THE WORLDS OF KAFKA & CUEVAS: AN UNSETTLING FLIGHT TO THE FANTASY WORLD OF FRANZ KAFKA BY THE MEXICAN ARTIST, JOSÉ LUIS CUEVAS

Philadelphia: Falcon Press, 1959. No. 407 OF 600 COPIES. 558 x 430 mm. (22 x 17"). [18] leaves.Edited and designed by Louis R Glessmann and Eugene Feldman, and with an essay on Cuevas by José Gomez-Sicre.
Publisher's original black paper boards, covers with multiple layers of printing with subtle areas of deeper black and text, front cover with light gray block titling, flat spine. With nine in-text lithographs and 10 full-page lithographs, most spreading onto opposite page. Text in English and Spanish. Flyleaf with blue ink signature of Cuevas dated 11/10/62. Sylvan Simone Gallery advertisement for Cuevas portfolios inserted at front. ◆Small scuff on front cover, repaired half-inch tear to rear cover, top of spine somewhat dented, a few creases on spine, edges slightly scuffed, but the contents pristine.

This is an inspired combination of Franz Kafka's disturbing words and Mexican artist José Luis Cuevas' equally disturbing images. Cuevas (1934-2017) began illustrating books in his native Mexico City when he was just 14, and had risen to international stature by the time Eugene Feldman of the Falcon Press sought him out to illustrate this work. A serious bout of rheumatic fever in childhood interrupted Cuevas' education, permanently affected his health, and contributed to a dark world view, preoccupied with suffering, decay, and death, that is reflected in his work. Not surprisingly, he was attracted to Kafka's equally grim writings, and began producing drawings inspired by the author in the 1950s, inadvertently leading to the present work. Falcon Press founder Eugene Feldman's said in 1966, "I started out wanting to do a book in which I could experiment with and apply art printing to a literary subject. However, I had no subject. Accident came to my rescue. I was in Washington at the Pan American Union, which has a fine museum. There a friend introduced me to the director, who was interested in my project and suggested that I look at work already done on Franz Kafka by the Mexican artist Jose Louis Cuevas. When I saw it, the choice was made, and so in 1959 [the present work] was produced." The text here, in both English and Spanish, is excerpted from Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," "Man's search for himself," "The Trial," and "America." Feldman (1921-75) founded the Falcon Press in 1948, printing 13 works during its 27 years in operation. He was primarily interested in printing as an art and sought to explore a variety of techniques..