Brave New Soviet World: Winter Catalogue 2019 BOOKVICA 1 F O R E W O R D Dear friends and colleagues, We are happy to present our first catalogue of 2019 with 37 items exploring life of a new Soviet man from different perspectives. Books related to art and dedicated to art theory in the first section serve as evidence of a very dynamic art life in all social and professional circles - from academics to amateaurs and proletariat. Two small but very interesting brochures are presented in the section Women with focus on growing part of the woman in villages and their education and emancipation. Section Ukraine is something to take a look at if one is interested in life of other regions of the young USSR. One of the books is about human pyramids and physical education in Ukraine and is especially curious for its many illustrations. A several books in the section Judaica, one of which sheds light onto constructivist books in Yiddish of the time. Traditionl Architecture and Science sections are followed by sections dedicated to the art of book printing and book design with images of strinking covers. A special section is dedicated to Mikhail Bulgakov, one of the most famous Russian writers of the 20th century with a few first edition. Another national treasure, Alexander Rodchenko, with three books for which he designed covers. In the last Misc. section another curiosity might be found which is a samizdat (DIY) magazine created in the early 1920s by students of one of the schools, a very rare survival of the time. We continue our journey through early Soviet era and hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Bookvica team 2019 www.bookvica.com [email protected] BOOKVICA 2 I ART 01 [TO KANDINSKY FROM HIS YOUNGER AVANT-GARDE BROTHER] Gritchenko, A. Russkaia ikona kak iskusstvo zhivopisi [i.e. The Russian Icon As The Art of Painting]. Moscow: Izd. avtora, [1917]. [2], 266 pp.: ill. 26,5x18,5 cm. In original covers with mounted illustration. Small fragments of spine lost, broken spine - p. 209-266 detached. First and only edition. Very rare. #500 of 500 copies. Autograph with inscription for Vasily Kandinsky: “To the artist Vasily Vasilievich Kandinsky from author / artist A.V. Gritchenko / 1918, 22 XI”. No marks show that the book went through the postal service, so it probably was given personally - at that time both artists were in Moscow. This is the work by Alexis Gritchenko (Oleksa Hryshchenko; 1883-1977), the Ukrainian painter and art theorist who took part in exhibitions with Kandinsky, Malevich, Popova, Shagal (et al.), was a member of the Commission for the Preservation of Historic Monuments (together with Kandinsky) and taught in VKhUTEMAS until his emigration. In 1919, after his show ‘Dynamocolor’ he escaped to Constantinople and Paris. All artworks were given to students and his name was forgotten. Gritchenko was well-known for experiments with cubism and primitive art, using elements of the Russian icons, the Ukrainian lubok and the Italian frescos. One of his favorite topics, the Russian icon painting was analyzed in his lecture ‘How and Why We Came Up to the Russian Icon’ and this book became the enlarged and richly illustrated version. It is a complete copy with 110 mounted zincographies. Paper copies located at Princeton University, University of Cincinnati, NYPL, Getty Research Institute, Harvard College, UC Berkeley Libraries, The Morgan Library. $2,500 BOOKVICA 3 Cover. No 01 Illustration. No 01 Autograph. No 01 BOOKVICA 4 02 [MAYAKOVSKY ON THE PARISIAN ART SCENE] Gore pakharia: Khudozhestvenno-literaturnyi i obshhestvennyi dvuhnedel’nyi zhurnal [i.e. Woe of the Ploughman: Artistic, Literary and Social Two Weeks Magazine] #3, 1923. Vladivostok: Primgubkompomgol, 1923. 34 pp.: ill. 26x24 cm. In original illustrated covers, a small tear of the illustration. Good, restored cover and margins. Very rare. One of 2000 copies. One issue of six ever published, the last one under this title (#4 appeared under the title ‘Typhoon’). Cover with mounted illustration by V. Pashkevich “Accord of Pain”. Four of his works reproduced inside as well. This is a rare magazine of the Soviet Far East Futurism, edited by Pavel Liubarsky (1891-1970), leading avant-garde artist of the region, founder of the art group ‘Green Cat’. Vladivostok was the last spark of futurism. The October Revolution and the Civil War scattered futurists in different directions, in particular, D. Burliuk and N. Aseev had gone to the Far East. There the new group ‘Creation’ was founded in 1920 and rallied, apart them, S. Tretiakov, N. Nasimovich-Chuzhak, A. Bogdanov, P. Luibarsky, N. Matveev, V. Mart, A. Nesmelov, et al. An heir of this group (and its magazine under the same name) became the magazine ‘Woe of the Ploughman’. Among the poems and articles by the local authors, the magazine published V. Mayakovsky’s impressions of Paris art life. He had visited France in 1922 and came back with vivid sketches on foreign culture. The magazine published that piece where Mayakovsky observed the art market, the workshops of Picasso, Goncharova and Larionov, Léger, Delaunay, Braque and Barthe. Mayakovsky remarked: “I remember, some Russian magazines noticed that Picasso turned to classicism. I can dispel any fears. Picasso has no classicism”. Interestingly, this text is illustrated with two artworks by V. Pashkevich and one by an unknown artist. Overall three illustrations in this issue depict the death, the Russian famine of 1921-1922. The magazine was published by Primgubkomgol (Primorsky Provincial Committee on Famine Support) which raised money for the starving Volga region. The bibliography on famine included as well. Worldcat doesn’t track this edition. $1,200 BOOKVICA 5 Title page. No 02 Title page. No 02 03 [CZECH CONSTRUCTIVIST MAYAKOVSKY, SIGNED] Mayakovsky, V. 150,000.000. Praha: Melantrich, 1945. 104 pp.: ill. 31x22 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Few pages detached, slightly rubbed. Second edition of the first Czech translation. Copy signed by translator. Constructivist cover design and 9 original lithographies were made by avant-garde artist Václav Mašek (1893-1973). The Czech version of this epic propaganda poem was published before Mayakovsky appeared in Prague himself. It was translated in 1925 by an expert on Russian literature Bohumil Mathesius (1888- 1952). Two years later Mayakovsky burst in the Czech crowd with his loud weighty poem ‘150.000.000’ and people already knew him. The second edition was published shortly after World War II with new design and afterword by Mathesius. Two hundred copies from printrun were chosen and signed by translator or artist. Worldcat shows 3 copies located at University of Colorado Boulder, Getty Research Institute and Harvard College. $1,500 BOOKVICA 6 Cover. No 03 Portrait. No 03 Illustration. No 03 Title page. No 03 BOOKVICA 7 04 [ART IN WORKERS’ CLUBS] Edinyi khudozhestvennyi kruzhok: Metody klubno-khudozhestvennoi raboty [i.e. United Art Club: Methods of Art Club Work]. Leningrad: Knizhnyi sektor GUBONO, 1924. 44 pp., 1 pl.: ill. 23x16 cm. Publisher’s Constructivist oversized wrappers. Very good. Wrappers rubbed, small tears of the lower margin of the wrappers, underlinings in text (pencil). First and only edition. Very rare. One of 5000 copies. This edition is a collection of articles on United Art Clubs including works by M. Brodsky (“Art as a Part of United Club’s Work”) and Adr. Piotrovsky (“Basics of Amateur Art”) with a short bibliography at the end and a visual scheme of Club’s work. The articles come with guidelines on how to organize work of each section being a part of whole organism of the Club. The originality of amateur art in the USSR was largely determined in the period of its formation in the 1920s and 1930s - the time of the breakdown of various ideologies and radical changes in the artistic life of the country and in society. The idea behind united art club was to combine every aspect of club work and life into one - art, literature, drama, sport, choir and put political section in charge of it. “United Art Club was a form of organization and functioning of art work at workers’ clubs. It was developed by theoreticians of cultural mass work in years from 1920 to 1925. This popular among methodists and political workers concept was nevertheless perceived negatively and scepticaly among those who practiced amateur art mostly for its impracticability and lack of social, personnel and material basis for its realization. The idea of the inspirers of the club was torn between the utopian idea of creating synthetic spectacular forms and the extremely utilitarian task of uniting and directing the work of all club teams to design social and political actions. … The theory of such clubs lost its relevance by 1925. Although it’s important to note that uniting collectives and groups in order to create dramatizations for special occasions was widespread for a long time”. (Sukhanova, T.A. Amateur artwork in Russia of the 20th century) Overall a very valuable source of rare materials for studying history of life and art of clubs and proletariat against the background of changing society and fights between politics and art. WorldCat locates a copy at the University of Chicago. $750 BOOKVICA 8 Chart of club’s sections. No 04 Cover. No 04 05 [AVANT-GARDE ART OF SOVIET WORKERS] Iskusstvo rabochikh: Kruzhki IZO rabochikh klubov Leningrada i masterskie ISO Oblpolitprosveta pri DPR im. Gertsena [i.e. Workers’ Art. Art Sections in Leningrad Workers’ Clubs and Art Studios of the Oblpolitprosvet at Hertsen DPR]. Leningrad: Gosud. russkii muzei, 1928. 72 pp.: ill. 18x14 cm. In original Constructivist wrappers designed by M.S. Brodsky. Very good. Bleak damp stains on the side margin throughout the book (not affecting text).