ext.rare, 1st ed. Die Nibelungen von Franz Keim / Carl Otto Czeschka, Gerlachs Jugendbücherei (1909)
Die Nibelungen. Dem deutschen Volke wiedererzählt von Franz Keim. (= Gerlachs Jugendbücherei, Bd. 22), 1909
Bilder u. Ausstattung/ illustrator, designer Carl Otto Czeschka
ERSTAUSGABE / FIRST EDTION. ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PUBLICATIONS OF THE VIENNESE ART NOUVEAU.
Verlag: Gerlach & Wiedling, Wien, Leipzig, 1909 (no date)
Seiten: 67
15 x 14 cm
Mit 8 doppels. farb. Illustrationen u. Buchschmuck von Carl Otto Czeschka
Mit den bei Heller genannten Merkmalen für Farbe, Golddruck und Papier. "Seine alles überstrahlende und überdauernde Leistung... Das wohl schönste illustrierte Buch des Wiener Jugendstils" (Schweiger)
EN
With 8 doubles. color illustrations and book decorations by Carl Otto Czeschka.
- First edition of the work you are looking for in the full-cloth binding variant. With the characteristics for color, gold print and paper mentioned by Heller.
"His outstanding and enduring achievement... Probably the most beautiful illustrated book of Viennese Art Nouveau" (Schweiger).
The Nibelung saga, a mythic tale of royal wealth and betrayal, evoke an elegant and enchanted world. Stylized toy soldiers and chessboard knights, like the ones the artist displayed at the Viennese Kunstschau exhibition in 1908, stand guard or enact epic battles. A Viking ship glides through choppy waters; the luminous geometric ornamentation on its sail epitomizes the Viennese use of lush surface patterning, in which exotic and folk sources were filtered through a distinctively modern aesthetic. The volume appealed to the widespread interest in untutored forms, such as "primitive" and children's art, as a basis for cultural authenticity and renewal.
Czeschka's designs elevate the simplified interpretation of this tiny, almost square-shaped book . It's volume 22, of the 34 volume series called Gerlach's Jugendbücherei ( Gerlach's youth library. ) The set was made in Vienna in 1909 and this little book has become a classic example of the Viennese Secession movement with its lush surface patterning.
Fellow and founding Secessionist member, Gustav Klimt, is strongly felt in these images.
The medieval subjects are filtered through their distinctively modern 1909 aesthetic. Fellow and founding Secessionist member and friend, Gustav Klimt, is strongly felt in these images.Die Nibelungen is an adaptation of an ancient Germanic epic poem Nibelunglied (the authorship of which dates back to the 12th century.
Carl Otto CZESCHKA (1878-1960)
Carl Otto Czeschka studied painting at the School of Fine Arts in Vienna and taught at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna from 1902 to 1907. He officially joined the Wiener Werkstätte in 1905 but three years later, he resigned to take a teaching post at Hamburgs' Kunstgewerbeschule. He continued to submit designs for several years and exhibited with the Wiener Werkstätte until 1915. Czeschka was one of the leading disseminators of the Wiener Werkstätte style. He designed for a variety of media including jewellery, metalwork, textiles, furniture and graphic design. Heller S. 158. Rifkind I, S. 129 Stuckvilla 356.
Background:The Vienna Secession was founded on April 3rd 1897, by artists Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Max Kurzweil, Wilhelm Bernatzik and others.