FANTASY DRAWINGS; Introduction by A. L. Chanin / Analytical Essay by Samuel Atkin, M.D.
New York: Beechhurst Press / A Bittner Art Bool, 1956. Chaim Gross. First Edition. Decorated & gilt-stamped cloth. PRESENTATION Copy SIGNED by the Artist with an ORIGINAL SIGNED SKETCH of a large Woman holding a man in her hand, 4to, black cloth with gold lettering on spine and gold circular sketch on lower right front cover, Introduction by A. L. Chanin / Analytical Essay by Samuel Atkin, M.D., profusely illustrated with sketches by Chaim Gross and a few photos, photographic dust jacket (unclipped) depicting a grotesque surrealistic face by Gross, protected by an archival acid-free clear plastic cover, 116 pages. Fine / Very Good +. Item #4078
ISBN: LOC5511784
Chaim Gross (1904-1991) was born in Ukraine from which his family fled the Russians to Hungary. There, briefly, he studied art in Budapest; soon thereafter following more persecution, to Vienna. He then emigrated to the United States in 1921.
Gross's work encompassed sculpture, linocuts, lithographs, sketches, and wood carvings by the "direct carving" method. He and the Soyers' brothers helped define Jewish and Modern Expressionism based on representational rather than more impressionistic styles.
In 1974, the Smithsonian American Art Museum held the exhibition, Chaim Gross: Sculpture and Drawings. This volume is an outgrowth of that prestigious exhibition and overview.
His SIGNED SKETCH of a full-length (possibly dominant & "phalllic") woman is suggestive of his studies of women and androgynous situations--a aspect of the volume's lengthy psychoanalytic discussion by Dr. Samuel Atkin.
Condition: Contents are fine and without annotations. There is very slight age-toning. The dust jacket is remarkably complete for a large volume with slight wear and minor losses to its spine bottom and top. The front flap has a 3/8" square removed from its top beside a once folded corner.
Price: $195.00