Matoušek, František and Josef Čapek.

[PIONEER OF CZECH ABSTRACT ART] Obrazy 1925. Obrazy knižně vydané [Paintings published in book form].

Prague: V komisi Ustř. studentského knihkupectví a nakladatelství, 1925. Octavo (19.5 × 15 cm). Original decorative wrappers; [5] pp., [10] leaves of black-and-white reproductions, [3] pp. of text. Very good. Item #54073

With a three-page introduction by artist and writer Josef Čapek, followed by ten reproductions of work by Matoušek (1901–1961), one of the first Czech surrealist painters, who made important early forays into abstraction. He was a classmate of Jindřich Štyrský and later joined the Devětsil Group, but he did not officially join the Czech Surrealist Group. This book evidently preceeded his first major exhibits: with the Devětsil Group in 1926, and three major retrospectives in Prague in 1930, 1933 and 1937. After 1939, his work was shown internationally, including in Paris, London, and New York. Matoušek also created the spare, yet striking cover design. In the late 1930s he spent much of his time in Paris and after the German occupation moved to London, where he founded the Czechoslovak School of Applied Arts in Chelsea.

Čapek’s preface notes the influence of Purism as well as Constructivism on the young painter, and also points out what makes these works unique: they were all created in order to be reproduced in book form, in order to increase their range. In his work on Czech photo-montage, Jindřich Toman notes: “Although not a book of picture poems, as announced by Teige, František Matoušek’s publication Images in Book Form is an important attempt to create art for print. The paintings were executed in black and white in anticipation of the black-and-white printing process” (Photo/Montage in Print, 115). Vloemans 50. Toman 3.3.28.

We have only seen one copy in the trade in the last ten years, the last copy handled by us (in 2018). As of December 2023, KVK and OCLC only show two copies in North America.