Rene: New York Diaries

Diaries by the painter William Rand about the poet, critic and painter Rene Ricard, written in New York between 1984 and 1996.

Rand kept the entries in a shoebox in his studio. They follow East Village studio life in the 1980s and 1990s as the two men get to know each other, against street crime, drug addiction and Ricard's own fame. A reviewer notes Ricard's difficult dealings with prospective patrons, nights spent on the subway and his deep knowledge of painting. The first edition, published by Osprey Press in 2022, was a limited run of 500 copies on Mohawk Superfine, with Raymond Foye credited as a contributor. A second edition followed in 2025.

Rand is a painter, and this is his account of Ricard rather than a work of criticism. Ricard was the Artforum writer who published influential essays on Julian Schnabel and Jean-Michel Basquiat, including Radiant Child, and died in 2014 at 68.