Franz Wacik, Heinrich Vogeler, Ernst Kreidolf, Leo Putz, etc. - Lot of 3 Illustrated Art Nouveau Children's Books (Jugendstil-Künstlerbilderbücher) - 1902-1913

THREE BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED ARTIST’S PICTURE BOOKS OF THE ART NOUVEAU PERIOD – 1902–1913 – FRANZ WACIK, HEINRICH VOGELER, ERNST KREIDOLF, LEO PUTZ, HANS THOMA AND OTHERS

An appealing collection of three historic artist’s picture books from the heyday of German and Austrian book illustration around 1900.

Particularly noteworthy is the participation of numerous important Art Nouveau artists and illustrators, including Franz Wacik, Heinrich Vogeler, Ernst Kreidolf, Arpad Schmidhammer, Walther Caspari, Hanns Anker, Leo Putz, Hans Thoma and Angelo Jank.

The books showcase the great diversity of historical children’s book art, from fairy-tale Art Nouveau illustration and decorative designs to colorful picture stories and artistic contributions from the celebrated Munich magazine “Jugend.”

1. BROTHERS GRIMM – THE BRAVE LITTLE TAILOR

With 12 full-page color illustrations, 12 silhouettes and 13 vignettes by Franz Wacik (1883–1938).

Vienna and Leipzig, Gerlach & Wiedling, 1913.

First edition with these illustrations.

Extent: 25 unnumbered leaves (50 pages).

A particularly beautiful Art Nouveau edition of the well-known Grimm fairy tale, illustrated by the Viennese painter Franz Wacik.

The twelve large, expressive color plates stand out for their bold colors, decorative designs and distinctive, humorous depiction of the characters. They are complemented by black silhouette illustrations and numerous ornamental vignettes.

Original publisher’s binding, decoratively illustrated with a red-and-black title design.

2. GARTENLAUBE PICTURE BOOK – DEDICATED TO GERMAN YOUTH

Leipzig, Verlag der Gartenlaube, Ernst Keils Nachfolger, 1902.

First edition.

Extent: approx. 72 pages with numerous color and black-and-white illustrations, some full-page.

A large-format, richly illustrated anthology of picture stories featuring works by important artists of the late 19th century and the Art Nouveau movement.

The contributing illustrators include:

Heinrich Vogeler, Ernst Kreidolf, Arpad Schmidhammer, Walther Caspari, Fedor Flinzer, Hanns Anker and other artists.

The combination of traditional genre scenes with the newer decorative visual language of Art Nouveau is particularly appealing.

The book contains numerous depictions of children, animals, nature and fairy tales, including especially beautiful color plates with ornamental borders.

Large-format original binding with a color illustration on the front cover.

3. FAIRY TALES WITHOUT WORDS – SECOND SERIES

From the picture collection of the Munich magazine “Jugend,” selected and published with the assistance of the Association of Independent Teachers for Art Education in Berlin, edited by Dr. Georg Hirth.

Munich, Verlag der Münchner “Jugend,” 1909.

Second series, second edition.

Extent: 4 pages and 24 picture plates, some in color.

A remarkable collection of artistic picture stories and illustrations from the circle around the celebrated Munich magazine “Jugend,” which gave the European Art Nouveau movement its German name.

Featuring works by, among others:

Leo Putz, Hans Thoma, Angelo Jank, Arpad Schmidhammer, Paul Rieth, Robert Engels, Erich Kuithan, Richard Pfeiffer, Ignatius Taschner, Moritz von Schwind and other artists.

The plates present a varied combination of fairy-tale motifs, humorous scenes, Symbolist depictions and decorative book art.

Original illustrated binding and decorative endpapers with large-scale Art Nouveau ornaments.

CONDITION

All three books show signs of age and use.

The bindings show some rubbing, staining, and damage to the edges and corners. There is also some age-toning to the paper inside, finger marks, minor creases and other signs of age and use.

The color plates shown are, for the most part, well preserved, with strong colors and decorative appeal.

The condition of each individual book and its binding should be assessed from the detailed photographs.

A varied collection of early artist’s picture books, particularly interesting for the participation of renowned Art Nouveau illustrators.

Of particular interest to collectors of historical children’s books, Viennese and Munich Art Nouveau, book illustration around 1900, and the artistic picture book movement.