signed first edition
1933 · Moscow
by Favorski, Vladimir; Boyarsky, Y. O.; Popov, Alexey; Gorodinsky, V. M.; Pavlinov, P. Y.; Goncharov, A. D.; [Favorsky, Vladimir]
Moscow: ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО МОСОБЛИСПОЛКОМА, 1933. First edition. Very good in very good dust jacket.. First printing of this examination of the Moscow Revolutionary Theater, established in 1922 to stage productions that promoted Soviet ideology - with signed woodcut print by Vladimir Favorsky. Russian graphic artist, art critic, and woodcut illustrator Vladimir Favorsky (also transliterated as Favorski) blended the traditional and the modern in his art. He helmed the Russian state art and technical school Vkhutemas - often compared in style and philosophy to Bauhaus - as rector during a tumultuous period in the 1920s, during which he resisted government efforts to mandate the artistic methods and styles of the students. Favorsky's perspective shines through in his extensive oeuvre of book illustrations; he was particularly fond of the codex as a vehicle for art, noting that "the book can serve simultaneously as an example of wholeness of design and variety of content" (Molok, 242). Favorsky also dabbled in stage design, making him an ideal illustrator for this title. 10'' x 7''. Original printed brown boards. Original unclipped (10 РУБ) pictorial dust jacket. Pictorial endpapers of theater figures. Illustrated with numerous tipped-in plates in shades of brown, and black-and-white woodcuts. 222, [2] pages. Small bookplate of Jack Rau to front pastedown. Single leaf woodcut print of Maria Babanova, signed by Favorski, loosely laid in. Jacket with light chipping to spine ends, mild toning to spine and wear to joints; some edgewear. Binding with light edgewear, a bit of bumping to corners and spine ends. A couple tipped-in plates becoming loose, plate facing 215 detached but present. Clean and sound.
(Inventory #: 45687)