Items Similar to Ex Libris Ernest Monteux - Etching by M. Fingesten - 1930s
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 2
Michel FingestenEx Libris Ernest Monteux - Etching by M. Fingesten - 1930s1930s
1930s
About the Item
Image dimensions: 11x9 cm
Rare and beautiful ex libris realized by Michel Fingesten in the 1930s. Signed in pencil lower right. Includes passepartout.
Very good conditions.
Michel Fingesten
Michel Finkelstein, known as Fingesten, was born in 1884 in Buzkovice u Ostravy; he was a painter and engraver, who was famous particularly for his extraordinary production of Ex Libris (bookplates).
After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and in Monaco with Franz von Stuck, who addressed him to the caricature and to the graphics of small size, Fingesten left Austria; he travelled all over the world, visiting Europe, the United States of America and the Oriental countries.
Fingesten’s stay in Berlin since 1913 was decisive for his contact with the world of the engraving. After his adhesion to the New Secession, Fingesten destroyed his previous pictorial production and he decided to dedicate himself to the dimension of the engraving; even if he preferred the graphics, he continued to see himself as a “painter”.
The German city was characterized by a very dynamic artistic atmosphere that stimulated Fingesten. The engravings of this artist were published since 1915 in files and books in limited edition.
Fingesten’s works were published also in the famous periodicals of the expressionist avant-garde, like “Genius” and “Marsyas”, with the artists and the writers most important of his age.
Considered as a genius of the Ex Libris, that became with him a big art of small size, Fingesten realised more over than 1.500 of these brands of property since 1915. Fingesten’s Ex Libris were nourishment for the bibliophiles, who glued the bookplates on the first page of theirs books to indicate the property and who traded these Ex Libris.
The Ex Libris is a genre that doesn’t have confines and that can’t be reduced to indicate the name of the owner on the book, on which it is glued.
It left his old function of simple heraldic sign of property, and it became almost the projection of the bibliophile’s personality.
Even if he didn’t fall in the eclecticism, Michel Fingesten used generously the medium of the quote, in the subject, in the form and in the style.
In the 20s, for example, his art oscillates between Otto Dix and George Grosz, of which he overcomes the social critique and the erotism, and Karl Arnold of which he beats the irony.
The Great Depression of 1929 and the rapid advance of the Nazism contributed in a significant way to the progressive isolation of the Czech painter and engraver.
In the spring of the 1935, Fingesten left Germany and went to Italy, where he settled in Trieste and Milan.
The collector Mantero remembers about Fingesten’s Italian stay that “he lived in a home without furnitures” in Via Chiaravalle 11.
Mantero, who was one of the most important Fingesten’s customers of Ex Libris, wrote: “I understood he had a difficult and poor life for absence of money, but he didn’t have ambition of a rich life, indeed he told me that the earnings to buy some bread and a glass of wine were enough for him”.
In that period, the main means of subsistence were the commissions of the collectors of Ex Libris, especially the collectors of Milan and Como, members of the circle of friends of the art merchant Luigi Filippo Bolaffio.
Also known as “Picasso of the Ex Libris”, Fingesten explored this artistic medium and he elevated it with new and powerful expressive resources.
When the Ex Libris was detached from its practical function, the Artist began to create Ex Libris also for fake customers, for “famous contemporary people”, poets, musicians, and since 1928, for political men.
The Ex Libris, realised with a lot of graphic techniques, like the etching, the drypoint and the lithography, has always (with the graphics of occasion) the signature of the Artist, that underlines the awareness of his valour.
An important chapter of the production of this Artist was dedicated to the erotic Ex Libris, that for their irony were understood with difficulty by people that didn’t belong to the circle of the Artist.
Some of the most secret and rare erotic works by Fingesten are linked to the commissions of Gianni Mantero.
The dominant element of these engravings is the sarcasm, that is sometimes connected to a gloomy irony, and to the presence of the death, that coincided with the war, particularly in the last years of the Artist existence.
In his compositions, Fingesten was a narrator of life and death, of sex and love, of nightmares, hopes, art and poetry. His narration wasn’t without the time and the space, but it was at the center of the contemporary dimension, in the 20s and 30s of the anguished Europe that was going to the ruin.
We can underline that the relationship between the Artist and the customer had an important role in the definition of the power of these graphic works; actually the creative energy, that was born from the contact between the Artist inspiration and the customer personality, generates a strong expressive freedom.
After his death, Michel Fingesten and his works were forgotten; today there is a new attention to this very important artist and to his visionary sign.
Bibliography
• N. Nechwatal, Michel Fingesten – Das graphische Werk, Coburg 1984
• A. Tomasetig, Michel Fingesten: dalla collezione Cauti una mostra di ex libris e grafica d’occasione, 2005
• A. Parik, The unknown Michel Fingesten, Praha 2008
This artwork is shipped from Italy. Under existing legislation, any artwork in Italy created over 70 years ago by an artist who has died requires a licence for export regardless of the work’s market price. The shipping may require additional handling days to require the licence according to the final destination of the artwork.
- Creator:Michel Fingesten (1884 - 1943, Italian)
- Creation Year:1930s
- Dimensions:Height: 11.82 in (30 cm)Width: 9.45 in (24 cm)Depth: 0.12 in (3 mm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Insurance may be requested by customers as additional service, contact us for more information.
- Gallery Location:Roma, IT
- Reference Number:Seller: J-653551stDibs: LU65034671162
About the Seller
4.9
Platinum Seller
Premium sellers with a 4.7+ rating and 24-hour response times
1stDibs seller since 2017
7,546 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 2 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Roma, Italy
- Return Policy
Authenticity Guarantee
In the unlikely event there’s an issue with an item’s authenticity, contact us within 1 year for a full refund. DetailsMoney-Back Guarantee
If your item is not as described, is damaged in transit, or does not arrive, contact us within 7 days for a full refund. Details24-Hour Cancellation
You have a 24-hour grace period in which to reconsider your purchase, with no questions asked.Vetted Professional Sellers
Our world-class sellers must adhere to strict standards for service and quality, maintaining the integrity of our listings.Price-Match Guarantee
If you find that a seller listed the same item for a lower price elsewhere, we’ll match it.Trusted Global Delivery
Our best-in-class carrier network provides specialized shipping options worldwide, including custom delivery.More From This Seller
View AllThe Buller Of Buchan - Etching By W.H. Bartlett - 1845
Located in Roma, IT
The Buller Of Buchan is an etching realized in 1845 by W. H. Bartlett.
Signed on the plate.
Titled on the lower center.
Good conditions with slight foxing.
The artwork is beauti...
Category
1840s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Le Rat D'Eau - Etching by Jean Charles Baquoy - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Le Rat D'Eau is an etching realized by Jean Charles Baquoy in 1771.
It belongs to the suite "Histoire Naturelle de Buffon".
The Artist's signature is engraved lower right.
Good co...
Category
1770s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
The Analysis of the Hunting Field - Etching by Henry Alke - 1846
By Henry Alken
Located in Roma, IT
Etching and aquatint realized by Henry Alken in 1846. Plate from "The Analysis of the Hunting Field".
Very good condition.
Henry Alken (1765-1851) was en english painter and engrav...
Category
Mid-19th Century Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Le Modèle au Manteau Noir - Etching by Albert Besnard - 1920s
By Albert Besnard
Located in Roma, IT
Beautiful print on verge, 1st state on 3 after which several changes were made. Numbered, signed and noted in pencil by the artist. Full Margins.
Former Collection Henri Prost and Lo...
Category
1920s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
The Lower Ridding - Etching by Joseph Banks - 1837
Located in Roma, IT
The Lower Ridding is an artwork, realized by the artist Joseph Banks in 1837.
Colore etching, titled and signed in the plate.
Beautiful engraving with contemporary colouring. Editi...
Category
1830s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Muff, a favorite Retriever - Etching by Joseph Banks - 1837
Located in Roma, IT
Muff, a favorite Retriever is an artwork, realized by the artist Joseph Banks in 1837.
Colored etching, titled and signed in the plate.
Beautiful engraving with contemporary colour...
Category
1830s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
You May Also Like
Dennis Corrigan, Nathaniel Hawthorne Posing with a Formally Dressed Gopher, 1978
Located in New York, NY
Dennis Corrigan gives us a fresh, admittedly whimsical, interpretation of the important nineteenth-century American author, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Known to most of us for the 'dark rom...
Category
1970s American Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
David and Bathsheba, from: The Bible - Judaica David and Bathsheba Unique
By Marc Chagall
Located in London, GB
This original etching is hand-coloured by the artist in yellow, orange and green watercolour.
It is signed in pencil "M. Ch." in the lower right margin.
It is numbered in pencil fr...
Category
1950s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Watercolor, Etching
Rouen; The Cathedral of Notre Dame from the South
By John Taylor Arms
Located in Middletown, NY
Etching on F.J. Head & Co. watermarked cream laid paper, 8 1/8 x 7 5/8 (205 x 184 mm), full margins. Signed and dated in pencil, lower margin. Illustrated in Dorothy Noyes Arms, Chur...
Category
1920s American Modern Landscape Prints
Materials
Laid Paper, Etching
The Acropolis, Athens
By Louis Conrad Rosenberg
Located in Middletown, NY
Etching and drypoint on cream wove paper, full margins. Signed in pencil, lower right margin. In generally good conditon with several scattered very light spots of foxing throughout,...
Category
1920s Modern Landscape Prints
Materials
Drypoint, Handmade Paper, Etching
Coutances
By John Taylor Arms
Located in Middletown, NY
Etching on thin, bluish-green cream laid paper, 9 1/4 x 4 3/4 inches (233 x 120 mm), full margins. Signed and dated in pencil, lower margin. First and only state. Printed by Frederi...
Category
Early 20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints
Materials
Laid Paper, Etching
The Grosse Horloge and Fountain, Rouen, Normandy.
Located in Middletown, NY
Etching on cream laid paper with an unknown watermark with an AL inside a ribbon. 10 1/4 x 7 7/8 inches (258 x 187 mm), full margins. Signed, titled, and dated in pencil lower margin. In good condition with one small, very minor 1/4- inch horizontal tear in lower-center quadrant of the image area, in the area of the doorway beneath the arch, very difficult to discern, and completely unobtrusive. 1/2-inch minor horizontal edge tear center sheet edge, bottom margin (outside of image area). Paper tape from a previous hinge at top right and left sheet edges. Light scattered age tone and surface soiling.
__________
Perhaps now most famous for one particular illustration for an edition of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Sullivan's etching of a skeleton crowned in roses was appropriated by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Landscape Prints
Materials
Laid Paper, Etching
