A Stedelijk Museum publication from 1938. Publishing date well before WWII and extremely rare. One of the first publications containing an article by Piet Mondriaan ( Mondrian) and it is more than likely the only one on the market at this moment. What makes this publication valuable is not only its rarity , but also the art historical value of the articles by Mondriaan, Kandinsky and Gorin. You can find this publication at www.ftn-books.com.
here is its description and the photographs:
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Without me knowing and realizing it I collected many van der Leck titles. Probably because subconsciously i must have realized that for me personally van der Leck is more important than Piet Mondriaan. Both are of course important members of DE STIJL group but where Mondrian is the artist who developed his art from realism into pure abstraction, van der Leck is the artist where realism was always present in his abstract works. When you look a little longer at his compositions you can distinguish the objects he depicted in his works. Take a look at these ducks…Yes it is a typical DE STIJL composition with primary colors, but you can clearly see the ducks in this painting.
Bart van der Leck was born in the Dutch city of Utrecht on November 26th, 1876. He started working as a glazier, but began focusing on his artistic career soon after. He started his studies at the Art Academy in Amsterdam soon after 1898. He was initially influenced by Isaac Israëls and mainly depicted scenes from everyday life. After he finished his education, his realistic working style became a more monumental and modern one.
In 1907 he rented a room in a farming establishment in Blaricum. His only possessions were a small painting chest and some clothing. He lived in complete isolation for a period of four months and thus many paintings depicting Blaricum and its surrounding area exist from his hand.
It is known Van Der Leck was a friend of fellow painter Mondriaan. They both possessed progressive working styles and their paintings were not appreciated by the painters of the Laren School.
Together with Mondriaan and a few other names, Van Der Leck can be held accountable for the establishment of ‘De Stijl'(1917). He passed away in Blaricum on November 13th, 1958.
Here are some of the van der Leck titles available at www.ftn-books.com
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The coming blogs on Sunday are all devoted to SCHAAMSTREKEN . a series of artists books by Otto Egberts , all containing original drawings , executed on special papers and bound in goat leather
These Egberts books are very special and deserve to be known by a larger public and will be coming up for sale next year. It would be a pity that these great artist books are only known to a few persons. Therefore i decided to publish all pages of the 4 books in 4 separate blogs on consecutive Sundays starting from now and today is the first volume to be published within this blog series . The SCHAAMSTREKEN 1 book measures 39,3 x 10,9 cm. And contains 34 pages, 15 drawings spread over 2 pages and 2 one page drawings. The end paper has the signature and date on it in pencil. These original drawings were done in color on old Danish maps and nautical charts.
Here is the integral reproduction of volume 1
A truly magnificent artist book and one of the most spectacular books i have ever owned. For more information on Otto Egberts do not forget to visit his website www.ottoegberts.nl and other great artist books at www.ftn-books.com
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Only 15 years the Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm was active and it was one of the first institutions in the world where you could fhave an education and follow lectures in design. After the Bauhaus it was the leading centre in the world on design and responsible for many great “timeless” designs of which the Lufthansa corporate design is probably the most best known.
The importance of this educational centre which was co founded by Max Bill and had ao. Johannes Itten ( see blog from a few days ago) as a teacher was recognized by Willem Sandberg who organized an exhibition in 1965 on the “Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm” and the catalogue which appeared together with this exhibition has become one of the rarest and most collectable Stedelijk Museum catalogues ever. Wim Crouwel designed this catalogue. Oblong format, grey cover, very nice typography ….the catalogue has become a statement for good and simple design, readability and beauty. The designs within the catalogues are beautiful, but the catalogue itself is arguably even better.
This catalogue is available at www.ftn-books.com
There is a great timeline to discover the Hochschule at :
http://www.hfg-archiv.ulm.de/english/the_hfg_ulm/timeline.html
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Take one look at the (action) photographs and you will get immediately an idea of the works that Kudo made.
A little chaotic and compositions made of lost and found objects . Compositions in cages and cubes and a bit in the way like Joseph Beuys used showcases/vitrines . Kudo cages/ boxes/vitrines/cubes are absurd and contain colorful objects, but not without a meaning . They are arranged in a way that they have a meaning and make the viewer aware of the way the artist has visualized the title. Take for instance a look at: Bonheur… a cage where Happiness is far away. The title suggest Happiness, but the reality of the cage shows the grim reality
Tetsumi Kudo, Bonheur, painted cage, artificial soil, plastic flowers, cotton, plastic, polyester, resin, string, cigarettes, thermometer, Aspro tablets, circuit board, 21 x 11 x 14 inches, 1974
Ranging from plastic dolls to stuffed canaries Kudo arranged them and put them together to make a very recognizable work of art. For me Kudo is a cross between Pop Art and a Realistic sculpture.
Tetsumi Kudo was born in 1935 in Osaka, Japan, and spent a large portion of his youth in the town of Okayama, neighbour of Hiroshima. He graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts in 1958. In 1957, he began exhibiting his work at the Salon of Independents, Yomiuri and had his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Blanche, Tokyo. He was awarded the Grand Prize and a travel grant to Paris through his participation in the 1962 Second International Young Artists Exhibition in Tokyo. He subsequently spent 25 years in Paris from 1962 to 1987 before returning to Japan. He died in Tokyo in 1990.
Tetsumi Kudo is one of the artists that inspired contemporary artist like Paul McCarthy and Mike Kelly.
www.ftn-books.com has 2 collectible Kudo titles available.
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