Jurkus paulius (2 Ergebnisse)

Hardcover. Zustand: poor to g. First edition. Signed and dated on colophon. 528/560. 4to. 28pp. Original illustrated dustjacket over tan paper-covered boards with brown lettering on cover. Artist book illustrated with nine original woodcuts by Vaclovas Ratas, initials in plates, hand-set letterpress text. Translation revised by Mark J. Kinney and text edited by Paulius Jurkus. Volume XXVII of "Lithuania - Country and Nation." The woodcuts are similar to the German Expressionist style using stiff angular images and aggressive sharp broken lines. Dustjacket with major wear, bottom third of back part of dj and most of dj spine missing, flaps separated and various medium chips along edges. Binding with one-inch chip at head, and three-inch chip at tail of spine missing. Some sunning along edges of boards. Browning to pages of block not affecting text or images. Dj in poor, book in good condition. Though in poor condition, very rare with dj. Vaclovas Ratas' (1910-1973) work is known for his basic approach of simplicity, sincerity and his love for decorative values. His work is not true to one particular style but executed in varying styles and techniques. He was a founding member of FORMA in 1931, a group of seven Lithuanian artists and his work was exhibited internationally. In 1937 he was awarded the Prix d'Honeur for his woodcut illustrations in "Jurate and Kastytis," a ballad of the Lithuanian Poet Maironis. During his exile in Germany from 1945-1949 Ratas started his own art school and in 1949 created the nine woodcuts for "The Twelve Ravens." In the same year Ratas emigrated to Perth, Australia. "The speed with which the émigré artist embraced Aboriginal art is astounding. Vaclovas Ratas who landed in Perth in 1949 produced woodcuts that incorporated Aboriginal motifs by the end of that year." (Roger Butler). Ratas eventually settled in Sydney which was dominated by abstract art. He joined the Lithuanian artist group Aitvaras (The Goblin). Ratas Australian period is considered the least productive one though his style became more colorful and joyful. Signed.…

Augsburg: "?iburiai," 1946. Folio (35 × 24.7 cm). Original printed boards, quarter cloth binding; [19] pp., 40 leaves of plates. Signed in pencil by Telesforas Valius. Good or better; trace of private library label to lower spine; some scuffing and rubbing to corners and spine extremities; stamps of a non-existing Latvian library in Connecticut. Important work on the vibrant modern Lithuanian graphic arts, which developed from the 1930s onward as a result of the encounter of traditional folk motifs with Western influences, and led to a flowering in the 1940s and 1950s, with many of the prints focused on the trauma of war and exile. "Lithuanian graphics, whose many representatives were studying in Europe, made their way through all the doctrines' letters and have poured in our art a great originality. We find in them the pulsation of the Lithuanian soul having taken a liking to symbolism and mysticism. Our traditions and our inner liking for stylization have led our engravers far from realism" (from the preface). Preface and artist biographies in English, French and Lithuanian. With woodcut prints by Paulius Augius (1909-1960), Viktoras Petravi?ius, Vaclovas Rataiskis-Ratas, and Telesforas Valius (1914-1977), leading figures of the Lithuanian graphic arts movement, which was revived in Lithuanian camps for Displaced Persons (DP), who had fled their country during WWII. There, various studios were established, an Applied Arts Institute was created in Freiburg by artists from Kaunas, and a series of exhibitions were held. This copy indicates a print run of 425 numbered copies, of which 25 on "offset-paper" and 400 on regular paper (Werkdruckpapier). Other copies state a print run of 300 copies on wove paper. This copy is signed in pencil by Telesforas Valius below the colophon, and with an additional gift inscription to title (dated Freiburg 1948). Valius has also signed all of his woodcut prints in the book. For more information aboutt modern graphic arts in Lithuania and the movement which is commemorated in the present work, see Paulius Jurkus, "The New Lithuanian Graphic Arts" in Lituanus no. 2 (7), June 1956. Scarce in the trade.…