WELTKUNST COLLECTOR’S SEMINAR Nº 28 Printed Matter of the Bauhaus Era 2 7 5 8 4 3 1 Invitation cards, stationery, visiting cards, prospectuses, and advertising leaflets: many “commercial print” products from the 1920s are great typographic works of art. Interest grows, and prices are within reason 9 BY THOMAS DERDA 90 6 COLLECTOR’S SEMINAR Advertising prospectus for the city of Dessau, ca. 1932 by Joost Schmidt. Sold at Swann for $1,560 including fees. Left page: rare catalog for Bauhaus wallpa­ per, available at Thomas Derda for €7,000 (left). El Lissitzky’s letter of 1928 (right) brought in €23,000 at Hauswedell & Nolte Kunst, Bonn 2016; Christian Hesse ­ ing typographic works into their collections. Alongside a photograph by László Moho- ly-Nagy— which goes so well with a Wil- helm Wagenfeld lamp by or a silver pitcher by Marianne Brandt—you might easily find an invitation card to the Metallic Festival held at the Bauhaus in 1929. Another collect- or may have indulged in hoarding an entire parade of typography, from the work of Jan Tschichold to that of Herbert Bayer, from Wilhelm Deffke to Piet Zwart. To each con- noisseur his own. In the end, one can see Modernism as a holistic movement: it unabashedly encom- passed all fields. The design of industrial products—and hence the layouts of printed matter—grew steadily in importance. It was the mission of these artists, after all, to - endow all areas of modern life with a con Kunst, Bonn 2016 Bonn Kunst, ­ temporary look. Ergo, the widespread inter- est in printing: how many people realize, for example, that Willi Baumeister was an im- portant typographer? Incidentally, more and Kunst, Bonn 2016; Galerie Bassenge, Berlin; Nosbüsch & Stucke; Galerie Bassenge, Berlin/VG Bild ­ more museums are devoting space to—and upgrading the value of—innovative commer- cial print products alongside the already-cele- brated paintings of Schlemmer, Kandinsky, Moholy-Nagy & co., or the iconic and Kunst, Bonn 2016; Thomas Derda, Berlin; Hauswedell & Nolte, Hamburg Catalog no. 606 has it all. The design of the graphic icon of the 1920s, and moreover of ­ ever-loved tubular steel furniture by Mies Images: Swann Auction Galleries/VG Bild Galleries/VG Auction Images: Swann letterhead announces that this is no ordi- the most exceptional rarity. Lissitzky may van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer. nary letter: along the top, a red strip; in the well have had hundreds of these sheets print- upper-right corner, a backwards L-beam, ed, but where are they now? I have never set Prices Remain within Reason C Auktionen/VG Bild pierced by a red arrow that points toward eyes on another. Although they too were products of the so- the abbreviated “el,” used by the sender and Today, the “New Typography” has called “New Typography” movement, this designer. Above the arrow, his full name: El evolved into a multifaceted and fascinating “Collector’s Seminar” excludes books and Preceding double page: 1–2 Robert Michel Lissitzky, the revolutionary avant-garde art- area of collecting. These often quite small or posters from the 1920s. They constitute a spe- designed print products for the Kahl seed ist from the Soviet Union. In September of fragile sheets of paper are marvelously de- cial field of interest, and on the market, dif- company in Frankfurt, 1927–30. In 2013, 1928, he stayed in Hanover, and the letter in signed artifacts, in every way on par with ferent laws apply. In surveying the prices for $1,560 was paid out for 50 items at Swann question was addressed to the Berlin branch great classical graphics production. Bro- occasional print products, we witness a ver- 3 This sheet of stationery by the great typ­ of the November Group, which wanted to chures, advertising leaflets, visiting cards, itable boom developing over the past 15–20 ographer Jan Tschichold, ca. 1926, is on exhibit his works. menus, alongside admission tickets, theater years. Awareness is growing: typographic sale at M + R Fricke for €1,500 4 Piet Zwart, In May of 2008, Lissitzky’s letter was of- programs, postcards, and flyers of all kinds: works belong to art history. It seems only nat- Kunst, Bonn 2016 (2); Fricke, M+R Berlin (2); Bubb Kuyper Veilingen/VG Bild folded advertisement for the NKF in Delft, fered at the Hamburg auction house the printer refers to them as commercial or ­ ural then that they occupy a segment of the €3,500 at Kuyper 5 Prospectus of the Des­ Hauswedell & Nolte for an estimated 1,000 “occasional” print products; and in museums market. But well into the 1980s, such letters, sau Bauhaus, 1927, designed by Herbert euros; from the first moment, I was en- or on the art market, they are classified as invitation cards, and advertising brochures Bayer, sold at Bassenge in 2005 for €550 tranced by its lucid, Constructive design. I ephemera, as casual or impermanent cre- were regarded as archival material rather 6 Hannes Meyer, Bauhaus prospectus, ca. 1928, fetched €5,500 at Nosbüsch & Stucke very much wanted to acquire it. And I was ations. They constitute an independent artis- than works of art. In many cases, printed 7 “Merz” magazine by Kurt Schwitters and not alone in being thunderstruck when the tic universe, and under the influence of the matter changed hands gratis when a painting El Lissitzky, 1924, €6,000 at Bassenge hammer fell at 23,000 euros. Of course, the pioneering reforms of the Bauhaus and other or celebrated design object was sold. The 8 In 2011, this ticket to the Dada Fair in contents of this artist autograph may have avant-garde circles in Europe, one that was market for such items had yet to be created. Berlin, appraised at €200, sold for €3,600 contributed to the spectacular result, but the especially innovative and fruitful during the In the 1970s, however, there were deal- Some artists were so fascinated by typography at Hesse 9 Letterhead by Jan (“Iwan”) real draw was Lissitzky’s stationery itself—a 1920s. Growing numbers of collectors spe- ers who did pioneering work in this area. Images: Swann Auction Galleries/VG Bild Tschichold, went for €1,500 at Fricke small but marvelous work of art, a typo- cializing in classical modernism are integrat- Alongside Egidio Marzona and Torsten they even abandoned painting (at least temporarily). 92 93 Here, we find superb pieces by anonymous designers, or ones who never enjoyed the spotlight, but are nonetheless extremely at- tractive. Available for 300 to 400 euros, for ex- ample, are the works of Robert Michel, who designed printed matter for the Kahl seed company in Frankfurt during the mid-1920s. With its semicircular arrow, a number of variants of Michel’s corporate design have en- tered the collection of MoMA in New York. Some antiquarian dealers offer them for less than 100 euros. It goes without saying, these undervalued designs are found at dealers who obviously don’t specialize in modern commercial print products. In any case, com- pared with other genres from the Bauhaus milieu, the prices for printed matter are moderate. It’s possible to acquire original works by Kurt Schwitters, El Lissitzky, Her- bert Bayer, and others for well under a thou- sand euros. Five-figure prices are still rare. Henn, Munich When Typography Becomes Art ­ Original editions of brochures, admission tickets, or stationery were often quite large. But, as a rule, since they were intended for temporary use, only a few copies survive. Many such ephemera are precious rarities, and only a few examples can be documen- ted worldwide—many of which are even unica. Walter Benjamin, who developed a sociology of modern art in his legendary essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” written in 1935, would doubtless have been keenly inter ested in this area of collecting. Fortunately, no forgeries Bröhan (both formerly of Düsseldorf, of printed matter have been today Berlin), there was Arthur documented to date. But it re- Schneider Dietrich Berlin/Vienna; Autkionshaus Antiquariat, Rotes Images: Cohen and Elaine Lustig Cohen with mains to be seen whether their antiquarian bookshop Ex Libris higher prices fuel criminal en- in New York, John Vloemans in The ergies here as well. Recom- Hague, and the Frankfurt (later Berlin) mended to preserve these antiquarian Jürgen Holstein, as well as often delicate items are stor- the Dada and Surrealism expert Hans age boxes and folders offered Bolliger in Zurich, whose catalogs are by the firm Monochrom, are still consulted as standard works. which are provided with All of them should be credited with pro- various inlays for sorting viding a forum for the ephemeral print- and a range of quality up to museum stand- ed matter of the 1920s and 1930s—and with A postcard for the Spartakiad in Moscow, ards. Container materials must be acid-free getting the ball rolling on the market. 1928, designed by Gustav Klucis, sold for so that they do not affect the paper. Natural- Let no one be put off, however, by this €2,500 by Rotes Antiquariat. ly, one can hang these finds in your home growing interest or by rising prices: exciting Below: experimental printing from Bauhaus like any other art. To protect them, however, discoveries are still possible. Few things re- advertising students, sold in May 2015 at when framed, they should be provided with main minimally documented, if at all. With auction house Schneider­Henn for €600 UV-proof museum-quality glass—and never a trained eye and a bit of luck, you can arrive hung in direct sunlight, of course. at attributions for pieces whose designers are In 1923, László Moholy-Nagy was the not explicitly mentioned.