Földvári Books

Original Book Dummy, Illustrations Attributed to Lissitzky

Lissitzky, El; Kahana, Uriel; Raskin, Benzion

[Illustrator’s Dummy of:] Arba’ah Teyashim. [Four Billy Goats.]

[Warsaw]: [Tarbut], [ca. 1922]. Design and illustrations attributed to El Lissitzky or Uriel Kahana. The text and illustrations (earlier typewritten text overlaid by print proofs) are mounted on the pages, accompanied by corrections, notes, and other markings in black and red pencil. Included are two red-and-black proofs of the front cover design, ten additional clipped copies of the illustrations, and one leaf with proofs of the Tsil Tslil publisher’s signet (the series in which the book appeared). The last leaf of the printed book is omitted from the dummy. 18 p. Some mounted text bands are creased, and the separate unpasted bands show signs of wear. The leaves are slightly chipped at the edges, with yellowing due to aging. Minor staining and dusting from the glue used to paste the illustrations and text bands. Overall, in very good condition.

Book dummy of Arba’ah Teyashim, the Four Billy Goats, illustrations are attributed both to El Lissitzky and Uriel Kahana.

This unique book dummy of Arba’ah Teyashim (The Four Billy Goats) features illustrations attributed to either El Lissitzky or Uriel Kahana, two prominent figures in early 20th-century avant-garde art. While the illustrations in the dummy are identical to those in the printed edition, the text arrangement differs slightly. Twenty of the drawings are mounted directly on the pages, while the publisher’s signet and the city landscape (printed on the title and last pages) are presented separately. The dummy also includes five print proofs of the Tsil Tslil signet, a hallmark of Tarbut’s children’s book series.

The illustrations share similarities with Lissitzky’s celebrated works, such as Had Gadya (1919) and Yingl Tsingl Khvat(1922), as well as the more simplified drawings in the children’s books by Benzion Raskin (e.g., Der Ber, Di Hun). The cover design—featuring Hebrew letters arranged as dynamic architectural elements in red and black—strongly reflects Lissitzky's Proun typography style of the time, confirming his authorship of the cover motif. (Perloff 1998)

In his comprehensive study of Lissitzky's Jewish period, Alexander Kantsedikas suggests that although the illustrations are attributed to Uriel Kahana, they may have been created by Lissitzky himself. Lissitzky had contracted to illustrate a series of books by Ben Zion Raskin in 1919, and Arba’ah Teyashim was one of these. Kantsedikas notes that Kahana, a young artist at the time, was still in his teens and unlikely to have produced such mature illustrations at this point in his career. However, some scholars argue that the style aligns more closely with Lissitzky’s, leading to ongoing debate over the true authorship of the illustrations.

The present book dummy is from the collection of Uriel Kahana, which enhances the possibility that the illustrations are by Kahana. However, as Kantsedikas points out, “[i]n 1922, when Arba’ah Teyashim was published in Warsaw by Tarbut, Uriel Kahana (1903–1965) was 19 years old and on his way to Palestine. Only a year later, he graduated from the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium. In 1933, Kahana earned a diploma in architecture from University College London. During his career, he was not known for book illustrations. Hence, the question of whether these particular book illustrations should be attributed to Kahana or Lissitzky remains controversial to this day. Those who attribute the illustrations to Lissitzky point to a high degree of correspondence with his recognized style of the period. On the other hand, these illustrations do not necessarily reach the same artistic level.” (Kantsedikas 2018; p. 130, note 6)

The cover design has been included in the collections of major institutions such as MoMA and the Getty Research Institute under Lissitzky’s name.

Provenance: The Uriel Kahana Collection References: MoMA 563.1977; Getty Russian Modernism 452

Bibliography: Kantsedikas, A.: Lissitzky: Jewish Period 1916-1919. Unicorn Publishing, 2018.; Perloff, N., [et al.]: Monuments of the Future: Designs by El Lissitzky. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 1998.; Tschichold, J.: Über El Lissitzky. In: Imprimatur III. Ein Jahrbuch für Bücherfreunde. Gesellschaft der Bücherfreunde zu Hamburg, 1932. pp. 97–112.; Woodruff, D.; Grubišić, L.: Russian Modernism: The Collections of the Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities, I. Santa Monica: Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities, 1997. p. 96.

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Price: €150,000.00