Beschreibung:

Eleven Artist's Books of Israeli artists. Printed and published in very limited editions of exceptional quality by Jacob Samuel Santa Monica, California, 1988-1996. Artist's signature appears in the colophon on the last page of each book. * Moshe Kupferman First Test, 1988. Eight soft-ground etchings. Numbered: 6/10. * Pinchas Cohen Gan Picture Grammar, 1990. Eight soft-ground and dry needle etchings. Numbered: 2/8. * Moshe Gershuni There, 1990. Seven aquatint etchings – white on black, printed on green silk paper. Numbered: 4/7. *Moshe Gershuni, Farewell, 1991. Eight soft wax etchings printed on Japanese paper. Numbered: 5/13. * Michael Gitlin Point of Departure, 1991. Eight soft wax and aquatint etchings. Numbered: 16/20. *Nahum Tevet, Painting Lesson, 1992. Eight photographic etchings. Numbered: 8/10. * Tsibi Geva Keffiyeh, 1992. Eight soft-ground and aquatint etchings – white on black, printed on silk paper. Numbered: 9/13. * Micha Ullman Letters, 1992. Ten soft-ground etchings. Numbered: 8/18. * Tamar Getter, History Lessons, 1993. Eight soft-ground etchings printed on green silk paper. Numbered: 6/10. * Moshe Gershuni Coming Home, 1993. Eight aquatint and acid etchings. Numbered: 1/9. * Philip Rantzer Sometimes, Not All the Time, 1996. Seven soft-ground and aquatint etchings printed on thin corn paper. Numbered: 1/9. The Artist's Books presented here include different techniques of etching: soft-ground etchings, aquatint etchings and photographic etchings. Plates were prepared in the workshop of Master Printer Jacob Samuel in Israel and printed in Santa Monica, California. The books are bound in artistic bindings, some cloth-covered and one made of wood, and are contained in fine cases. The eleven books were exhibited in the exhibition "Book Obsession" in the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art (curator: Edna Moshenzon, April-July 1997). The exhibition catalogue is enclosed. Jacob Samuel (b. 1951), native of Los Angeles. Specialized in etching in the workshop of the American artist Sam Francis in California and was involved with design, printing and publishing books in the publishing house which he founded. "The library thus accumulated by Jacob Samuel comprises a few dozen volumes. These are artists' or artists'/printers' books, depending on one's definition, containing etchings by American, Israeli, and a few European painters and sculptors, selected for publication by Samuel according to his personal taste and artistic orientation. The books, published in limited editions, are as fastidious in the selection of artists as in the type and quality of the printmaking technique, the choice of paper and typeface, bookbinding and cover design. Samuel's involvement in the joint venture of publishing artists' books sprang from an urge to delve deeper into the work of these artist. This was also how he embarked on the series of Israeli artists' books. Frequent visits to this country enabled Samuel to meet with local artists and become familiar with their work; the resulting dialogue traces a process of acquaintance with an artistic and cultural milieu that attracts and intrigues him…And indeed, the books published by Samuel throughout the years generate a fascinating discourse among the various artists. The book, in its combined capacity as transmitter of information and portable object, thus becomes a metaphoric expression of the quest to span a bridge between separate places and ideas." From: "I Present my Library" by Edna Moshenzon. From: "Book Obsession" exhibition catalogue, Tel-Aviv Museum of Art, Tel-Aviv, 1997. From the collection of Arnie Druck.