 |
BOOKPLATES THE WORLD OF EX-LIBRIS |
|
A historical retrospective 3 MODERN TIMES |
|
3e THE 1900s AUSTRIA AND SWITZERLAND 1880-1920 |
 |
 1 / 1 |
3e/13. Carl Roschet (CH, 1868-1925)  OTTO BERTSCHI, P3,
141 x 92, 1906.
When photogravure, or heliogravure, was invented in 1869 and soon after used to make exact reproductions of original prints, its surprising quality caused panic on the market! Roschet, a reputed graphic artist from Basel, used this technique to reproduce a drawing he made of Mr. Bertschi in his mountaineering equipment, with the Steingletscher and Sustenpass as a background. |
3e/14. Paul Flury (CH, 1878-1968) L. L. WOLF, C3 + C5,
60 x 91, c.1910.
Close to Basel circles and the Ex-libris Club Basilea, Flury left an important ex-libris opus of which many are in innovative techniques. He also, however, produced a number of bookplates which show his mastery in classical techniques, such as this etching and aquatint. |
 |
 |
3e/15. Otto Krebs (CH, 1870-1955) HANS GOLDMANN, X1/6,
115 x 125, c.1920.
The Basel artist Krebs specialised in pastel-toned multicoloured woodcuts. It is difficult to guess the number of blocks he used, as one block could be used for more than one colour. |
3e/16. Alfred Soder (CH, 1880-1957) FRIEDRICH BERCHTOLD
SUTTER, C3, 180 x 115, 1907. GM 10635.
Also from Basel, Soder was close to German artists of the time, and his outlandish portrait of Nietsche naked in the Alps is not typical of his work – better represented by Fig. 7 of the introduction to volume 1. This image is, however, characteristic of the freedom and imagination of the time. Sutter only had 30 prints made, and carefully wrote on the back that they were not for exchange, but just for friends. This print was in the collection of Hans Heeren. |
 |
 |
3e/17. Anton Blöchlinger (CH, 1885-1961) Walter Peter,
3X2/3, 120 x 35, c.1930.
Blöchlinger was a designer and graphic artist who produced one of the widest and most creative ranges of real ex-libris for use in books during the 1910-1940 period in Switzerland. Few of them are original graphics, and he mostly used offset lithography. This piece, however, is a three-block linocut. |
3e/18. Fortuné Bovard (CH, 1875-1947) Otto Bertschi,P1,
99 x 74, c.1910.
Bovard was born in Fribourg and died in Geneva, but was active as a graphic artist in Basel, where Otto Bertschi – noted ex-librist and bibliophile – lived. He made only few ex-libris, but all are in typical Art Nouveau style. |
 |
 |
3e/19. Rodolphe Piguet (CH, 1840-1915) FRéDéRIC RAISIN,
C3, 122 x 79, 1908.
Though Swiss, Piguet was an artist celebrated in Paris where he lived most of his life, but was little-known in his own country. He engraved this library interior with a portrait of the owner’s daughter in Paris, and it was printed there. |
3e/20. Carlos Schwabe (D/CH, 1866-1926) & Jean
Kaufmann (CH, 1866-1924) FRéDéRIC RAISIN, C3, 145 x 76,
1904.
Schwabe, an important symbolist painter of German origin but a Geneva citizen, did not produce graphics and asked the talented engraver Jean Kaufmann of Lucerne to engrave this ex-libris, also for the Geneva lawyer and ex-librist Raisin. It is a successful combination of work by an artist who could not engrave, and another who was a good craftsman. |
 |
 |
3e/21. Evert van Muyden (CH, 1853-1922) Frédéric
Raisin, C3, 110 x 84, 1907.
Grandson of a Dutchman who settled in Switzerland in 1809, van Muyden was one of the most outstanding animal painters of his time. He lived most of his life in Geneva and Paris (see Fig. 6 of the introduction in Volume 1), and engraved about half a dozen ex-libris. A second one was made for Raisin, illustrating the fable of the fox and grapes, but this one is scarcer. Earlier in the Fulpius collection. |
3e/22. Edouard Vallet (CH, 1876-1929) FRITZ MERKER,
C3, 140 x 118, 1916. GM 11984.
Better known as a painter than etcher, Vallet made half a dozen bookplates for friends and family. One of the most significant French-Swiss artists of the post-Hodler generation, he always chose subjects from the life of farmers. |
End of 3e
| Ex-Libris | Art Prints | Kara Art Home |