"For Ralph Gibson a great culture is found in the color and line and texture of small things or parts of things - a streetlamp, the back of a chair, a wine bottle. He uses his medium with uncommon restraint but is nevertheless a celebrant of what he sees. You look at L "HISTOIRE DE FRANCE as you listen to serious music, and after awhile it precise and unsentimental insight becomes beautifully clear." E. L. DOCTOROW