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[COVER DESIGN BY RODCHENKO] Rechevik: Stikhi [i.e. Orator: Verse]

Tretyakov, S.

Moscow: GIZ, 1929. Item #183

192 pp. 17,5 х 13 cm. In original illustrated Constructivist wrappers by Alexander Rodchenko. Very good. Slightly restored wrappers on the extremities.

One of 2000 copies.
Rodchenko’s work in book design had begun with handmade carbon-copied books in the late teens that continued an earlier Futurist aesthetic and were made in very small editions. By contrast, his later constructivist book covers were issued by the state publishing house in much larger numbers. One of the latter is the wraparound cover for Orator: Verse, which exemplifies the architectural, rationalized, compositional structure of the post-Revolution design aesthetic («Artists and Prints: Masterworks from The Museum of Modern Art». New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2004). Tretyakov was an important Leftist poet and the author of the plays 'Rychi Kitai!' [i.e. Roar, China!] and 'Khochu rebenka' [i.e. I Want a Child]. This cover is one of Rodchenko’s most famous constructivist designs.

MoMA. #826, Turchinsky. P. 536, Lesman. #2271.

Worldcat locates copies in 3 libraries (Getty Research Institute, New York Public Library, Stanford University).

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