first edition
1927
by Bochorakova-Dittrichova, Helena [Children in Art]
Nákladem Vlastnim, 1927. First edition. 28 loose leaves [24 cm x 16 cm] housed in publisher's envelope and printed paper folder [24.5 cm], with a number of tears to the edges. Bochorakova-Dittrichova's 28 drawings of young girls. The prints are occasionally very lightly foxed. Overall in very good condition. Complete. Helena Bochorakova-Dittrichova (1894-1980) was the first female wordless novelist and the only woman to work in this medium during its heyday. She was born in the Moravian region of what is now the Czech Republic and spent most of her life in Brno, the Moravian capital. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and in 1923 received a government scholarship to study printmaking in Paris. Bochorakova-Dittrichova's unpublished wordless novel Malirka Na Cestach [The Artist on Her Journey] recounts this period in her life. In Paris, she first encountered the wordless novels of Flemish artist Frans Masereel, the originator of the form, and was inspired to create her own. Over the course of her long career, Bochorakova-Dittrichova published several wordless novels, along with travelogues and historical works. She also worked as a printmaker and illustrator, and was highly regarded in her native land, though largely unknown elsewhere. This changed in 2014, when the National Museum of Women in the Arts held an exhibition of her work entitled "The First Woman Graphic Novelist: Helena Bochorakova-Dittrichova," and this important artist finally began to gain global recognition. Her work, however, is still not widely available.
(Inventory #: 58527)