Barr-Sharrar, Beryl & Pierre Lecuire
A remarkable sketchbook with 25 original gouache paintings (there is no work number 14) by Beryl Barr-Sharrar, for Pierre Lecuire. Small oblong octavo (8 1/8 x 5 1/4 inches). Cardboard covers, metal spiral binding. Some light bumping to edges, paintings in beautiful and bright condition, overall excellent. N.p. (Paris), 1968. This beautiful notebook is inscribed inside the front cover, "Pour Pierre de Beryl, 20 Août, 1968, ces 25 esquisses en couleurs". The title is hand-written on the front cover, and a date of 1965 given under Barr-Sharrar's name. There is also a hand-written note from Lecuire, which mentions that Béryl was his neighbor in Paris in the 1960's and was married first to sculptor Roger Barr and then to Bill Rubin of the Museum of Modern Art, and has since returned to New York. Beryl Barr-Sharrar (b. 1935) is an American artist who studied the American Abstract Expressionists in Berkeley and New York before moving to Paris in the 1960's and beginning her career as a professional artist. In 1962 she co-founded the College Art Study Abroad program, and served as its director until she returned to the United States in 1968. She taught painting and printmaking at Mount Holyoke, and in 1970 began studying classical archaeology at the IFA at New York University. She continued to paint and exhibit her work for several years but after 1980, focused primarily on her academic career. A handful of years ago, she returned to exhibiting her work as a painter with a three-person show in Long Island City, in 2016. Her work was exhibited at the Lucian Durand Gallery in 1967, and of her paintings it was said, "Beryl Barr-Sharrar's work has the vigor and know-how of American action painting at its best, and the refinement of color of the School of Paris. The result is both captivating and awe-inspiring." Pierre Lecuire (1922-2013) was a French poet and publisher who collaborated closely with numerous artists to design and publish beautifully crafted books. It is unclear how exactly Lecuire and Barr-Sharrar crossed paths, but perhaps he became aware of her work during those exhibitions in Paris in the late 1960s. The 25 small paintings in this sketchbook showcase Barr-Sharrar's study of Abstract Expressionism and her bold use of color. A beautiful and unique volume of original art.
Torino, 1932-1934. Tabloid/folio (approx. 56 x 41.5 cm). Original self-wrappers; each issue 8 pp. Some browning to paper, toning, light scattered foxing, some issues with tears along fold lines, overall good condition. Twelve issues in eleven fascicules (Year I, Nos. 1 and 3-6; Year III, Nos. 3-9) of the important Italian Futurist architecture journal, under the direction of Fillia, a leader in the Futurist movement, with editorial assistance and contributions from other noted Futurist artists and figures including Alberto Sartoris, Enrico Prampolini, Nicolay Diulgheroff, Gino Levi-Montalcini, Mino Rosso, Gerardo Dottori, Filippo Marinetti, Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, Bruno Sanzin, Emilio Odorizio, Pippo Oriani, Italo Lorio and many others, covering topics in domestic and international architecture including functional architecture, modern furniture design, aeropainting, Futurist landscape painting, public architecture, contemporary church architecture, African architecture, urbanism and ruralism, kitchen design, iron construction, Fascist architecture, new building construction in Spain, and many others. Illustrated throughout primarily from photographs. Fillia (Luigi Colombo) helped to establish the Futurist movement in 1923, and quickly became the group's leader and its principal theorist. He published a number of journals including Futurismo, Ventrina Futurista, La Città Futurista, Stile Futurista, and La Città Nuova, co-authored the Manifesto of Futurist Cooking with Marinetti, and designed the Futurist Pavilion at the 1928 International Exhibition in Turin. An excellent and scarce example from the height of the Futurist movement; as of October 2023, OCLC locates only four holdings in the United States.
Paris: 1945-1951. Octavos (19 x 12.7 to 21 x 14 cm). Original printed paper wrappers, housed in fitted archival slipcase; 16, 16, 40, 46, 30 pp. Some light toning, overall excellent. A rare complete collection in five fascicules of the Surrealist magazine under the editorial direction of French poet Michel Fardoulis-Lagrange. Cofounded with Jean Maquet, and with the collaboration of René de Solier and Raoul Ubac, five total issues were published. Speaking later on the spirit behind the journal, Fardoulis said "Nous avions fait une croix sur le sartrisme et le surréalisme, l'un pour sa conception de l'engagement, l'autre pour ses manifestations scandaleuses. Nous voulions nous situer ailleurs, dans le domaine de l'extériorité, c'est-à-dire dans le mythe du langage." He and Maquet chose the title after a famous line from André Breton, and meant to signify not a complete departure from Surrealism, but a slight shift in direction and approach. The issues contain brief works of prose and poetry with an occasional illustration, with contributions from Fardoulis, Maquet, de Solier, and Ubac, along with Francis Picabia, Louis Richet, Pierre Fallot, Georges Bataille, Marcel Lecomte, Georges Hénein, Georges Lambrichs, Antonin Artaud, René Char, Roger Gilbert-Lecomte, Jean Pfeiffer, Arthur Adamov, Raymond Michelet, Jean Grenier, Robert Cregut, Charles Cuits, and Yves Bonnefoy.
Roma/Foligno: Franco Campitelli, 1931. Duodecimo (19.2 x 13.2 cm). Original illustrated wrappers with cover illustration by Mario Mafai; (2), 432, (4) pp. Some signatures coming loose from binding, overall very good. A small Futurist Italian art almanac, conceived of and compiled by Carlo d'Aloisio da Vasto. This volume features a colver illustration by Mario Mafai and writings by Luciano Folgore, Corrado Pavolini, Luigi Bartolini, C. Govoni, Alfredo Casella, G.B. Angioletti, Alberto Sartoris, Massimo Bontempelli, Vincenzo Costantini, Gerardo Dottori, Anton Bragaglia, and others, as well as illustrations by numerous artists including Morandi, De Pisis, Carrà, Casorati, Soffici, Spadini, and A. Martini. Other volumes were published in 1930 and 1932, but as of October 2023, OCLC locates only 2 holdings of the 1931 almanac in North American libraries.
The single unique issue published of the special journal devoted to Marinetti, 4 pp., edited by Mino Somenzi, containing a "Manifesto per le Onoranze Nazionali a F.T. Marinetti", an homage to Marinetti by Marco Ramperti, poetry, and other articles with titles such as "Lo spirito profetico di Marinetti", "L'influenza mondiale di Marinetti e del Futurismo", and "Il significato del I Congresso futurista." Scattered illustrations. Some creasing, toning, small closed tears and edgewear. Elephant folio. Original self-wrpps. N.p. (Milan) (Cavenaghi & Pinell) n.d. (1924). Mino Somenzi was an early member of the Futurist movement. He founded and directed the Istituto Fascista di Propaganda Nazionale in Milan in 1923, and continued his involvement with Futurism after moving to Rome in 1926. In 1929, he was among the editors of the Manifesto dell'Aeropittura Futurista, along with Marinetti, Balla, Fortunato Depero, Gerardo Dottori, Fillia, and others. In May 1932 he founded the important journal "Futurismo", which became the official publication of the Futurist movement. In 1933 he organized the first national Futurist art exhibition at Piazza Adriana in Rome. As of January 2020, WorldCat locates only 4 holdings of this unique publication in North American libraries.
Paris: Éditions Réverberes, 1928. Octavo (21 ×13.5 cm). Original printed wrappers; unpaginated (33 pp.) including a frontispiece after a drawing by Jean Marembert. Overall very good condition. Limited edition of 300 copies. Rare volume of poems published by the neo-Dadaist group Les Réverbères, which was founded in December 1937 by Michel Tapié, Jean Marembert, Jacques Office, Pierre Minne, and Henri Bernard, and which promoted Dadaist exhibitions, jazz concerts, stage performances, and published literary works. Among the exhibitors were: Louis Cattiaux, Marembert, Pierre Minne, Tapié, as well as members of the "La Main à plume" surrealist group: Noël Arnaud, Marc Patin, Jean-François Chabrun, and others. Among other events, the group also organized "Tribute to Dada" soirées, which featured readings of texts by Tristan Tzara, Ribemont-Dessaignes, and others. In "Art of the Defeat: France 1940-1944," Laurence Bertrand Dorléac asserts that the group still met for several gatherings retaining the spirit of the 1930s even after the German occupation of France in June 1940. The Neo-Dadaist activities around Michel Tapié have not been explored to any significant degree and are rarely mentioned in passing in the literature on Dada and Surrealism. One exception is Michel Fauré's book "Histoire du surréalisme sous l'Occupation", published in 1982. The reason for the sparse state of research is probably that the experimental, elaborate avant-garde prints, most of which were produced in very small editions, are hardly accessible due to their rarity. Very scarce; as of December 2023, OCLC lists only 2 copies in North America.
Vols. I and III. Modan ko jutaku sekkei gurafu Nos. 1 and 2 [On the design of small modern houses]. II. Modan ko shoten sekkei gurafu [Design of small modern shops]. IV. Torokkenbau no ie - Kanshikikozo no ie [Trockenbau - Dry construction], each volume with 4 pages of text and 20 illustrated plates. Octavos (10 1/8 x 7 1/4 inches). Original illustrated cardstock wrappers with metal spiral bindings. Scattered foxing and toning to covers, small losses to binding of volume IV, light browning and foxing to interiors, overall very good. Tokyo (Koyosha) 1932-1933. Renshichiro Kawakita (1902-1975) was an important Japanese Modernist architect who studied the works of the Viennese Secession architects and the Bauhaus. Early in his career he worked on urban planning proposals and designed theaters, outdoor cinemas, and other public spaces. He was a founding member of the Shinko Kenchiku Renmei (League for New Architects) in 1930, and that same year was one of the group of international architects invited to submit a proposal for the design of the new Ukrainian National Theatre. He was the only Japanese architect to reach the final round of applicants. In 1931, he cofounded the Seikatsu Kosei Kenkyusho (Research Institute of Construction), together with Ken Ichiura, Takehiko Mizutani, Masuji Hamada, Sadanosuke Nakada, Takao Itagaki, and Isaku Ishimura. The institute was founded primarily to hold exhibitions and give lectures, and in November of that year began publication of the journal "Kenchiku Kogei. I See All". The same group together opened a school the following year, the Shikenchiku Kogei Gakuin (School of New Architeture and Design), with the goal of providing "theoretical and technical education for designers with excellent abilities in architecture and crafts for the new age." In the mid-1930s, Kawakita was running the Kawakita Renshichiro Tenbonoritsu Kenkyusho (Renshichiro Kawakita Institute for Efficient Management of Shop and Merchandise) and undertaking a much larger number of shop design projects. His style of shop design quickly became popular all over Japan; by October 1939, 864 shops in Japan and abroad were using the "Kawakita style". These four volumes contain examples of designs for houses, shops, and other types of construction primarily by Kawakita, but also feature designs or contributions by other artists and architects. The first set has examples of designs by Van Doesburg - Rietveld and Sharoun. Volume II has examples of typography by Josef Albers and Herbert Bayer, and Volume IV presents creations by Kawakita along with Mendelsohn, Gropius, Gellhorn, Hilberseimer, Häring, Ichiura, and others. As of January 2024, we could not find any record of these titles through OCLC.
