Werner Peiner. Vom geistigen Gesetz deutscher Kunst

Hamburg: Sieben Stäbe Verlag, 1936. Limited edition. Hardcover. vg. Small folio. 73 (1)pp. Original beige vellum-covered boards with gilt lettering on cover and spine. Publisher's logo on half-title. Color frontispiece with tissue guard. Illustrated with two impressive color lithographs of Hanfstaengl prints of Peine's artwork, 48 distinctive b/w offset reproductions of oil paintings, stained glass windows, mosaics and tapestries and three in-text drawings. Werner Peine's major influences were German Romantic and Realistic painters. Born in 1897 Peiner went on to become one of the best known "official" painters of the Third Reich. In the preface to this (truncated) book Karl Koetschau, an art historian and museum director, praises Peine's work and character with the typical undertones of Nazi propaganda. In some of Peine's paintings one finds traces of Expressionism which he is said to have been first influenced by but his role during the Third Reich tainted his reputation after the war. Contrary to the direction of the German postwar abstract art movement Peiner reverted to landscape painting. Text in German, Gothic script. Binding rubbed with moderate foxing. Some minor wear and discoloration along edges, small closed tear at bottom of spine. some fading of gilt lettering on cover. Minor stains on spine and back cover. Binding in overall good, interior in very good condition. (Inventory #: 35419)