Artists' Books and Rare Books for Sale » John Gerard

ANFANG ENDE. (Beginning – End.) — Artist – Wolfgang Heuwinkel. Made in collaboration with John Gerard.

wstahl — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:49:45 +0000

(John Gerard) ANFANG ENDE. (Beginning – End.) Artist – Wolfgang Heuwinkel. Made in collaboration with John Gerard. Paperstudio John Gerard. 2010. 20p. 12.75” x 10.75”. Wolfgang Heuwinkel used chromatography to color handmade papers. The sheets have been cut to form letters to spell the words ‘Anfang’ and ‘Ende’ (Beginning and End). Gray linen dos-a-dos binding by Norbert Hoffman, Bonn. Gray linen-covered cassette, with gold decoration on front and anthracite title on spine. In an edition of 25 unique copies this is No. 6, initialed, dated and numbered by the artist. Fine.

John Gerard writes that from conversations with the artist, the selections of colors has been based on his intuition for the age old theme of the alpha and the omega: His thoughts for each word are : “ANFANG” (beginning) “A” begins with yellow for sunrise/beginning of day; “N” brown for earth ;”F” green for nature; “A” red for the colors of the garden; “N” blue for the sky; and “G” yellow for sunset/end of day. ENDE (end) “E” violet, complementary color to yellow, the opposite to beginning; “N” brown for the past or transitoriness; “D” yellow for the shimmer of hope; “E” blue for the vastness of space.” A brilliantly colored book celebrating a clever concept.

John Gerard — An die Musik — Poem by Rainer Maria Rilke

wstahl — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:46:28 +0000

(John Gerard) An die Musik. [Text in German.] Poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. Three original paper paintings by Gerhard van der Grinten on handmade papers by John Gerard. John Gerard. Rheinbach. 2005. Copernicus Graphische Werkstatt. 16p. 10” x 8.5”. Text handset in black Garamond, printed in the Copernicus Graphische Werkstatt Alfter. Open-out double page illustration as well as page and double page illustration. Handsewn. Wrappers and turn-ins form one continuous illustration. Gray cloth dropback box with title on front and spine. No. 20 of 25 unique variant copies, signed by Gerard and van der Grinten. Fine.

John Gerard — Das Herz der Rose — Poetry by Rose Ausländer

wstahl — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:43:13 +0000

(John Gerard) Das Herz der Rose. [By] Rose Ausländer. Pulp paper paintings and calligraphy by Heide Bauerle. Rheinbach. 2004. 15 leaves. 17.5″ x 15.5″. 6 pulp paper paintings, including the title page. All text in calligraphy. Red cloth boards with onlaid decorated title. Relief title on spine. Pale dusky pink handmade endpapers. Red cloth dropback box with relief title on front and spine. One of 15 unique variants, signed by Bauerle and Gerard. Fine.

Rose Ausländer (1901-1988) was a German writer and poet. Born in Bukowina, she left her native country with her husband when she was 20, and moved to the United States of America. Returning to Europe, she was arrested in 1941 in Russia, and in 1946 she again moved to the USA. Returning to Germany in 1965 she lived in Dusseldorf, where she was a poet, author and translator.

Heide Bauerle has created wonderful free images of roses in her paintings to accompany the 16 beautiful love poems of Rose Ausländer. An elegant and beautiful book. Translation available..

John Gerard — Colors of the Spirit — William Shakepeare

wstahl — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:39:29 +0000

(John Gerard) Colors of the Spirit. William Shakespeare 16 Selected Sonnets. Paper Images by Mary Beth Schmidt Fogarty. John Gerard. Rheinbach. [2000.] 20 leaves. 8.5” x 11.5”. Handmade papers by John Gerard, all especially made for this edition in his studio, with Schmidt Fogarty creating 6 original double page pulp paper images. Handset in 20 pt. Baskerville by Offizin Haag-Drugulin/Leipzig. Printed by Klaus Raasch/ Hamburg. Bound with an original paper painting over boards; deep red linen spine. Deep red cloth dropback box with relief title on spine and front. A unique variant in an edition of 40 copies, plus 3 artist’s proofs, each signed by Fogarty and Gerard. Fine.

Universal landscapes of vast horizons offer a varying prospect for subtle and poetical dreams of color as well as for dramatic scenarios. Love and beauty have been brilliantly interpreted in Shakespeare’s spirit with these sonnets spanning the vital range between youth and age. Gerard states: “This is Fogarty’s fourth book made in my workshop; she has been coming to Germany since 1988, when she made her first book with Dickinson poems. Fogarty lives with the texts for months and prepares extensively before beginning her illustrations, which she paints with wet pulp on a freshly made sheet of handmade paper. In this technique, there is no chance for correction – the lines and washes of pulp must work immediately or a new sheet is made.”

John Gerard — Noch bist du da (Still you are here) — Poem by Rose Auslaender.

wstahl — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:41:00 +0000

(John Gerard) Noch bist du da. (Still you are here.) Poem by Rose Auslaender. Artist’s book by John Gerard. 2010. 8.25” x 5.5”. Accordion fold book, made of five handmade sheets, which have been joined together without glue. Printed letterpress on handmade paper in black. Black and white continuous illustration on both sides on the work. Titled wrapper forms part of the book. In a red linen dropback box with black title on spine and front, lined in black. No. 3 in an edition of 20 copies, signed by John Gerard. Fine. A memorial book. $500.00

Still you are here
by Rose Auslaender

Throw your fear into the air

Soon your time will be over

soon

the sky grows under the grass

your dreams fall into nothingness

still

the carnation will scent

the thrush will sing

still you may bestow loving words

still you are here

be what you are

give what you have.

John Gerard — Wünschelrute (Wishing Wand)

wstahl — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:35:41 +0000

(John Gerard) Wünschelrute. (Wishing Wand.) Poem by Joseph von Eichendorff. Artist’s book by John Gerard. 2009. 10” x 10”. Yellow and lemon handmade paper within an embossed shaded light turquoise folded cover. The back of the cover has the same design in white as part of the paper with white wavy-line design inside. Handwritten text in black ink, watermarked papers with nouns from each line. Hand sewn. Turquoise linen covered, blind embossed dropback box with gilt title on spine. No. 6 in an edition of 20 unique copies. Gerard has written his name and date in ink and the number in pencil. Fine.

A wonderful structure for Gerard’s fine book. Highly recommended. A translation is available.

John Gerard — Relay

wstahl — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:35:21 +0000

(John Gerard) Relay. [Poems by] Patrick F. Durgin. Produced at the Columbia College Chicago, Center for Book & Paper Arts. Summer 2008. First Edition. 32p. 14” x 10”. Concept, images and handmade paper by John Gerard with shadow-silhouettes of skyscrapers of Chicago, made as paper painting and with photographs of the city. Many of the gray pages are irregularly shaped.The text is set in 18 pt. Courier and printed on an Epson 9800 inkjet printer. Made at the Center for Book and Paper Arts. Handbound with three-sectioned gray cloth spine and charcoal and light gray boards, which mimic the shaping of the inside pages. Title in black on front board. Laid in a gray cloth dropback box with black title on front and spine. No. 6 in an edition of 20 copies, signed by John Gerard. Fine.

“The poems Relay (Excerpts) were kindly reproduced here by permission of the author.” – Colophon. The poems are on the theme of a metropolis. The book was produced during Gerard’s Summer 2008 Artist Residency. Funding for this residency was generously provided by the Illinois Arts Council.

John Gerard & Heinrich Heine — Schlöpfungslieder.

wstahl — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:30:29 +0000

(John Gerard) Schlöpfungslieder. By Heinrich Heine. [Germany. 2003.] n.p. 11.5” x 8.25”. Translucent sheets printed with text between pulp-painted handmade paper. Stab-sewn Japanese binding in cream handmade paper wrappers with title on front. Laid in a mustard cloth dropback box lined in red and red title on front and spine of box. No. 20 in an edition of 30 copies, signed by John Gerard. Fine.

John Gerard & Berthold Brecht — Lied der belebenden Wirkung des Geldes [Song of the Enlivening Effect of Money]

wstahl — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:25:17 +0000

(John Gerard) Lied der belebenden Wirkung des Geldes. [Song of the Enlivening Effect of Money.] [In German.] [By] Berthold Brecht. Grafik und Gestaltung Jochen Fiedler. Hergestellt in Zusammenarbeit mit John Gerard. Rheinbach/Leipzig. 1999. 48p. 6.625” x 12.75”. Printed on John Gerard’s white handmade papers made with shredded German Mark banknotes. Each full page is interspersed with a half size page. Handprinted in black with blind embossing by Reinhard Scheuble. Lime green handmade endpapers. Green cloth spine with black title; handmade paper cover boards, title in blind. Green cloth dropback box with black spine title and relief title on front. An edition of 25 copies signed by the two collaborators, plus 5 artist’s copies. Fine.

“Leipzig Graphic artist Jochen Fiedler has engraved eight whimsical monetary notes to accompany Bertolt Brecht’s text on the enlivening effect of money. Jochen Fiedler had been making fictitious monetary notes ever since the two Germanys were united and he had to learn to deal with the West German Mark. When the Euro was introduced in 1999, I asked Fiedler to design new notes and illustrate Brecht’s naughty poem.“ – Gerard.

John Gerard & Fritz Best — trans

wstahl — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:20:37 +0000

(John Gerard) trans. [English.] A series of 7 tableaux by Fritz Best made in collaboration with John Gerard. [Berlin. 1998.] 7 double page spreads. 14.75” x 12.5”. An accordion folded book with images and text by Fritz Best. Produced using pulp painting techniques as well as offset 4-color lithography, etching, stone lithography, relief etching, original offset printing. Front page glued to front board. Black linen covers with rectangular cut-out on front board allowing the title to show through. An edition of 20 copies, signed by Best. Fine.

“trans was one of the most interesting projects of all my artists’ books, simply because both the artist and myself had no idea as to whether the book would work technically. The white base sheets were made first and dried; Best printed these in four-color offset; months later we then used stencil techniques and pulp painting to make the second layer of paper in pink or blue. The sheets were then dried again and printed in seven different printing techniques. In each of the sheets is a watermarked word that begins with the prefix “trans”. We even made the sheets transparent. Best has used cliches from advertising – and comments about our desires and misinterpretations of the transferal of ideas.” – Gerard.