Kolář, Jiří.

[CZECH CONCRETE POETRY] Gersaintův vývěsní štít [A signboard for Gersaint].

Prague: Artia (printed by Svoboda), 1966. Quarto (24 x 17.5 cm). Gatherings loosely inserted in printed wrappers, as issued; [10] pp. of preliminary matter; [30] pp. of reproduced works of concrete poetry. Very good; small tear to front panel; two unidentified signatures to flap. Item #P003817

A distinguished Czech artist and poet, Kolář (1914–2002) was the co-founder of the existentialist post-war group “Skupina 42” (Group 42) and ultimately became best known for his innovative collages. His period of visual experimentation began with an interest in concrete poetry in the 1960s, while part of the Kavárna Slavia group along with Václav Havel and Josef Hiršal. Taking its name from Watteau's painting, this publication gathers thirty "silent poems" consisting of dense typographic arrangements, each dedicated to a key modernist artist and, at times, vaguely evoking their individual styles. The artists thus honored include Albers, Bill, Brancusi, Calder, Duchamp, Kandinsky, Kupka, Lissitzky, Malevich, Moholy-Nagy, Mondrian, Rothko, Tinguely, Schwitters, Stazewski, Pollock, and others. The book was also published in French and English variants, although all editions are scarce. The text part contains a short biography and overview of the artist's work, as well as exhibitions and gallery holdings.

Outside the Czech Republic, KVK, OCLC show no copies of this Czech edition in North America (we can trace one copy of the French and two of the English edition in American libraries as of April 2025).

Price: €450.00

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