Search Results: Czech avant-garde from Michael Fagan Fine Art & Rare Books

[The 10 Year Anniversary Exhibition of Czechoslovak Culture in Brno 1928]. Octavo 15x9.5 cm., with 20 photogravure plates of exteriors and interiors of this nation-edifying exhibition in the summer of 1928. A souvenir booklet consisting of superb shots of the fair's modernist structures designed by architect Jiří Kroha (1893-1974). Kroha is esteemed as a foremost exponent of Czech Functionalism. With superb printing from Neubert and Sons. Worldcat finds one holding in North America for this work (Wolfsonian).. Uncommon, and in fine condition.

Prague: Plejada, 1927 Octavo, 1/2-cloth, 48pp. fine frontispiece and book design by Vit Obrtel. Inscribed by Nezval somewhat illegibly, " Priteli Frantisku Hecikovi (?), srdecne k jeho maturite s pranim vseho najlepsiho, Vitezslav Nezval v Praze, 26.VI.1927." Lacks original cover, else vg+.

Prague: Plejada, 1927 Octavo 19.5 x 13.5 cm, cloth with embossed author monogram, 48pp. Fine frontispiece and book design by Vit Obrtel.

Prague: Fr. Borovy, 1920 Octavo,wrappers, 254pp. With 14 full-page illustrations by Josef Capek, 3 of which are linocuts and lithograph cover. Neumann wrote a series of essays on modern art which appeared in journals in the years 1913-1914, formulating a new sense of creation for Bohemia and ultimately the world. This "personal, engaged, combative" approach lay the groundwork for the postwar eruption of art and activism in Czechoslovakia. The collection was published for the first time here with Josef Capek's illustrations. Neumann (1875-1947) was a poet, journalist, translator and a main figure spearheading much of Czech modernism in his writings, especially during the early years of the First Republic of Czechoslovakia. He was a major component in the Tvrdosijni group after 1918 and supported the Devetsil program through the 1920s. Initially a recalcitrant and later dedicated Marxist, his polemics and experimentation gave way to Socialist Realism in the 1930s. An important document,… Read More

Brno: Literární Sdružení Klub OSA, 1926 Quarto 23.5x15.5 cm., wrappers. Issues B and C (all published), 32pp. Extremely scarce avant-garde literary journal issued by the OSA Literary and Art Association at Brno University. Editorial group consisted of František Koukal, Jaroslav Kopa, Zdenek Vašek; international members included Edouard Stavinoha and the literary scholar Antonín Škarka (1906-1979) who is the most renowned of the group. The journal began with the letter B and on the masthead for C it was announced no further numbers would be forthcoming. Both numbers include drama & skits, blasphemy, poetry and theoretical statements of modern art. OCLC finds no copies of this; none found through Czech resources.

Ceske Budejovice: Edice Gemini, 1937 Large octavo 18.5 x 12 cm., wrappers, 20pp., printed on hand-made paper in an edition of 200. Book design, typography and three illustrations by Bartuska in the sixth of the Edice Gemini series. Exquisite bibliophile production for the poems of Ružená Žižková. A fine copy. Worldcat finds this in 5 North American libraries

Prague: Odeon, 1993 Quarto, cloth, 328pp. Second, revised edition. The most thoroughly researched monograph on this artist written to date, with a catalogue raisonné, numerous photos and anecdotes. Kubista (1884-1918)was a groundbreaking artist, a major contributor to the unique cubo-expressionism that flourished in Bohemia in the 1910s. His life was cut tragically short but he left a powerful legacy and inspiration for Czech modernism. In Czech language, with summaries in English, French and German. An indispensable reference. Fine copy in near fine dust wrapper.

Prague: Odeon, 1926 Octavo, wrappers, 192pp. Cover by Jiri Jelinek, title page by Karel Teige. A study of the life, loves and death of Shelley.

Prague: Borovy, 1921 Quarto, wrappers, 618pp. The third year of this legendary journal. Subtitled „Socialný týdenik” it was modified from issue 33 to read „Kommunistický týdeník” with the editor’s increasing allegiance to Moscow during the year 1921. This year saw a very doctrinaire presentation of leftist rhetoric, with less space given to the arts and culture which characterized the first and last year. Rare.

Brno: Joža Jícha, 1934 Octavo, wrappers, 72pp. Photomontage cover by Zdenek Rossmann. Light wear on cover, signatures are uncut. Very good condition. Found in only two North American libraries.

Prague: Edice Olymp, 1926 Large octavo 24 x 16 cm, wrappers, unpag. Cover design by Vit Obrtel. Cover has small corner chip, else very good.

Prague: Václav Petr, 1928 Octavo 18.5 x 11.4 cm, wrappers, 87pp. Photomontage cover, typography and page design by Karel Teige. The cover is one of Teige's most striking erotic photocollages with experimental page design. Konrád (1899-1971) was an author, journalist and a central voice in Devetsil and the Czech avant-garde. This "romaneto" (short novel) incorporates the poetism set forth by Teige. It concerns a man taken into custody and allowed to use the phonograph, and who falls in love with a black American blues singer who sings on a recording.

Twenty numbers of Doba (Time, or The Age) were published in 15 fascicule altogether, edited by Karel Teige. Doba was on the one hand a mouthpiece for the surrealist group in Prague, but also offered an international perspective in art, architecture, city planning, literature, and politics. We offer numbers 1-13/14, pp. 1-207.Three North American institutional holdings found (Northwestern, Harvard, Ohio State U). No. 13/14 has chipped rear page, else very good.

Pisek: Edice Prusvit, 1934 Octavo 21x17 cm., decorated cloth, 42 (3)pp. A fine bibliophile work of the regional Czech avant-garde, with cover and page design by Jiri Skorpil. The Czech National Library, the only institution holding this work, attributes the publication to Miloslav Nodl in Zatec, however our description takes the information as stated in the book and colophon. Author Miroslav Tater (1911-?) is known to have published three collections of poetry in the 1930s. This book is delightfully conceived with constructivist page design and experiment throughout. Signed by author on title page. No library holdings found in North America.

Červen was a journal founded by the Tvrdošíjní (Obstinate Ones) group of leading modernist painters in Prague. They exhibited together in a show organized by the writer Stanislav K. Neumann in 1918, in the heady days of the First Republic. Cubism as an avant-garde was undergoing a shift from abstraction to Primitivism. Artists and writers allied together in this legendary journal, celebrating nature, pushing conventional boundaries and espousing political radicalism. The central figures were Josef Čapek, Václav Špála, Jan Zrzavý, Rudolf Kremlička, Vlastislav Hofman, all who had made important contributions to the Czech Cubism from 1909 to then. The journal lasted through five years, disbanding along with the group in 1924. The first two years (1918-1920) were the most visually productive and these are the most sought-after issues for their art content, which are all original linocuts. We offer two numbers from this time:
Rok I Cislo 2, 21. března 1918 (Year 1, No. 2, March 21 1918)
Quarto… Read More

Prague: Edice Profily, 1963 Octavo 18 x13 cm., folio wrappers, 2pp. and 12 bromographs, loose as issued. Two-page essay by Anna Fárová. This was the first publication devoted to Wiskovský, an important Czech photographer whose work was hidden from the mainstream of modernism but is strikingly original. He produced sparingly, but his work bears excellence throughout his oeuvre. The following year Fárová produced a more subtantial monograph, but without bromographs and this is only publication where they can be found. Worldcat finds only two North American libraries with this work.

Brno: Vaclav Rostlapil, 1928 Quarto 31 x 23.5 cm, wrappers, 52pp. A catalogue highlighting the work of the technical and trade schools in Czechoslovakia for the 1928 Exhibition of Contemporary Culture in Brno. Includes textiles, architecture, furniture, toys, glasswork, with articles by Oldrich Stary, Karc, Metelak, Langr, Stasek, etc. This was released as a special issue of the architectural journal HORIZONT without an issue number. Includes summaries in German, French and English. Uncommon, worldcat finds no copies of this in libraries outside of Czech Republic, and even there in only one.

Quarto (31 x 22.5 cm), wrappers, (viii) 20 linocuts, in an edition of 100 copies, signed by the artists. Josef Bartuška (1898-1963) and Oldřich Nouza (1903-1974) were two multi-talented members of the Linie Group which they co-founded in Česke Budějovice in 1931. The group operated as a cooperative of twelve members who contributed to a plethora of arts and educational projects there, and flourished through 1939. Bartuška was a poet, journalist, critic, editor, author of poetic opera librettos and film scripts, photographer, painter, graphic artist, theorist, stage designer, musician, amateur film-maker and teacher. A number of his books have hand-painted graphics; his graphic designs of the 1930s anticipated the flavor graphic design in postwar Europe and the USA. Nouza was a poet, painter, photographer, teacher and journalist. Together with Bartuška he wrote the manifesto published in 1931 titled Poesie imaginerního prostoru (The Poetry of Imaginary Space). He also published with Bartuška a… Read More

Prague: Odeon, 1927 Octavo (18.2 x 12.5 cm), wrappers, 72pp., edition of 520 numbered copies on Japan Banzay paper. A bibliofile edition, with cover, title & 2 illustrations by Mrkvicka.

Prague: ARGO, 2010 Folio, cloth, 588pp., illustrated throughout, in Englsh language. The first comprehensive monograph on Jindrích Štyrský, one of the most important players in the Czech avant-garde. Štyrský (1899-1942) was a multi-talented genius; primarily a painter and photographer, he was also a writer and editor. Precocious, he began executing remarkable, original artwork in his teens and soon connected with soulmates Karel Teige, the painter Toyen, and the poet Vitezslav Nezval who would form the nexus of the Czech avant-garde. Štyrsky took part in the Devětsil movement, developed with Toyen "artificialism" (an quasi-surrealist original take prefiguring postwar tachism). He produced shockingly erotic photomontages, collages and publications; he was a major surrealist painter, and finally a force of inner resistance in the German occupation. This book is the first to explore his contribution in great depth, and is the unparalleled resource… Read More