[PIONEER OF CZECH ABSTRACT ART] Obrazy 1925. Obrazy kni?n? vydané [Paintings published in book form]

Matou?ek, Franti?ek and Josef ?apek

About this Item

Prague: V komisi Ust? studentského knihkupectví a nakladatelství, 1925. Octavo (19.5 × 15 cm). Original decorative wrappers; [5] pp., [10] leaves of black-and-white reproductions, [3] pp. of text. Very good. With a three-page introduction by artist and writer Josef ?apek, followed by ten reproductions of work by Matou?ek (1901-1961), one of the first Czech surrealist painters, who made important early forays into abstraction. He was a classmate of Jind?ich ?tyrskı and later joined the Dev?tsil Group, but he did not officially join the Czech Surrealist Group. This book evidently preceeded his first major exhibits: with the Dev?tsil Group in 1926, and three major retrospectives in Prague in 1930, 1933 and 1937. After 1939, his work was shown internationally, including in Paris, London, and New York. Matou?ek also created the spare, yet striking cover design. In the late 1930s he spent much of his time in Paris and after the German occupation moved to London, where he founded the Czechoslovak School of Applied Arts in Chelsea. ?apek's preface notes the influence of Purism as well as Constructivism on the young painter, and also points out what makes these works unique: they were all created in order to be reproduced in book form, in order to increase their range. In his work on Czech photo-montage, Jind?ich Toman notes: "Although not a book of picture poems, as announced by Teige, Franti?ek Matou?ek's publication Images in Book Form is an important attempt to create art for print. The paintings were executed in black and white in anticipation of the black-and-white printing process" (Photo/Montage in Print, 115). Vloemans 50. Toman 3.3.28. We have only seen one copy in the trade in the last ten years, the last copy handled by us (in 2018). As of December 2023, KVK and OCLC only show two copies in North America.

Seller Inventory # 54073

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [PIONEER OF CZECH ABSTRACT ART] Obrazy 1925. Obrazy kni?n? vydané [Paintings published in book form]
• Binding: Soft cover
• Seller catalogs:
  • Avant-Garde
  • Art Catalogs
  • Czech