"Kinder–Velt" [Children's World], poems for children, by Boris (Ber) Smolar. Illustrations by Yisakhar Ber Rybak. Berlin: Schweln, [ca, early 1920s]. Yiddish.
Fine copy of the book "Kinder–Velt", comprising rhyming Yiddish poems, by the teacher, journalist and Yiddish author, Boris Smolar (1897–1986). The poems are accompanied by large illustrations of a superb quality, by Yisakhar Ber Rybak.

16 pages. Approx. 31.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Minor marginal tears (few tears professionally restored). Rebound with string.

Yisakhar Ber Rybak (1897–1935), native of Elisavetgrad, Russia (today Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine), painter, graphic artist, and sculptor; one of the most prominent artists of the Russian–Jewish avant–garde. Studied at the Academy of Art in Kiev and in the studio of Aleksandra Ekster. In 1915–16, he was a member of the ethnographic expedition, headed by Shlomo An–ski, that aimed to document the culture of the Jewish communities of Podolia and Volhynia, and, working side–by–side with El Lissitzky, he produced copy–sketches of tombstones and monuments and documented the popular art he observed in the wooden synagogues of villages in the Pale of Settlement. For Rybak, this experience marked the beginnings of an enduring love affair with themes borrowed from popular Jewish tradition, and these themes and motifs provided the elemental foundations for his future work. He became one of the most active and outspoken artists of the "Kultur Lige" ("Culture League"), and taught drawing in the school that operated under the auspices of its art division. In 1921, he moved to Berlin, where he joined the "November Gruppe" and participated in joint exhibitions with other member artists. Rybak subsequently returned briefly to the Soviet Union and then moved to Paris, where he died in 1935.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, B.2337.

Four books with wrappers and illustrations designed by Joseph Chaikov:
1. Zilber-Hor [Silver Hair], poems by Menashe Halpern. Moscow: Khaver, 1918.
78, [2] pages.
2. Shveln [Thresholds], poems by Peretz Markish. Kiev: Yiddisher Folks-Farlag, 1919.
163 pages, [3] leaves.
3. Samet [Velvet], poems by L. Reznick [Lipe Reznik]. Kiev: Kultur Lige, 1922.
39, [1] pages.
4. Bereshit, Part I, literary anthology including works by Isaac Babel, Yocheved Bat-Miriam, Gershon Hanovits and others (no other parts were published). Moscow-Leningrad (Berlin: Gutenberg), 1926.
[1], 199, [5] pages.

Four books. Size and condition vary. The items were not thoroughly examined, and are being sold as is.

Joseph Moisevich Chaikov (1888-1979) – Kiev-born Jewish sculptor, graphic artist, painter, educator and theoretician. Chaikov studied in Paris during the years 1910-1914 and participated in the Parisian Salon d'Automne exhibition in 1913. After World War I, he was one of the founders of Kultur Lige in Kiev, taught sculpture and illustrated books – mostly children's books – and in the years after the revolution, also designed propaganda banners and posters. In 1921, the Melukhe-farlag publishing house in Kiev published his treatise "Sculpture", which is considered the first Yiddish book on sculpture and focuses on avant-garde in sculpture and the place of sculpture in Jewish art. During the years 1923-1930 he taught cubist sculpture inspired by Russian futurism in Moscow, at the Vkhutemas – Higher Art and Technical Studios (alongside Alexander Rodchenko and El Lissitzky) and was also appointed the head of the union of Russian sculptors.
During the next decades, Chaikov continued to work in a variety of artistic styles and media, moving away from the style that characterized his early work.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, B.1418, B.1423, B.1431, B.1428.

Temerl (a bobe–mayseleh) [Little Tamar, an Old Wives' Tale], by Moshe Broderzon. Booklet no. 4 of the series of children's books "Kinder Bibliotek" [Children's Library]. Moscow: "Chaver", [1917]. Yiddish.
A rhyming tale for children by Moshe Broderzon, telling the story of the daughter of a Jewish watchmaker, who finds herself drawn into a magical world, as result of reading books. With nine illustrations by Joseph Tchaikov, and an additional illustration by Tchaikov on the cover.
In 1917 Tchaikov created a Russian language version of the story, in scroll format, written and illustrated by hand, which he presented to his daughter Tanya. The present book was printed that same year, accompanied by the same illustrations appearing in the manuscript (except for one – the author's portrait); it was published in an unusual format, reminiscent of a scroll, with elongated leaves, printed on one side.
The "Kinder–Bibliotek" logo, appearing on the cover of the booklet, was designed by Herts Aktsin (1893–1956), editor, translator, feuilletonist and illustrator, founder of the "Chaver" publishing house.

[9] leaves (printed on one side). Approx. 13X35 cm. Good condition. Folding line in the center of the leaves and wrappers. Minor stains and blemishes. New binding, bound with original wrappers. Few tears to wrappers (slightly affecting print), some reinforced with adhesive tape.

Joseph Moisevich Tchaikov (1888–1979; also spelled Chaikov), a Jewish sculptor, graphic designer, painter and theoretician, born in Kiev. Tchaikov studied in Paris during the years 1910–1914 and participated in the Parisian Salon d'Automne exhibition in 1913. After World War I, he was one of the founders of Kultur Lige in Kiev, taught sculpting and illustrated books – mostly children's books – and during the years after the revolution designed propaganda banners and posters. Between 1923–1930 he taught cubist sculpting inspired by Russian futurism in Moscow, at the Vkhutemas – Higher Art and Technical Studios (alongside Alexander Rodchenko and El Lissitzky) and chaired the union of Russian sculptors.

Exhibition:
• Sanctity – Art – Aesthetics, Exhibition catalog, Mané-Katz Museum, 2011.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, B.1406.

- Original Cover
“Troyer” [“Mourning”], by David Hofstein [Dovid Hofshteyn]. Kyiv: “Kultur Lige, ” 1922. Yiddish. Illustrations by Marc Chagall.
Anthology of poems by David Hofstein (Dovid Hofshteyn) on the subject of the pogroms against the Jews of Ukraine in the years 1917–20; accompanied by a series of illustrations by Marc Chagall. The anthology was published with the support of the “Jewish Public Committee for Assistance to Victims of War, Pogroms, and Natural Calamities” along with a note stating that proceeds from its sales would be donated to “the starving Jewish colonies.”
Illustrating Hofstein’s anthology was one of the last projects Marc Chagall undertook before leaving Russia. In addition to portraying the sense of destruction and bereavement that pervaded Hofstein’s poetry, to some extent, the Modernist illustrations Chagall created here reflect the upheavals in his own personal life, specifically his forced resignation as principal of the art school he established in Vitebsk.

XXIII, [1] pages + [4] plates. Approx. 35.5 cm. Good condition. Brittle paper. Tears, incl. open tears, mostly small, professionally mended, to leaves, to cover, and to length of spine. Leaves and plates detached from one another and from cover. Plates attached to one another in two pairs, with acid–free adhesive tape.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, No. ALE.8.

Kunst-Ring Almanach [Almanac of the Art Circle], edited by K. [Kalman] Singman. First booklet. Berlin: Iddish publishing house, Ever Press, [ca. 1922]. Yiddish. Second edition.
First issue of the artistic-literary anthology Kunst-Ring Almanach, printed in Berlin (first issued in Kharkhiv, 1917).
Works by Moishe Broderzon, Bal-Makhshoves, Jonah Rosenfeld, Daniel Charney, and others, with several illustrations by El Lissitsky, Joseph Chaikov, Marc Chagall, and other avant-garde artists. The publishing house logo printed on the title page was designed by Lissitzky.
Without original paper wrappers.

[1], 70 pages. 22 cm. Good condition. Stains (primarily to endpapers and inside binding). Marginal tears to several leaves. Non-original cloth binding, worn.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, B.1532.