68 Original Pop-Art & Cobra Graphics
Limited edition of 2000 copies, Elephant Folio, 176 pages
Edited by Sam Francis (1923-1994)
Published by E.W. Kornfeld, Bern, Switzerland
Dimensions:
Book: H: 16 3/8” x W: 12”
Custom leather box: H: 18 1/16” x W: 13” x D: 2 7/16”
Custom silk slipcase” H: 19 1/8” x W: 13 7/8” x D: 3 3/16”
Artists that contributed original graphic work illustrating Walasse Ting’s poetry for this volume include: Pierre Alechinsky (5), Karel Appel (5), Enrico Baj (2), Alan Davie (3), Jim Dine (2), Sam Francis (6), Robert Indiana (2), Alfred Jensen (3), Asger Jorn (2), Allan Kaprow, Alfred Leslie (2), Roy Lichtenstein (2 + cover), Joan Mitchell, Claes Oldenburg (3), Mel Ramos (2), Robert Rauschenberg (2), James Rosenquist, Bram Van Velde, Andy Warhol, and Tom Wesselman (2).
Walasse Ting, born in Shanghai, is a self-taught painter, sculptor, graphic artist and poet. Leaving China in 1949 to travel, he reached Paris in 1953 and became acquainted with artists Karel Appel, Asger Jorn and Pierre Alechinsky, members of the avant-garde group known as COBRA. Since 1963, he has lived in New York.
“Ting wanted to publish the most international illustrated book, intended to illustrate his text, uniting tachisme, neo-dadaisme, pop art, and all other artistic movements. The idea was born from global experience, close contact with culture, pseudo-culture, primitive existential worries, urban erotic and eastern wisdom.. It was a Herculean task, for which only a Chinese would have been able to muster the perseverance” – E. W. Kornfeld.
Hunt and Roskell in alliance with J. W. Benson 18k gold pomander / vinaigrette in the form of an apple, marked, original red leather box, c. 1897
Hunt and Roskell in alliance with J. W. Benson 18k gold pomander / vinaigrette in the form of an apple, Marked: 307049 (British Registration mark), J.W.B. makers mark and British gold hallmarks original red leather box, c. 1897
The Tale of the Golden Apple
It was the wedding of Peleus and Thetis (the parents of Achilles) that the Goddess Elis threw a golden apple into the assembled crowd. Upon the surface of the fruit was etched “To The Faires”. Three goddesses laid claim upon the apple; Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. It was decided by Zeus, king of the Gods, that Paris of Troy should mediate the dispute. After bathing in the spring of Mount Ida, the three presented themselves to Paris. It was decided that Aphrodite, the Goddess of love and beauty, had the superior claim and that the golden apple belonged to her.
Pierre Sterlé Paris, “Hummingbird” brooch, carved natural ruby in zoisite mounted in 18K gold set with diamonds set in platinum, original suede box, signed, c. 1950’s
Jules & Louis Wiese Etruscan Revival brooch set with a gem quality cabochon ruby (approx. 4.32 carats by calculation) and two natural pearls (7mm each) all in an elaborate 18k gold mount with intricate twisted scrolls and a gold wire wrapped border signed: Wiese (in Gothic-style signature mark), French diamond maker’s poincon, French Eagle’s head mark for 18k gold, original burgundy leather presentation box with fancy embossed gilt initials on the cover and a vanilla silk velvet and satin interior, c.1875
Andre Lanskoy, Maurice Beaufume, Pierre Lecuire, “Cortege” 1959
ANDRE LANSKOY (1902-1976) France
MAURICE BEAUFUME
PIERRE LECUIRE
“Cortege” 1959
64pp, 25 illustrations by Andre Lanskoy and Maurice Beaufume
Cortège is now often compared to “Jazz” as perhaps the finest example of
pochoir in the postwar period. Printed on Arches Vellum paper.
Dimensions:
Book: H: 18” x W: 13 3/8” x D: 1 7/8”
Custom leather box 2008: H: 20 ¼” x W: 15” x D: 4 ½”
Custom silk slipcase: H: 21 ½” x W: 15 5/8” x D: 5 3/8”
The artworks of André Lanskoy (1902-1976) are more than abstractions—they are juxtapositions of shapes, assemblages of colors and studies that explore the interfacing of language with visual imagery. A pioneer of Tachism, an artistic movement of the 1940s and 1950s also known as Art Informel or Lyrical Abstraction, Lanskoy emphasized the spontaneous in his paintings, combining surges of pure color with more subtle modulations. His efforts to translate language into abstract visual messages are most evident in two of his bold projects: a rare screen-printed textile and his vivid collages for Pierre Lecuire’s book, Cortège.
Born in Moscow, Lanskoy spent his youth in Russia; in 1921, he moved to Paris and studied at the Académie de la Grande-Chaumière. His first non-figurative works were painted in 1937, with his first Parisian exhibition of abstractions in 1944. As a painter, Lanskoy gave primacy to color, and this holds true for his textile design, Egypte. In 1946, French industrialist Jean Bauret invited several Tachist artists—including Serge Poliakoff, André Beaudin and Henri Michaux—to experiment with designs for furnishing textiles. One of Lanskoy’s contributions to this series was an expressive interpretation of the complex pictorial characters of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. The relationship between the Egyptian writing system and his own glyphs is mainly conceptual: the symbols Lanskoy invented have no inherent meaning, yet their careful placement suggests a text that is meant to be read. Contrasting with the neutral ground, the centered, vertical column is a grid of rectangular cells containing six repeating compilations of mysterious, hieroglyphic-inspired shapes. These cartouche-like compartments are bordered on each side by narrow strips of color blocks with voided linear abstractions. The intense purple and teal hues and vibrant reds and yellow are typical of Lanskoy’s exaltation of color.
Working within the theme of synthesizing language, color and form, Lanskoy tried his hand at an exciting tradition: the livre d’artiste. His first project was a collaboration with poet Pierre Lecuire; their masterpiece Cortège, arguably one of the finest artist-books ever produced, is a dazzling symbiosis of literary and visual material. Lecuire first met Lanskoy in 1948; ten years later, he would enlist his friend to illustrate the long prose poem. At Lecuire’s suggestion, Lanskoy created a series of twenty-four compositions for the book in the papiers collés method; his challenge was to interpret Lecuire’s writing into bold, graphic statements. The author’s opening lines set the tone for Lanskoy’s luminous color harmonies: “This book is a cortège. It has its colors, action and animation. It blazes, it proclaims one knows not which passion, which justice; it flows like the course of a navigation….” As he achieved with Egypte, the vibrant, saturated tints of the abstractions on these particular plates create a language of their own, while the lively arrangement of crisp and jagged forms shows an affinity with the rhythmic cadence of communication.
Remarkable for their dense bursts of color and unfamiliar shapes, the series of collages was masterfully executed in pochoir by colorist Maurice Beaufumé under Lanskoy’s personal direction. The bold, oversized text was printed by Marthe Fequet and Pierre Baudier, and Cortège was released in Paris, December 1959
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