Elefandl ["The Elephant's Child"], by Rudyard Kipling. Illustrations by "Kraft" [El Lissitzky]. Berlin: Schweln, 1922. Yiddish.
Yiddish translation of the famous children's story "The Elephant's Child" by Rudyard Kipling (1856–1936), from the collection entitled "Just So Stories." Illustrations by the Russian–Jewish avant–garde artist El Lissitzky (under the pen name "Kraft).

13, [2] pages. 28 cm. Good–fair condition. Stains and creases. Detached leaves. Marginal tears and open tears to some leaves (minor; one restored with paper). Tear to bottom part of the spine.


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.

Exhibition:
• Sanctity – Art – Aesthetics, Exhibition catalog, Mané-Katz Museum, 2011.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, B.2338.

Foyglen [birds], by Leib Kvitko. Illustrations by Issachar Ber Ryback. Berlin: Schwellen, [ca.1922]. Yiddish.
Long children's poem, accompanied by large monochrome illustrations of various bird types, by Issachar Ber Ryback, who also made the color illustrations that appear on the front and rear covers.

15, [1] pages. Approx. 24X31 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Minor marginal tears and creases to cover and spine.

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.

Exhibitions:
• Jüdische Lebenswelten, Katalog, edited by Andreas Nachama and Gereon Sievernich. Berlin, 1991, p.174, no. 8/28.
• Futur antérieur: l'avant–garde et le livre yiddish (1914–1939). Paris, 2009, p. 257, no. 152.
• Sanctity – Art – Aesthetics, Exhibition catalog, Mané-Katz Museum, 2011, p. 56.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, B.1361.

"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.