“Why I was different from all the other boys in my town I cannot tell you. I was simply born with the gift of vision.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
From the world of bodybuilding to the silver screen, and even to the political arena, Arnold Schwarzenegger has left an indelible mark. Now, his life and career are immortalized in a unique collector’s edition book, ARNOLD. Capitello Edition available at TASCHEN ($3000). As with all TASCHEN books, it’s a piece of art. Priced at $3,000, it’s a hefty investment, but one that promises to deliver value in spades.
The book, edited by Dian Hanson, is a hardcover with a ChromaLuxe aluminum print cover. It measures 34.3 x 46.2 cm and weighs a substantial 7.69 kg. Inside, you’ll find 334 pages of content, plus a 556-page companion volume by Taschen. Each copy is numbered and signed by Arnold himself. You can choose an Art Edition (No. 1–100), numbered and signed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a framed ChromaLuxe print, numbered and signed by Annie Leibovitz, and a Capitello book stand designed by Studio65. Or a Capitello Edition (No. 101–950), numbered and signed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a Capitello book stand designed by Studio65. You lose the Leibovitz signed piece for the later edition.
The book covers 75 years of Schwarzenegger’s life, from his impoverished childhood in Thal, Austria, to his rise as a young athlete, his journey to America to become the most celebrated bodybuilder of all time, to his career as the world’s leading action film star, then into the California governor’s mansion and beyond. It features photographs from renowned photographers like Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Herb Ritts, Francesco Scavullo, and Andy Warhol.
And not knowing a thing about the Capitello chair, let me drop some knowledge. Studio 65 created it and Gufram manufactured it in 1971. This chair is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is a radical response to functionalism. According to The Met, it subverts a traditional icon of classical high culture—the Greek ionic capital and column—and replaces it with a pop-inspired icon for a new generation skeptical of the establishment. I’m reading a book on Oppenheimer right now. Franco Audrito and Piero Gatti , who founded Studio 65, sound like some braniacs.
