Avant-Garde

Exhibition ephemera, printed matter, and documents from the historical avant-garde — spanning Futurism, Constructivism, Dada, Surrealism, and related movements of the twentieth century.

  • Original 1978 Kathy Acker The Adult Life of Toulouse Lautrec by Henri Toulouse Lautrec paperback, TVRT Press and Printed Matter, New York. Front cover with black-and-white photographic image of two pairs of legs, one in stockings raised in the air, the other bare and low. Title in lowercase serif type: all she wants is love... Publisher imprints PM and TVRT Press at foot with ISBN 0-931106-21-4. Original price $4.50 at top left. Covers with age toning and surface wear. Reverse of 1978 Kathy Acker The Adult Life of Toulouse Lautrec by Henri Toulouse Lautrec, TVRT Press and Printed Matter. Back cover with black-and-white photographic image of intertwined bare limbs and hands. Title and author credit in white serif type at lower centre: The Adult Life of Toulouse Lautrec / By Henri Toulouse Lautrec. Age toning and surface scuffing to covers.

    Kathy Acker — The Adult Life of Toulouse Lautrec by Henri Toulouse Lautrec (1978)

    Kathy Acker — The Adult Life of Toulouse Lautrec by Henri Toulouse Lautrec (1978)

  • Original 1991 Kathy Acker Hannibal Lecter, My Father paperback, Semiotext(e) Native Agents Series, New York. Front cover in vivid pink with repeating text pattern in lighter pink forming the background, overlaid with bold black title lettering and author name. Printed wrappers in good condition with minor shelf wear. Reverse of 1991 Kathy Acker Hannibal Lecter, My Father paperback, Semiotext(e) Native Agents Series. Back cover in magenta-pink showing a halftone portrait photograph of Acker and the text: This writing is all fake (copied from other writing) so you should go away and not read any of it. ISBN and series imprint at foot.

    Kathy Acker — Hannibal Lecter, My Father (1991)

    Kathy Acker — Hannibal Lecter, My Father (1991)

  • Original 1968 Hans Bellmer exhibition catalogue, Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Stockholm — cover reproducing a Bellmer line drawing of a female figure tightly bound and folded, contour lines describing compressed flesh and limbs in a crouching posture; HANS BELLMER in spaced serif capitals below; SVENSK-FRANSKA / KONSTGALLERIET in two lines at foot. Inside spread of 1968 Hans Bellmer exhibition catalogue, Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Stockholm — left panel with Swedish biographical text on Hans Bellmer (born Katowice, Poland, 1902), noting his connections to Grosz, Heartfield, Schwitters, Éluard, Tanguy, and La Poupée, and references to Galerie Gmurzynska, Köln; right panel headed Teckningar listing 20 drawings dated 1942–1966 including Hommage à Antonine Artaud (1942), Revel II Juillet (1946), Komposition, Vorzeichnung zu Madame Ewarda, Danseurs, De

    Hans Bellmer — Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Stockholm, 1968

    Hans Bellmer — Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Stockholm, 1968

  • Original 1971 Hans Bellmer exhibition invitation card, Centre national d'art contemporain (CNAC), Paris — recto printed in white and black on pink-to-cream gradient card stock; CNAC in large white serif type at top; text reading le centre national d'art contemporain 11 rue berryer paris 8 / présente / du 30 novembre 1971 au 17 janvier 1972 / bellmer in large bold black type / ouvert tous les jours sauf le mardi de 12 h à 19 h entrée 3 f / vernissage le mardi 30 novembre 1971 de 18 h à 20 h. Reverse of 1971 Hans Bellmer CNAC exhibition invitation card, Centre national d'art contemporain, Paris — verso showing plain unprinted cream card stock with light age toning and minor surface marks consistent with period paper ephemera.

    Hans Bellmer — CNAC Exhibition Invitation, Centre national d’art contemporain, Paris, 1971–72

    Hans Bellmer — CNAC Exhibition Invitation, Centre national d’art contemporain, Paris, 1971–72

  • Original 1972 Hans Bellmer New Year postcard, Galerie Suzanne Visat, Paris — recto reproducing Bellmer's Les mains immobiles, 1971: dark-ground photographic image of a bronze sculpture showing a crouching figure with multiple articulated mechanical arms and hands, cast by Ateliers Godard in an edition of 21, height 28 cm. Surface rubbing and scuffing consistent with postal handling. Reverse of 1972 Hans Bellmer New Year postcard, Galerie Suzanne Visat, Paris — verso showing bilingual printed artwork caption in French and English identifying Les mains immobiles / The still hand, 1971, bronze, Ateliers Godard, éditions Georges Visat; handwritten New Year greeting in French from La Galerie Suzanne Visat addressed to Monsieur François Lullerat, 95 Bd St Michel, Paris 5e; Paris cancellation stamp dated 10 January 1972 with 0.50 franc postage; copyright notice Hans Bellmer 1971 lower left; p

    Hans Bellmer — Les mains immobiles / Galerie Suzanne Visat New Year Card, Paris, 1972

    Hans Bellmer — Les mains immobiles / Galerie Suzanne Visat New Year Card, Paris, 1972

  • Hans Bellmer Dessins, œuvre gravée exhibition announcement Galerie 3+2 Paris 1971–72 Hans Bellmer surreal anatomical drawing inside Galerie 3+2 exhibition invitation folder Paris 1971–72 Original folded exhibition invitation / announcement folder Offset print in brown ink on graph-paper patterned stock Approx. dimensions: c. 21 × 10 cm folded (unfolds larger) Galerie 3+2, 5 rue Visconti, Paris 6e Exhibition dates: 10 December 1971 – 10 January 1972 Condition: Very good; light age toning, minor handling wear and soft edge wear consistent with period paper ephemera

    Hans Bellmer — Dessins, œuvre gravée — Galerie 3+2, Paris, 1971–72

    Hans Bellmer — Dessins, œuvre gravée — Galerie 3+2, Paris, 1971–72

  • Original 2002 Documents exhibition invitation from Galerie 1900–2000 Paris featuring a distressed archive-folder design with typewriter-style typography on textured brown paper. Interior of Documents exhibition invitation, Galerie 1900–2000 Paris, 2002, featuring a collage of Dada and Surrealist ephemera including DADAPhone, Anna Blume, Le Cœur à Barbe, Tristan Tzara references, and historical avant-garde printed material.

    Documents — Galerie 1900–2000, Paris, 2002

    Documents — Galerie 1900–2000, Paris, 2002

  • Original 1987 Antonin Artaud Dessins exhibition invitation, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris — recto reproducing Artaud's Portrait de Jany de Ruy, 2 July 1947: portrait head in graphite and greasy coloured chalk with blue wash, surrounded by dense handwritten text in French, signed and dated antonin artaud / 2 juillet 1947 at lower centre. Reverse of 1987 Antonin Artaud Dessins exhibition invitation, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris — verso showing formal inauguration invitation text from Jean Maheu, Président du Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, and Bernard Ceysson, Directeur du Musée National d'Art Moderne; exhibition dates 30 June–11 October 1987, Salle d'Art Graphique 4e étage; large typeset ANTONIN ARTAUD / DESSINS; Centre Georges Pompidou logo lower left; invitation valable pour deux personnes.

    Antonin Artaud — Dessins, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1987

    Antonin Artaud — Dessins, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1987