ars libri ltd.
rare and scholarly books
on the fine arts
ars libri ltd.
rare and scholarly books
on the fine arts
Catalogue 130-N: Modern Art: Rarities of the Avant-Garde
72
(DADA HANDBILL)
Paris. Maison de l’Oeuvre. Manifestation Dada. Le Samedi 27 Mars, à 8 f. 15 précises. Broadside handbill designed by Tristan Tzara, printed in red and black on pale pink stock (verso blank). Two mechanomorphic dada line drawings by Picabia, printed in red, superimposed over text. Printed sideways at right edge, advertisement for the forthcoming "Dadaphone," "391" no. 12, and "Proverbe." Oblong sm. folio. 266 x 373 mm. (10 7/16 x 14 11/16 inches). Design by Tristan Tzara.
This was the third, and most elaborate, of three Dada demonstrations following the arrival of Tzara in Paris. A great succès de scandale, it precipitated plans for the Festival Dada. We quote at length from George Hugnet’s account of it, in his "The Dada Spirit in Painting": "On March 27, at the Théâtre de l’Oeuvre, one of the most significant Dada demonstrations took place. It consisted of plays (‘le serin muet’ by Ribemont-Dessaignes, ‘la première aventure célèste de m. antipyrine’ by Tzara, and ‘s’il vous plaît’ by Breton and Soupault), written in the Dada manner, pursuing every gratuitous fancy, every absurdity of thought, and all eminently demoralizing. Breton read, in complete darkness, a ‘manifeste cannibale’ by Picabia. Some poems by Éluard (‘Examples’) were read. Ribemont’s ‘le pas de la chicorée frisée’ (Dance of the Curled Chicory) was played on the piano; likewise, as a joke, some melodies by Duparc. A transparent set, in front of the actors, consisted of a bicycle wheel and some signs hanging from clothes-lines. These melodies, in such a setting, completely exasperated the audience, which began to whistle even at Duparc’s band music, which normally they liked. Delighted with this contradiction, the actors, themselves Dadaists, began to insult the audience, welcoming catcalls with a smile; at this moment an anti-Dada paper, ‘Non,’ edited by René Edme and André du Bief, was handed around. The program of this performance arranged, as usual, by Picabia, revealed a resuscitated remark of Tzara as: ‘Dada Corporation for the Improvement of Ideas.’ Picabia’s picture, ‘Portrait of Cézanne,’ was shown at this demonstration; having searched in vain for a live monkey for the ‘still-life,’ the artist finally showed the picture, as illustrated. The Théâtre de l’Oeuvre had not witnessed such goings-on since the riot caused by the presentation of Alfred Jarry’s play ‘Ubu Roi.’" A few small stains, discreet foldlines and creases. A great rarity.
Paris, 1920. $8,000.00
Documents Dada 14; Dada Global 226; Ades 8.42; Almanacco Dada p. 607 (illus.); Sanouillet 318; Dada Artifacts p. 76, no. 116; Motherwell/Karpel p. 176f. (with text from Georges Hugnet), p. 191 (illus.); Chapon p. 132; Rubin p. 458; Andel: Avant-Garde Page Design 1900-1950 no. 141; Düsseldorf 258; Zürich 441
73
DALI, SALVADOR
Conquest of the Irrational. 24, (8)pp., 34 plates (including frontispiece in color). Sm. 8vo. Dec. wraps. One of 1000 copies printed of the English-language edition, apart from a French edition of 1200. The translation is by David Gascoyne. Light wear. Though not noted internally, this copy derives from the library of Julien Levy.
New York (Julien Levy), 1935. $300.00
Gershman p. 15; Ades 12.147; Biro/Passeron 803; Rubin p. 15
74
DALI, SALVADOR
Metamorphosis of Narcissus. English translation by Francis Scarpe. (26)pp. 3 plates (1 color). 4to. Wraps. Edition limited to 500 English-language copies. Cover photograph by Cecil Beaton. Though not noted internally, this copy derives from the library of Julien Levy. Covers rather worn.
New York (Julien Levy Gallery), 1937. $150.00
75
DE FILIPPI, FERRUCCIO
"Un atto d’arte del coatto in disparte umido." 29 disegni, 1979. An artist’s tablet, with 29 full-page drawings on individual sheets (versos blank), and 1 further on the cardboard back cover. 17 of the drawings are in ink, and 11 in pencil. Sheet size: 244 x 342 mm. (9 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches). The work is signed and dated in pen on the inside back cover. Oblong 4to. Work by a very early practitioner of Neo-Expressionism in Italy. Tablet block loose under the cover of the pad.
[Roma] 1979. $6,000.00
76
DEL RENZIO, TONI
Incendiary Innocence. Manifesto. (An Arson Pamphlet.) (8)pp. Printed on turquoise stock, decorated on the front cover with surrealistic appropriations of steel engravings, printed in purple. Lrg. 8vo. Self-wraps. "En réponse à "Idolatry and Confusion," de Mesens et Brunius, Toni del Renzio publie "le jour de Lautréamont" ce texte de quatre pages où il redéfinit la position surréaliste et se déclare totalement fidèle aux principes d’André Breton....‘Incendiary Innocence’ est un véritable manifeste d’allégeance, mais aussi un bilan de l’activité surréaliste en 1944, bilan inaugurateur de promesses et d’espoirs de révoltes" (Michel Remy, in Biro/Passeron). Back cover clipped at lower corner.
London (The Author), 1944. $200.00
Biro/Passeron p. 216
77
(DELAUNAY) Apollinaire, Guillaume
Robert Delaunay. 5ff. letterpress text, printed on golden wove paper; 11 plates (the first in color), tipped onto heavy indigo-colored card mounts, through-numbered in silver at lower right. Sm. folio. Original heavy cream-colored wraps. The cover of this copy has been mounted with the clipped decorative letterhead of the Delaunays, printed in color pochoir with an abstract design by Sonia Delaunay and the words "DELAUNAY" "PARIS" (BN item 331, reproduced in color p. 96)--an added element (pasted over the printed title "Robert Delaunay") which most copies do not have.
The history of this beautiful album, printed in a very small edition, is well known. Designed by Sonia Delaunay, it was published on the occasion of the exhibition of Robert Delaunay’s great abstract series, "Saint-Séverin," "La Tour Eiffel," and "Les Fenêtres" at Der Sturm in Berlin, in January and February of 1912. Apart from two leaves of catalogue and table, its only text is Apollinaire’s famous poem, "Les Fenêtres," written for this publication, and his magniloquent statement "J’aime l’Art d’aujourd’hui parce que J’Aime avant tout la Lumière et tous les hommes Aiment avant tout la Lumière ils ont inventé le feu," grandly isolated in letterpress on the first golden leaf of the album. It commemorates one of the most momentous exhibitions in the history of modern art. These series are recognized today as among the most electrifying breakthroughs in pure abstraction, and the show was to provoke widespread excitement throughout Europe. In the spring of 1998, a special exhibition was devoted to these pictures at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Covers somewhat worn, with small losses at extremities (old mends), and without original cord; backstrip paper-taped; internally very fine, and noteworthy for the extra pochoir on the front cover.
Paris (Imprimerie André Marty) [1912]. $4,500.00
Inventaire des Collections Publiques Françaises 15: Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne: Robert et Sonia Delaunay, 1967; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale: Sonia et Robert Delaunay, 1977; Paris, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris: Robert/Sonia Delaunay,1985; New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: Visions of Paris: Robert Delaunay’s Series, 1998.
78
(DELAUNAY) Voronca, Ilarie
Colomba. Doua portrete de Robert Delaunay. Coperta de Sonia Delaunay. (22)pp., 2 full-page portrait drawings (of Ilarie and Colomba Voronca) by Robert Delaunay. Sm. folio. New cloth. Orig. dec. wraps., with front cover design by Sonia Delaunay, bound in. One of 100 hand-numbered copies on Hollande van Gelder, from the limited edition of 134 in all. The first volume to appear in the Colectia Integral series. Small mends to the wrappers. Presentation copy, delicately inscribed by the author on the front flyleaf, Paris, November 1927. Extremely rare.
Paris (Colectia Integral), 1927. $3,750.00
Ilk K517, illus. p. 84
79
(DEPERO) Trento
94a mostra Depero. Primavera [March-April] 1953. Texts by G. Giani, A. Pica, and the artist. 39, (1)pp., 32 plates. Sm. 4to. Dec. wraps., printed in yellow and blue with a handsome typographic design by Depero on the front cover (backstrip torn). The venue in Trento is not stated. Presentation copy, with a bold, full-page inscription in ink by Depero opposite the title-page, with decorative asterisks at top and bottom, dated Rovereto, June 1953. Rare.
Trento, 1953. $500.00
80
DEXEL, WALTER
Announcement for an exhibition of work by Oskar Schlemmer at the Kunstverein Jena, December 1924 - January 1925. Card, printed in black on pale salmon-pink stock (verso blank). 105 x 160 mm. (ca. 4 1/8 x 6 1/4 inches). This classic typographic design is illustrated in Herbert Spencer’s ‘Pioneers of Modern Typography’ (London, 1969).
Jena, 1924. $350.00
Spencer p. 37; Fleischmann, Gerd: Bauhaus Drucksachen, Typografie, Reklame (Düsseldorf, 1984), p. 236 (illus.)
81
DIACONO, MARIO
re^er. Tre testi di Mario Diacono e cinque incisioni di Richmond Burton, Bruno Ceccobelli, Lucio Pozzi. (4), 13, (3)pp. 5 original etchings with aquatint hors texte, each signed and numbered in pencil in the margin, by Richmond Burton (2: "Four Corners," "Threshold"), Bruno Ceccobelli ("Sophia di Lorena" in double format), and Lucio Pozzi (2: "Barchusen I" "Barchusen II"). Sheet size ca. 35 x 30 cm. (ca. 12 3/4 x 14 3/4 inches). Sm. folio. Printed wrapper with glassine d.j. Portfolio (cloth over boards). All contents loose, as issued. Edition limited to 30 numbered copies (plus 10 artists' proofs of the etchings), printed on Strathmore, with the etchings on BFK Rives, Fabriano, and Fabriano Tiepolo respectively. A unique copy, extensively embellished with original drawings by Lucio Pozzi in fine-line pen and black ink: 3 highly worked full-page compositions (including a frontispiece), 1 partial-page composition, and many smaller illustrations and decorations on 21 other pages of the text.
N.p (Ex Isle Editions), 1990. $4,500.00