Hans Bellmer (1902-1975) - Lot 118

Hans Bellmer (1902-1975) Die Puppe. Th. Eckstein (printer), Carlsruhe, 1934. In-12 (12.3 x 11 cm). Original self-published edition. 36 pp. (numbering of pages 32 and 34 reversed). Hardcover booklet covered with marbled paper, title printed on pink label glued to spine, consisting of ten (10) vintage silver prints on Agfa Lupex paper (6) mounted from above on yellow boards with pagination to versos. German text printed on pink paper at the beginning of the volume. Printed dedication "Für Ursula N" and artist's pencil signature on title page. Flying handwritten label annotated "Provenance: Rose Messing". Average print size: 8.5 x 6 cm Provenance: François Lepage Collection, Paris. Bibliography: - Alain Sayag, Hans Bellmer photographe, Musée national d'art moderne, December 21, 1983 - February 27, 1984, Filipacchi / Centre Georges Pompidou, 1983. - Rosalind Krauss, Jane Livingston, L'amour fou. Photography & Surrealism, London, Hayward Gallery, Arts Council, 1986. Hans Bellmer's first book was published in an extremely limited self-publishing edition, printed by Thomas Eckstein. The total number of copies is unknown. Its composition and the placement of the photographs may vary from one copy to another. The provenance indicated probably refers to Rose Messing, one of the patrons of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, whose philanthropic activities took place mainly in the 1970s.