David HOCKNEY. Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm with original etchings by David Hockney.
London. Petersburg Press. 1970. (47.3 x 32.1 x 4.8 cm). Original polished blue calf-covered boards, with matching slipcase. Illustrated with 39 original etchings by David Hockney printed throughout the text, most with aquatint and some with drypoint.
Hockney chose six from the 220 stories collected by the Brothers Grimm, selecting those which challenged his imagination to give visual form to the oddities of the narrative and supernatural elements in them. He was intrigued by the psychological strangeness of the tales, the relationships and motivations of the characters. As always in his work, Hockney makes extensive use of the art of the past, and there are direct allusions to Uccello, Carpaccio, Leonardo da Vinci, Brueghel and Magritte. He sees this as a natural method, revitalising an artistic heritage in terms of the legacy of folklore. Etching proved an ideal medium for Hockney to convey the clarity and directness of the stories.
Published in four editions, each of 100 copies, with this copy from Edition A, signed and numbered by Hockney on the colophon page. Complete with the additional suite of six signed etchings: A wooded landscape; Rapunzel growing in the garden; Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair; The sexton disguised as a ghost; A room full of straw; Pleading for the child. The six signed etchings are also annotated 'Grimm, Ed. A’ and numbered in sepia ink on the reverse.
[Ref. Scottish Arts Council 70-108; Museum of Contemporary Art Toyko 67-105].
Martin KIPPENBERGER. Durch die Pubertät zum Erfolg. [Through Puberty to Success].
Berlin. Neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst. 1981. (21.6 x 15.3 cm). Publisher's wrappers. pp. 160. With 155 black-and-white illustrations.
Published on the occasion of Kippenberger's first solo exhibition at a museum. Includes texts, letters, and diary notes by Kippenberger, who names himself WERNER Kippenberger - many of the exhibited works are painted by the cinema poster painter Werner. The front cover image shows Kippenberger in the pose of Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels - the same photo had been used by the artist for a concert poster promoting a New York gig of Kippenberger's band "Luxus". Published in an edition of 500 copies.
This copy with a wonderfully inebriated inscription from Kippenberger on the title page: “Ich trinke Bier so gehts nicht nur dir, für Thomas + Konsorten K.” (translation. “I drink beer so it's not just you”). Additionally stamped with the ‘Paris Bar’ pink stamp. Michel Würthle's and Reinald Nohal’s Paris Bar was Kippenberger’s favourite Berlin haunt, which has since become inextricably linked with his life and work. Kippenberger felt at home in the Paris Bar, not least after his 1980 exchange with Würthle, his first art 'sale': free food and drink for himself and his companions for the rest of his life in exchange for his series of paintings, Uno di voi, un tedesco a Firenze. That series hung in the Paris Bar for a decade, from 1981 to 1991, having been hung by Kippenberger himself. This copy of the book is intriguingly stained with beer on its covers, so no doubt this copy was suitably inscribed by Kippenberger during one of his notorious drinking sessions in the bar in 1981. [Ref. Uwe Koch - Annotated catalogue raisonné of the books by Martin Kippenberger 1977-1997, no. 10].
Wolf VOSTELL. V 40 (Vostell 40 Jahre alt).
Milan. Multhipla. 1976. The complete set of 21 prints by Wolf Vostell (ten black-and-white lithographs of photos on cardboard & 11 colour silkscreens on cardboard). Each print signed and numbered from the edition of 100.
Size 50 x 65 cm. each, housed in original large black leather folio briefcase.
Gerhard RICHTER. Gerhard Richter. Graue Bilder. 4. Dezember 1974 bis 12. Januar 1975.
Städtisches Museum Mönchengladbach. 1974. Box (20.3 x 16 x 2.8 cm). Cardboard box with text by Johannes Cladders on card insert, and cardboard leporello with 12 black-and-white offset illustrations.
Exhibition catalogue in the form of a box. The inner side of the lid is spray-painted by Richter with grey anti-rust paint. From the edition limited to 330 numbered copies.
[Ref. Butin & Gronert - Gerhard Richter Editions, no.54].
