Telingater, Solomon, artist.

[SOVIET AVANT-GARDE – CONSTRUCTIVISM] Katalog knig 1929. Khudozhestvennaia literatura. Memuarnaia literatura [Book catalog 1929. Literary fiction. Memoires].

Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel’stvo, 1929. Octavo (19.8 × 13.5 cm). Original decorative wrappers; 106 pp. with four sections of different width, forming a tabbed structure. Signed and inscribed by Aleksandra Miroliubova to Galina Chichagova on title. Light soil to wrappers; wrapper corners scuffed; still about very good. Item #55047

A Constructivist time capsule, this catalog of fiction and memoir publications compiled by Gosizdat (the Soviet State Publisher), with original typographic design by the graphic artist Solomon Telingater (1903–1969), is inscribed by fellow Constructivist artist Aleksandra Miroliubova: "To the famous Constructivist Galina Dmitrievna Chichagova as a sign of great and everlasting friendship, from your best friend. 1917–1963”. The tabbed sections of the catalog are reminiscent of Telingater and El Lissitzky’s collaborative projects, such as the 1927 exhibition catalog on typography "All-Union Printing Trades Exhibition: Guidebook". As Rowell and Wye write: "Despite the content that was far from seductive, these volumes show a remarkable graphic invention, sometimes imaginatively inspired by this very content, and designed for popular appeal" (See: MoMA: The Russian Avant-Garde Book 1910–1934, p. 222). Born in Tiflis (Georgia), Telingater studied at VKhUTEMAS in 1920–1921, often dubbed the Bauhaus of the Soviet Union for its experimental edge. In addition to working on books and catalogs such as this one, Telingater did layout design for the Constructivist architecture periodical "CA" (Contemporary Architecture), as well as architectural periodicals "SSSR na stroike" (USSR in Construction) and "Stroitel’stvo Moskvy" (Construction of Moscow).

The author of the inscription, Aleksandra Miroliubova (1898–1987), and the addressee Galina Chichagova (1891–1967) also studied at VKhUTEMAS with artists such as Aleksandr Rodchenko and Liubov Popova. Galina Chichagova, and her sister Olga Chichagova, were part of the first working group of Constructivists headed by Rodchenko, and would go on to incorporate Constructivist design into Soviet children’s books. They also famously experimented with typography, turning letters into design elements, with the present volume by Telingater engaging in similar graphic play.

This volume is no. 838 in Rowell/Wye, The Russian Avant-Garde Book (pictured on p. 230).

As of March 2025, KVK, OCLC show five copies worldwide, of which two in North America.

Price: €2,500.00

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