Der Ber [The Bear], by Feter Ben Zion [Benzion Raskin]. Kiev-St. Petersburg: Yiddisher Folks-Farlag, [1919]. From the "Kinder-Garten" series of children's books. Yiddish.
A tale for children, illustrated by El Lissitzky.
In April 1919, El Lissitzky and Benzion Raskin signed a contract with the Yiddisher Folks-Farlag publishing house in Kiev, in which they sold the rights for eleven Yiddish illustrated children's books under the general title "Kinder-Garten". According to the contract, which they most probably signed due to financial distress, they had to accomplish writing and illustrating all eleven books in about five months. Eventually, only three books were published as planned: "Der Ber" [The Bear], "Di Hun vos hot Gevolt hoben a Kam" [The Hen that Wanted a Comb], and "Der Milner, di Milnerin un di Milshtayner" [The Miller, the Miller's Wife and the Millstones]. At the same time, Lissitzky returned to Vitebsk, to teach architecture, painting and graphic arts at the art school directed by Marc Chagall. See: Tradition and Revolution, The Jewish Renaissance in Russian Avant-Garde Art 1912-1928, p. 118.
El (Eliezer Lazar Markovich) Lissitzky (1890-1941), a Jewish-Russian artist, designer, photographer, teacher, typographer and architect, a prominent and important member of Russian avant-garde.
Lissitzky, an architect by training, contributed much, together with his teacher and friend Kazimir Malevich, to the conceptualization and development of the Supremacist movement – the abstract art focused on geometric forms. He also designed numerous books and journals, exhibitions, and propaganda posters for the communist regime in Russia and influenced the Bauhaus and Constructivist movements in Europe. In his early days, Lissitzky showed much interest in Jewish culture and many of his works integrated Jewish motifs (during the years 1915-1916, he took part in the ethnographic expedition headed by Shlomo An-ski to the Pale of Settlement). Wanting to promote Jewish culture in Russia after the revolution, he became engaged in designing and illustrating Yiddish children's books, creating several children's books which are considered pioneering masterpieces due to their graphics and typography. However, several years later, he abandoned the Jewish motifs in favor of developing a more abstract and universal artistic language.
In 1921, Lissitzky moved to Germany, where he served as the Russian cultural ambassador, engaged in forming connections between Russian and German artists and continued to design books and journals. Lissitzky, who perceived books as immortal artifacts, "monuments of the future" by his definition, used the medium as a tool for spreading the messages of avant-garde and his artistic perception, as indicated by the variety of books in whose design, production or illustration he took part – from children's books and poetry books and to catalogs, guidebooks and academic publications.
Lissitzky died in Moscow at the age of 51. In his final years, his artistic work was dedicated mainly to soviet propaganda; yet it seems that the same worldview accompanied his works throughout his life – the belief in goal-oriented creation (Zielbewußte Schaffen, the German term he coined) and the power of art to influence and bring about change.
10, [2] pp, 19.5 cm. Good condition. Pen notations to first page and inked stamps to three pages. Several minor stains. Minor creases. Very small tears to margins. Slightly loose leaves. Blank card binding, slightly worn.
Provenance: The Uzi Agassi Collection.