Items Similar to Ex Libris Good Luck - Etching by M. Fingesten - 1930s
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 3
Michel FingestenEx Libris Good Luck - Etching by M. Fingesten - 1930s1930s
1930s
About the Item
Ex Libris - Ex Libris - Good Luck is an original etching artwork realized by Michel Fingesten in the 1930s
Good conditions.
Original titled printed on plate: VIEL GLÜCK WÜNSCH S.MALZ
Includes passepartout : 49 x 34 cm
Ex Libris is a Latin phrase meaning a bookplate that identifies the owner of the book into which it is pasted.
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: 5.91 in (15 cm)Width: 4.34 in (11 cm)Depth: 0.12 in (3 mm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Framing:Framing Options Available
- Condition:Insurance may be requested by customers as additional service, contact us for more information.
- Gallery Location:Roma, IT
- Reference Number:Seller: M-1098161stDibs: LU65036970252
About the Seller
4.9
Platinum Seller
Premium sellers with a 4.7+ rating and 24-hour response times
1stDibs seller since 2017
7,499 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 AllLe Sacre - Etching by Bernard Baron - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Le Sacre is an etching realized in 1771 by Bernard Baron.
Signed in plate.
The artwork Belongs to the suite "Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière avec la description du Cab...
Category
18th Century Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Al Dolo - Etching by Giovanni Antonio Canal - 1735/44
By Giovanni Antonio Canal (Canaletto)
Located in Roma, IT
Al Dolo is an original Artwork realized by Giovanni Antonio Canal, commonly known as Canaletto (Venice, 1697 - 1768).
Original Etching on Laid paper...
Category
1730s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
View of Ostia - Etching by Alexandre Segé - 1860ca.
Located in Roma, IT
Etching realized bu Alexandre Segé (1818-1885) in 1860 ca.
Rare and in good condition except for some foxing.
Category
1860s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
The Patriarch Dressed with Papal Clothes - Etching by Giuseppe Capparoni - 1828
Located in Roma, IT
The artwork belongs to the "Gerarchia ecclesiastica considerata nelle vesti sagre e civili usate da quelli li quali la compongono", composed by 112 engraved and hand-colored tables, ...
Category
1820s Modern Portrait Prints
Materials
Etching
Antonio Macchia - Etching - 19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Antonio Macchia is an etching artwork realized in the 19th century.
Good conditions.
Category
19th Century Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Basse Cour - Etching by Eugène Cottin - 1870s
Located in Roma, IT
Basse Cour is a black and white etching realized by Eugène Cottin (1840-1902) in 1870s.
Titled in the lower.
Image size: 22.5cmx10.5cm.
Very Good condition.
Realized by Cadart fo...
Category
1870s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
You May Also Like
"Mascara (Mask)" Modern Abstract Earth Toned Figurative Etching Ed. 31/99
By Rufino Tamayo
Located in Houston, TX
Modern abstract earth toned figurative etching by Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo. The work features a simplified portrait of a face or mask set against a grey and yellow toned backgrou...
Category
1980s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
"Cabeza en la Ventana (Head at the Window)" Modern Abstract Etching Ed. 31/99
By Rufino Tamayo
Located in Houston, TX
Modern abstract earth toned figurative etching by Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo. The work features a simplified portrait of a figure centered in a window set against a grey toned back...
Category
1980s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Stoops in Snow
By Martin Lewis
Located in Storrs, CT
Stoops in Snow. 1930. Drypoint and sandpaper ground. McCarron catalog 89.state ii. 9 x 14 7/8 (sheet 13 1/4 x 18 7/16 ). Edition 115 recorded impressio...
Category
1930s American Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Drypoint, Etching
$35,000 Sale Price
30% Off
Paysans, French, Workers in a Landscape, Aquatint, Modernist, Print
By Georges Rouault
Located in Wiscasset, ME
Born in Paris, France in 1871, Georges Rouault’s early apprenticeship under a stained glass maker had a strong influence on his mature painting style. Rouault attended Ecole des Art...
Category
Early 20th Century Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Aquatint
A Hong Kong Canal Boat
By John Taylor Arms
Located in Middletown, NY
Aquatint with hand coloring in watercolor on watermarked, laid Arches paper, 8 1/16 x 5 9/16 inches (206 x 142 mm), full margins. Signed, titled, dated, and numbered 22/40 in pencil,...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints
Materials
Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Watercolor, Aquatint
Salvador Dali, signed and numbered drypoint etching, Les Coche et la Mouch, 1974
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989)
Les Coche et la Mouche (The Coach and the Fly) 1974
Drypoint etching on Japan paper
Signed and numbered '79/250' (lower left) and 'Dali' (lower rig...
Category
20th Century Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Drypoint, Etching
