[Makovskii, S.] and Boris Grosser (design).

V[alentin] Serov. Tekst S. Makovskogo [Text by S. Makovsky].

Berlin-Paris: Izd-stvo A. E. Kogana "Russkoe iskusstvo", 1922. Small octavo (15.5 × 12.5 cm). Decorative wrappers by Boris Grosser; [6], 40 pp. Three mounted leaves of plates in color and nineteen black-and- white photographic reproductions on fine paper stock. Near fine. Item #P002148

An attractive edition showcasing the work of Valentin Serov (1865–1911), with a ten-page biographical sketch by Sergei Makovskii. Serov was a popular and widely influential Russian painter and portrait artist who was initially allied with the Itinerants (Peredvizhniki) and whose style gradually developed from an understated impressionism to a more overtly Modernist approach during his affiliation with “The World of Art” (after 1900). Decorative wrappers, as well as Kogan's elaborate publisher's emblem, designed by Boris Grosser (1889–1982), a French Jewish artist of Russian birth who illustrated numerous books published by Russian emigres with his distinctive woodcut designs. After studying with Bilibin, Grosser continued his training in Munich and Paris. After 1918, he lived in Odessa and in 1920 he emigrated, settling in Paris after 1921. He collaborated with numerous publishing houses in Paris, Berlin, and Holland, illustrating the works of Ivan Bunin, Vladimir Nabokov and many others. Grosser remains an understudied part of Russian book design and illustration abroad.

Price: €75.00

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