Modern Romance. Photographs by David Levinthal. Text by Text by Eugenia Parry. St. Ann's Press, Los Angeles, 2000. 200 pp. Large quarto. Limited Edition of 100 signed and numbered copies. Faux suede boards with tipped-on cover image. No jacket as issued. 100 color reproductions. Accompanied 8 x 10 in. C-print. (shown at right) housed in matching faux suede folio.
Levinthal is well known for his staged photographs of toy figurines amidst constructed play sets. Modern Romance, produced during the mid-80s, was the body of work which defined him as an artist. Using just a Polaroid SX-70 camera, he created a world reminiscent of the American 30s and 40s in which characters move and interact in dim hotel lobbies and restaurants. This volume gathers together 100 images from that eries, and publishes a substantial amount for the first time.