DE
STIJL (MOMA Bulletin)
Museum of Modern Art. 1952-53.7 1/2" by 10". Museum of Modern
Art Bulletin: Vol.XX, No.2. Winter 1952-1953. Issued on the occasion of
a de Stijl exhibition. 13 pages. Pamplet, stapled. Black and white illustrations.
Chronology and introductory essay by Alfred H, Barr, Jr.; foreword by
Philip C. Johnson. Paintings, furniture, and architecture by the de Stijl
artists, including Mondrian, Van Doesburg, and Rietveld. The de Stijl
group (Dutch for "The Style") were artists of the 1920's who
were influenced by some of the ideas of DaDa. They had a utopian approach
to aesthetics, with spiritual underpinnings. They were crazy about strict
geometry and particularly fond of rectangles. They used only primary colors
of red, blue and yellow along with black and white. The design style of
the Bauhaus group owed a great deal to the de Stijl group, some of whom
joined the school as teachers. Do not look for purple or curves here;
you will be disappointed.
CONDITION: Wear along stapled edge. Bits of lower left corner and top
left corner missing. Crease across lower left corner. Back cover dirty
with some brown water damage spots. Old price in pen upper corner first
page. One brown spot on each of last three pages. $6
BEAUTY
IN THE MAKING: A GUIDE TO THE POTTERIES OF GUSTAVSBERG (Softcover Booklet)
This publication gives a behind-the-scenes look at the design and manufacture
of Gustavsberg pottery. Gustavsberg pottery was made just outside of Stockholm,
Sweden. The factory was established in 1827, but today they are known
for their modernist pottery of the 1950s and the work of playful designers
like Stig Lindberg. The Argenta series (teal green-glazed pottery with
applied silver decorations) is particularly famous. This brochure goes
into great detail, with lots of techinical information, numerous color
plates, and even a discussion of their workers' housing--very interesting
as the pottery concern owned the entire town! See pics of many content
employees wearing reindeer sweaters.
CONDITION: Excellent condition with no marks on interior or cover. Cover
has very slight wear to spine. $8 SOLD!
KANDINSKY'S
TEACHING AT THE BAUHAUS: COLOR THEORY AND ANALYTICAL DRAWING by CLARK
V. POLING (First American Edition)
Rizzoli, 1986. No dustjacket. Not stated, but I believe this to be the
First American Edition. 160 pages. 178 illustrations, many in color (as
they should be, considering the subject). Originally published in German.
An interesting look at Kandinsky's art courses at the Bauhaus. Born in
Russia in 1866, Kandinsky began teaching at the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1922.
He followed the school's moves to Dessau and Berlin. Kandinsky was a painter,
a printmaker, a stage designer, a decorative artist, and a theorist. His
early work contained images of the "real world" but these gave
way to pure abstraction. Kandinsky became world famous and was proclaimed
the theoretician and leading figure of abstract painting. Kandinsky's
teachings focused on forms, colors and their interelationships. There
are plenty of pretty color wheels in this volume. Example of Kandinksy's
drawings and paintings --as well as those of his students--illustrate
the principles he espoused.
CONDITION: Dustjacket missing. Slight bow to binding. Interior pages clean
and white and tight. Color plates look great. Front endpaper has some
penciled notes (OP, AS IS, and a small spiral), also a sticky square where
there used to be a price sticker. Black cloth cover has wear, with a faint
circle on the front, probably from someone who did not use a coaster.
Also a white smudge on the backside. $25
MODERN
ART IN EVERYDAY LIFE by ROBERT GOLDWATER
Harry Abrams, 1955. Pamphlet with stapled binding. 23 pages. Art Treasures
of the World. Explores the relationship between fine and applied arts,
modern art and modern living. Illustrated with black and white plates
of modern iconic designs including the Olson Kleenex box, Mondrian paintings,
Breuer house, Eames chair, etc. Juxtaposes "fine art" against
everyday objects (example: a Tanguy painting compared to surreal Stan
Kenton LP art.) Robert Goldwasser was Associate Professor of Art at Queens
College. Original cost a buck, and wouldn't it have been interesting if
they had redesigned the dollar bill to resemble a Dali drawing? No such
luck.
CONDITION: Pages are clean and tight. Cover has a large crease across
the bottom right corner and wear along the stapled edge. No marks. $6
THE
HOUSE IN MY HEAD by DOROTHY RODGERS
Avenel Books, 1967. Reprint. 254 pages. approx. 10"x7". Chronicles
the building of a Fairfield, Connecticut "dream house" from
conception to realization. From general ideas to finished product, this
book takes a step-by-step look at the creation of a home, including its
design, construction, and decoration. The architect was John Stonehill.
The decor is conservative French Provincial and a bit stodgy for the 60s,
with lots of flowered upholstery and too much brown for my taste. Yet
there seems to be a real Picasso on the wall, a nice touch. There is also
a section about cooking and entertaining, with 36 menus and 78 recipes.
Dorothy was the wife of the composer Richard Rodgers. If you go by this
book, you might believe that the Rodgers had a picture perfect life. Check
other sources, and you will discover that Richard Rodgers was a philandering,
critical, depressed man and, according to Stephen Sondheim, Dorothy was
"genuinely an awful person". Imagine her popping Demerol in
the living room, if you must. Their daughter Mary claimed that they were
"crazy, disturbed, unhappy, miserable people" and that "We
were just living this gigantic lie." Still, the in-ground pool is
nice.
CONDITION: Interior in lovely shape with crisp, clean pages and tight
binding. No marks at all. Brown and yellow cloth cover has a bit of wear
to top and bottom of spine. Dustjacket not price-clipped ($10 price).
Top and bottom edge of dj is ragged in places with some chips. There are
two one inch tears at the top front cover, visible in picture. Also one
tear about 2 1/2 inches long upper left corner of back cover. $8