Jaan Vahtra [Monograph; Art Album]

Near fine condition; creases across cover corners, slightly frayed upper edge of the cover, stress lines across the spine; internally fly-leaf shows some staining, slight moisture stain to the bottom inside corners of the pages throughout the book, occasional fingerprints.

The book came out in print in February 1933 in three editions: edition „A“ – 10 copies (I - X) in addition to general contents  includes three original lithographies, three original chalcographies, one color monotype and one color wood engraving, printed on chalk overlay paper; edition „B“ – 29 copies (A – Z) in addition to general contents  includes one original lithography, one original chalcography and one original woodcut, printed onchalk overlay paper; edition „C“ – 261 copies printed on special drawing paper with coating. Current copy is one of the „C“ edition. It is interesting to note that only the capital letters of the special Latin font were used on the text, and the book itself became one of the most luxurious editions in Estonian book market of the time. 

This art album-monography written by Estonian greatest avant-garde writer of the 1920s and radical leftist politician Johannes Barbarus is dedicated to his close friend -  Estonia's prominent avant-garde artist Jaan Vahtra (1882-1947). Although, the book considers Vahtra first of all as a cubist, but as of the date of its publishing, the most important apologist of Estonian cubism had not only turned to the path of realism, but even to the condemnation of cubism.

Author’s quite interesting text part of the Album (on 26 pages) introduces life and work of the artist. It is not a trite retelling of biographical facts. Vahtra is depicted as an ardent constructivist revolutionary, and this, to some extent, is reached by redusing his importance as a talented painter, but that's just because Barbarus himself was also a fervent about his filed of political communism. The text is full of quotes of famous French modernist artists, which Barbarus applied to Vahtra, and with whom Vahtra’s creation is compared. The monography contains 37 full-page reproductions of Vahtras’ works – paintings, drawings, prints, produced in 1913-1931 years, with captions on Estonian anf French. These works demonstrate not only artist’s avant-garde period, some of them created in the impressionist manner of his teacher Vihlems Purvihis. Extremely rare!