January 1989

paper (folded twice – 4″ x 10″)

Don van Vliet by John R. Lane (Director MOMA)
List of exhibitons, recordings and articles
1 painting (colour)

• Parapliers the Willow Dipped

Neun Bilder 1988

Michael Werner Gallery, Cologne.

paperback (81/4″ x 113/4″)
24 pages
Introduction by Wilfried Dickhoff (in German & English)

Cover photo of Don and Jan
5 paintings (black & white; un-named; fragments?)
9 paintings (colour – one per page)

• The Navy Blue Vicar
• Tinkling Like Mercury In The Wind
• Castfat Shadows
• Treed, But Not Crow
• Zebra Bees
• Parapliers The Willow Dipped
• The Shiny Beast of Thought
• Light Rubber Mountains in the Distance Stretched
• Tiger Boat

Zehn Bilder 1987

Michael Werner Gallery, Cologne.

paperback (81/4″ x 113/4″)
28 pages
Introduction by A.R. Penck (in German & English)
10 paintings (colour – one per page)

• Sea Wig, 1986
• Bromboline Frenzy, 1985
• Crepe and Black Lamps, 1986
• White Floating Man, 1986
• With Twinkling Lights and Green Sashes, 1986
• Meaty Blond People Danced at the End of the Hall Yellow and White, 1986
• Whalebone Farmhouse, 1986
• Garden Lion, 1986
• Ibex, 1986
• Striped Light, 1986

Don van Vliet 1986

Waddington Galleries, London

paperback
8 paintings (colour)
no text (except list of other paintings exhibited and very brief biographical details)

• Provided You Go Outside
• Ocean Backed Bat
• Lycanthrope’s Pig
• Pig Erases Statue In Passing
• Ming Move
• Sixteen Chrome
• A Woman A Dog Walked By
• Beezoo, Beezoo

Thanks to Philip Cowdry for the info on this catalogue and a couple of scans for our Gallery

Don van Vliet 1985

Michael Werner Gallery, Cologne
Mary Boone / Michael Werner Gallery, New York.
7 – 28 December 1985

heavy card folded twice (91/4″ x 11″)
5 paintings (colour – one per page)

• Fur on the Trellis and Just up Into the Air
• Red Cloud Monkey
• Gum at the Bottom of the Grocery
• Stagecoach to Hell
• Copper Diver

Sechs Bilder 1985

Michael Werner Gallery, Cologne.

paperback (81/4″ x 113/4″)
28 pages.
Introduction by A.R Penck (in German & English)
4 line drawings
6 paintings (colour – separate print pasted each page)

• Tidle Wholder
• Pet Surprises – Pet Surprising Pet
• Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
• Red Shell Bats
• Egyptian Toss Up
• Doin Setha

5 poems/song lyrics

• Hey Garland, I Dig Your Tweed Coat
• The Witch Doctor Life
• Ice Cream For Crow
• The Thousandth And Tenth Day Of The Human Totem Pole
• Skeleton Makes Good

Group Exhibitions

Rockin Art, 2001

Cultureel Centrum Sint-Niklaas, Belgium,
9 February – 4 March 2001

32 pages, stiff card cover; spiral bound
Captain Beefheart – the musician
Don van Vliet – the painter
9 paintings (colour)

• Saint Dog
• untitled no. 14
• See Through Dog with Wheat Stack Skirt
• Night Nitrate
• Fur on the Trellis and Just up into the Air
• Meaty Blond People Danced at the End of the Hall Yellow and White
• God’s Empty Socks
• Lion Coloured Fish
• Pig Erases Statue in Passing

One of the other exhibitors was Anton Corbijn. Gary Lucas played a solo concert as part of the event and the BBC documentary was screened.

Bilderstreit. Widerspruch, Einheit und Frakment in der Kunst seit 1960, 1989

Museum Ludwig, Cologne,
8 April – 28 June 1989

544 page paperback
25 essays (in German – no mention of DVV))
5 DVV paintings

• Dry Morning Wind That Jingles Like Fish Bones (large, colour)
• Life Walker (small, black and white)
• Half Crow (small, black and white)
• One Step From The Jungle (small, black and white)
• The Gray Twist (small, black and white)

“Picture Controversy. Contradiction, Unit and Fragment in art since 1960″ (rough translation)

This huge catalogue contains hundreds of illustrations including works by two of Don’s advocates A.R.Penck and Julian Schnabel. There are also some examples of the work of George Baselitz whose paintings contain echoes of Don’s works.

A la surface de la Peinture: Les Annees 80, 1988

Centre d’Art Contemporain, Abbaye Saint Andre, Meymac, Correze
2 July – 2 October 1988

224 pages paperback
Information on 44 artists (in French) – piece on DVV written by A.R.Penck and taken from the Sechs Bilder 1985 catalogue
2 poems/lyrics

• Ice Cream For Crow
• Hey Garland, I dig your tweed coat

1 DVV painting

• Royal Hind Doer (large, black and white)