05-21-201005-22-2010
Skinner Auctions
Skinner AuctionsBoston MA
2507Boston
May 21, 2010 12:00 PMCalender
67

Max Ernst (German, 1891-1976),Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983) and Yves Tanguy (French/American, 1900-1955),illustrators LAntitête, b

Sell one like this
$53,325$45,000
Auction: American & European Works of Art - 2507Location: BostonDate / Time: May 21, 2010 12:00PM

Description:

Max Ernst (German, 1891-1976),Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983) and

Yves Tanguy (French/American, 1900-1955),illustrators

L'Antitête,
by Tristan Tzara, published in three volumes in 1949 by Bordas, Paris, total edition of 200, each volume unbound one with eight hand-colored etchings by Ernst, one with eight hand-colored etchings by Miró, and one with seven hand-colored etchings by Tanguy plus the same number of etchings en suite plus a single cancelled plate by Ernst. Each volume signed by the artist and the author in ink, the Ernst volume with an inscription to Nelson A. Rockefeller in the author's hand and an inscription in the artist's hand, each numbered "11" on the justification page. Approximately 5 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. (14.5 x 11.5 cm),in vellum covers and together in a single slip case.
Condition: Wear to slip case, each inscribed "ex libris Nelson A. Rockefeller" to inside cover.

Provenance: Ex-collection of Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, New York; purchased from Coleart, Inc., New York, 1977; the estate of Mary Lee Ingbar, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

N.B. Tzara was a member of the Dada movement and later joined the Surrealists. L'Antitête was written as three anthologies, and in this second edition of the work, each artist illustrated one volume - Ernst the first, Tanguy the second, and Miró the last. The first edition had a frontispiece by Picasso, but this illustration had only a cursory relationship to the text. In the edition presented here, not only do the illustrations relate directly to the text, but the scale of the publication makes for close reading, both literally and figuratively, allowing for a very intimate relationship between reader and volume.

The lot is accompanied by a copy of Eleanor M. Garvey's The Artist and the Book: 1860-1960 in Western Europe and the United States (Museum of Fine Arts: Boston & Harvard College Library: Cambridge, 1961).
Estimate $40,000-60,000

The covers are loose vellum with silver text. The sheets are unbound, but are in clean, fresh condition with only the very edges faintly toned. The pagination is complete.

Keywords

Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, Tristan Tzara, Cambridge, Paris, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, Mary Lee Ingbar, Massachusetts, Coleart Inc., Dada, Eleanor M. Garvey, United States, Western Europe, Harvard College, Harvard College Library