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Estimate: $ 8,000 - $ 12,000
EL LISSITZKY (1890-1941)
PRO DVA KVADRATA. Book, inscribed by Tschichold. 1922.
11x8 3/4 inches, 28x22 1/4 cm. "Skythen," Berlin. Condition B+: reinforced spine; color on cover attenuated. Pencil inscription on inside cover from Jan Tschichold to Czech architect Zdenek Rossmann, 1937.
A key figure of the Russian Avant Garde, Lithuanian Jewish artist Lissitzky was known for his typography, photography, architecture, and propaganda design, as well as his belief that artists could use their work to bring about change. He began his career as an illustrator of Yiddish children's books. About Two Squares is Lissitzky's children's fable about a black square and a red square that fly to earth. Signifying the supremacy of the modern Soviet order (the red square) over the old and conventional (the black square), Lissitzky uses his signature abstract style, combining ideals of the Suprematists, like Malevich, with elements of the Constructivist movement that he favored. Book with seven letterpress illustrations (including cover). Page Design p. 160-1, Witkovsky pl. 12, MoMA 89.2001.
