(ALEXEIEFF, Alexandre.) TOLSTOY, Leo Illustrations for Anna Karenina. Paris: Rigal, 1995
Folio, (38.5cm x 29cm). Suite of 120 black-and-white aquatints, loose in portfolio. This copy lettered d/e, being one of five printed, from a total of eight, including 3 artist proofs. Printed posthumously from plates originally created by Alexeieff in the 1940s and 50s, over a period of almost ten years. This suite precedes the regular issue, and is from a series of eight specially printed for exhibition at the 1995 International Film Festival in Moscow, during which the films of Alexeieff were presented. The suite was later officially published by Librarie Nicaise (Paris) -- in 1997 -- in an edition of 20. Alexeieff was one of the great illustrators and printmakers of the Twentieth Century, illustrating several dozen works over the course of a 60 year career, including titles by Baudelaire, Cervantes, Dostoyevsky, Gogol, Pasternak, Poe, Pushkin, Soupault and Tolstoy. He is widely regarded as the subtlest master of eau-forte technique in the Twentieth Century, and he pioneered several processes that superceded the methods of his forebears and which remain in use today. Alexeieff is also recognized as an innovative experimental filmmaker and animator -- he patented a device called the pin screen from which he evoked the atmospheric images of his renowned animated films. Printed by J.J. Rigal and J. Bertansetti. About Rigal, Andre Malraux said, It is people like Rigal who have built the famous cathedrals. Fine in a simple thick paper wrapper.
$US10000
This item is listed on Bibliopoly by Lame Duck Books; click here for further details.