Lot 40
  • 40

Kandinsky, Wassily

Estimate
15,000 - 18,000 USD
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Description

  • Klänge. Munich: R. Piper, [1912–13]
  • paper, ink, leather
4to (11 1/8 x 11 in.; 283 x 279 mm).  56 woodcuts by Kandinsky, (24 full page, 12 color); light browning at edges of first few leaves.  Publisher's quarter cloth, spine gilt lettered, red paper boards with gilt-stamped designs after Kandinsky; spine somewhat faded, some wear and soiling, narrow 4-inch strip of abrasion on front cover with minor loss to gilt-stamping.  Modern brick-red buckram clamshell-case, printed paper labels.

Literature

The Artist and the Book 138; Carey and Griffiths, The Print in Germany 1880–1933, no. 240; Castleman, Century 144; Manet to Hockney 31; Roethal, Kandinsky 96–141; Rosenwald, Vision of a Collector 69.

Condition

Condition as described in catalogue entry.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

First edition of "one of the earliest artist's books to contain nonrepresentational art" (Rosenwald). Copy 284 of 300, signed by Kandinsky. This influential modern work is both visually appealing and textually intriguing: an admixture of color, sound and meaning. Although it was the first illustrated book of the newly formed German Expressionist movement, it was also embraced by the Dadaists. The texts were performed at the legendary Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich.

A combination of prose poems and abstract and semi-abstract images, Klänge is "one of the most beautiful books of the twentieth century" (Carey and Griffiths). A very attractive copy.