Artist/Author Chris Ware’s “Monograph” Celebrates the Work of a Lifetime

Prepare to be drawn in by Monograph, a career-spanning collection of works from renowned artist and author Chris Ware. Celebrated for his work in The New Yorker, Ware is a cartoonist who brings a decidedly personal vision to his art. He was inspired by other artists like Charles “Peanuts” Schulz and Art Spiegelman (of Maus fame) to raise cartooning to a respected fine art, which many would claim he has successfully done. Ware’s work seeks to chronicle the everyday experiences of humanity, and the results are often quite melancholy in nature (reflecting his own skeptical world view). His lauded second graphic novel, Building Stories, innovatively tells the sad tales of the occupants of an apartment building through varying media — including pamphlets, a hard-bound book and a folded board — allowing readers to pick the order in which it is consumed. Novelist Zadie Smith says of Ware: “There’s no writer alive whose work I love more.” rizzoliusa.com