A collection of eight of the artist s Bilderhefte photobooks

FELDMANN, Hans-Peter

About this Item

8 vols. in various formats, all orig. gray cardboard wrappers rubber-stamped by the artist, staple-bound & housed in the artist s orig. cardboard portfolio. Hilden, Germany & Torino: 1972-74. Eight of the artist s later "Bilderheften," which he produced from 1968 to 1974. This set is housed in Feldmann s characteristic paper folder, and additionally includes the three photobooks published by gallerist Gian Enzo Sperone. By 1975 Feldmann shifted his focus to photographic portfolios in very small editions and two re-prints of these early photobooks. The books in this collection present seemingly arbitrary series of photographs of swimmers, actor portraits, unmade beds, toy animals, a dirigible, etc. According to Kühnast s catalogue raisonné, the books were made in editions of 80 copies. The books in the present portfolio are listed below, in the order established by Kühnast, and titles that we have supplied: 1. 5 Bilder [Swimmers]. 5 b&w illus. [8] pp. Hilden: Self-published, 1972. KB 15. 2. 1 Bild [Zeppelin/Blimp]. One double-page b&w illus. [4] pp. Hilden: Self-published, 1973. KB 26. 3. 1 Bild [Table & Chairs]. One double-page b&w illus. [4] pp. Hilden: Self-published, 1974. KB 33. 4. 6 Bilder [Foliage]. 6 full-bleed b&w illus. [8] pp. Hilden: Self-published, 1974. KB 35. 5. 7 Bilder [Actor Portraits]. 7 b&w illus. [8] pp. Hilden: Self-published, 1974. KB 36. Sperone Bilderhefte 6. 5 Bilder [Unmade Beds]. 5 b&w illus. [8] pp. Torino: Gian Enzo Sperone, 1973. KB 27. 7. 4 Bilder [4 Photographs]. 4 b&w illus. [8] pp. Torino: Gian Enzo Sperone, 1973. KB 31. 8. 6 Bilder [Animals]. 6 b&w illus. [8] pp. Torino: Gian Enzo Sperone, 1973. KB 32. Overall in excellent condition. We have not previously seen a portfolio with contents matching ours; apart from the first "Mappe," the contents of these folders can vary from example to example. The three Sperone books were added to this set by Feldmann or a later owner, on their own these three are quite scarce. ? "The small artist s books simply entitled either Bild (Picture) or Bilder (Pictures) that Hans Peter Feldmann made between 1968 and 1976 constitute one of the most important bodies of artist s bookworks in the twentieth century, along with those of Ruscha and Boltanski. In Feldmann s case, it is perhaps more difficult to explain why, but their utter simplicity and studied lack of artifice is a good place to begin. The books are invariably of modest size, most often with brown covers rather like school exercise books, in which varying numbers of found photographs of a particular subject category are reproduced cheaply." Parr & Badger, The Photobook: A History, Vol. II, p. 158. G. Kühnast, ed., Hans-Peter Feldmann: Bücher, Publikationen, Hefte, 1960er Jahre-2021 (2023). Anne Moeglin-Delcroix, Esthétique du Livre d Artiste: Une Introduction à l art contemporain (2nd ed.: 2012), pp. 226-27. Seller Inventory # 10492

Bibliographic Details

Title: A collection of eight of the artist s ...

Binding: Soft cover