STAREVITCH LADISLAV (1892 1965) Portfolio entitled Fetiche

Sale 2135 - Lot 62

Unsold

Estimate: $ 7,000 - $ 10,000

STAREVITCH, LADISLAV (1892-1965)
Portfolio entitled "Fetiche," with 12 production stills from his puppet film of the same title. Silver prints, 9x6 1/2 inches (22.8x16.5 cm.) or the reverse, with Starevitch's blind stamp on recto. 4to-size folio, boards with calligraphic title, covers and backstrip detached; contents bright, clean, and loose as issued; ties. a dedication copy, signed and inscribed to otto rank. 1934

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

Gifted by Starevitch to the great Freudian psychiatrist, Dr. Otto Rank, in 1934; to McGilvery Books, San Diego; to the present owner in 1997.
Ladislav Starewicz (or Starevitch) began making 3-D stop motion animations (or "puppet films," as he called them) for children in the Soviet Union in 1910. His first experiments were facilitated when stag beetles he was trying to film became lethargic under the heat of the bright movie lights. Regrouping, he constructed naturalistic beatles and recreated their movement using stop motion animation.

A master even by today's high standards, Starevitch's animated films quickly appealed to an adult audience who marveled at both his technical virtuosity and social satires. "Fétiche Mascotte" ["Duffy the Mascot," a. k. a. "The Mascot," a.k.a. "Puppet Love," a.k.a. "The Devil's Ball"], which employs stuffed animals and toys is a long and bizarre story about a loving dog puppet who undergoes many travails to give an orange to a girl who is dying of scurvy. Starevitch's influence may be seen in the visually disturbing films of the Brothers Quay and Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas."

JPGs are available upon request.