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Read the Room: R.B. Kitaj’s IN OUR TIME Today

Academic Focus Gallery

September 08 – December 06, 2026
Open booklet spread with the title The Prevention of Destitution printed within a decorative border on a plain beige page, surrounded by ample blank space.
R.B. Kitaj, The Prevention of Destitution from the portfolio In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969. Screenprint, 16 1/8 x 21 5/8 inches (41 x 54.9 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of Robert Anthoine, 1999.7.1.M. © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj, Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

Although born in Cleveland, Ohio, artist R. B. Kitaj (1932 – 2007) spent most of his life in England. Despite his success as a key figure in British Pop Art, blending figurative painting with history and politics, Kitaj often felt like an outsider, describing himself as “utterly American.”

This exhibition presents Kitaj’s IN OUR TIME: COVERS FOR A SMALL LIBRARY AFTER THE LIFE FOR THE MOST PART (1969), a monumental portfolio of fifty screenprints, each featuring an enlarged reproduction of a book cover from the artist’s personal library. From challenging reading like The Prevention of Destitution, a 1911 publication advancing social reform by Sidney and Beatrice Webb, to the much lighter Pride of the Yankees, Paul Gallico’s 1942 tribute to American baseball legend Lou Gehrig, the portfolio reveals Kitaj’s desire to stay connected to the land of his birth in all its complexity, the highs and the lows. Read the Room shows how a library can be both a portrait of its owner and of a nation. In the accompanying booklet, visitors will find excerpts from represented texts that speak to our time today.

Read the Room is organized by Ellen C. Raimond, Associate Curator of Academic Initiatives.

  • Book cover with the title Hanging in Chains and a simple black illustration of a chain noose printed on a textured tan background.

    R.B. Kitaj, Hanging in Chains from the portfolio In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969. Screenprint, 18 3/4 x 11 1/8 inches (47.6 x 28.3 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of Robert Anthoine, 1999.7.1.FF. © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj, Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Copilot said: Book cover titled The Jewish Question, printed in black text on a textured orange-brown background with a simple double-line border framing the page.

    R.B. Kitaj, Kelpra Studio, London, Marlborough AG, Schellenberg, FL, The Jewish Question from the portfolio In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969. Screenprint and photoscreenprint on paper, edition 61/150, 19 7/8 x 13 3/8 inches (50.5 x 34 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of Robert Anthoine, 1999.7.1.WW. © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj, Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Yellow budget report cover featuring a black-and-white family portrait collage, with images of public services including a fire truck and police motorcycle.

    R.B. Kitaj, Final: City of Burbank, California, Annual Budget 1968-1969 from the portfolio In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969. Screenprint, 19 1/2 x 15 inches (49.5 x 38.1 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of Robert Anthoine, 1999.7.1.DD. © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj, Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Book cover titled Fighting the Traffic in Young Girls, featuring gold lettering on a dark green background and a black-and-white image of a figure behind barred windows framed at the center.

    R.B. Kitaj, Fighting the Traffic in Young Girls from the portfolio In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969. Screenprint, Image: 18 x 13 3/4 inches (45.7 x 34.9 cm), Sheet: 30 3/8 x 22 3/4 inches (77.2 x 57.8 cm), Mat: 34 x 26 inches (86.4 x 66 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Robert Anthoine, 1999.7.1.GG.

  • Pelican Books cover for Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa, featuring blue-and-cream bands and a flying pelican illustration.

    R.B. Kitaj, Kelpra Studio, London, Marlborough AG, Schellenberg, FL, The Coming of Age in Samoa from the portfolio In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969. Screenprint and photoscreenprint on paper, edition 61/150, 9 7/8 x 12 1/4 inches (25.1 x 31.1 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of Robert Anthoine, 1999.7.1.P. © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj, Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Red book cover with the title “Bub and Sis” printed in black within an ornate decorative border, set against a plain background.

    R.B. Kitaj, Kelpra Studio, London, Marlborough AG, Schellenberg, FL, Bub and Sis from the portfolio In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969. Screenprint and photoscreenprint on paper, edition 61/150, 18 3/4 x 13 3/8 inches (47.6 x 34 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of Robert Anthoine, 1999.7.1.JJ. © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj, Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Book cover design for Gertrude Stein’s Four in America, featuring blue portrait medallions and red vertical lettering on a cream background.

    R.B. Kitaj, Kelpra Studio, London, Marlborough AG, Schellenberg, FL, Four in America from the portfolio In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969. Screenprint and photoscreenprint on paper, edition 61/150, 17 3/4 x 13 7/8 inches (45.1 x 35.2 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of Robert Anthoine, 1999.7.1.TT. © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj, Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Green book cover printed with the title “China of To-day: The Yellow Peril” and an illustrated dragon-like figure framed by decorative borders.

    R.B. Kitaj, China of To-day from the portfolio In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969. Screenprint, 17 7/8 x 22 13/16 inches (45.4 x 57.9 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of Robert Anthoine, 1999.7.1.L. © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj, Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Book jacket unfolded to show front cover, spine, and flaps of Lou Gehrig: Pride of the Yankees, featuring orange-and-white design with two baseball players in uniform and promotional text.

    R.B. Kitaj, Lou Gehrig from the portfolio In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969. Screenprint, 7 1/2 x 17 3/4 inches (19.1 x 45.1 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of Robert Anthoine, 1999.7.1.NN. © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj, Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Open booklet spread with the title The Prevention of Destitution printed within a decorative border on a plain beige page, surrounded by ample blank space.

    R.B. Kitaj, The Prevention of Destitution from the portfolio In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969. Screenprint, 16 1/8 x 21 5/8 inches (41 x 54.9 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of Robert Anthoine, 1999.7.1.M. © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj, Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Book cover for The Congo and Other Poems by Vachel Lindsay, featuring red lettering and stylized geometric bird motifs on a patterned yellow-green background.

    R.B. Kitaj, The Congo and Other Poems from the portfolio In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969. Screenprint, 17 3/4 x 12 inches (45.1 x 30.5 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of Robert Anthoine, 1999.7.1.EE. © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj, Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Book cover for Kenneth Burke’s Towards a Better Life, featuring a large red title block on a worn gray cover with serif lettering and publisher marks.

    R.B. Kitaj, Towards a Better Life from the portfolio In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969. Screenprint, 17 3/4 x 14 3/4 inches (45.1 x 37.5 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of Robert Anthoine, 1999.7.1.RR. © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj, Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Selected Works

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