Katherine Dreier's Book on David Burliuk, With Inscription and Original Drawing by the Artist

Katherine D. Dreier. BURLIUK. New York: The Société Anonyme, Inc. and Color and Rhyme, 1944. Includes Part I Russia and Part II Twenty Years in America. With a foreword by Duncan Phillips and (53) reproductions of Burliuk's work selected by Marcel Duchamp and Katherine S. Dreier. Hardcover. Red cloth-covered boards with upper board and spine lettered in gilt, top edge gilt. 4to; xvi, 182pp. with index. Second free endpaper with text, line drawings, and inscription in purple ink, including Burliuk's 2572 Bedford Ave. address in Brooklyn, New York, the words "Florida - Bradenton / Beach and Dunedin.," a variety of figural and other sketches, and the inscription: "to dearest our / Friends, charming / lovely (vivacious) Marion / and great master of / colors Phillip, Mrs / and Mr Sawyer / with best wishes, regards / and love Davy, Marussia / Burliuk." dated March 12, 1948.

10 1/2 x 7 3/4 in.

Private Collection, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

This is the scarce hardcover of Dreier's book on the poet and artist David Burliuk (Ukrainian, 1882-1967).

Burliuk was born in a small village in what is now in eastern Ukraine, and showed an interest in art from a young age. After pursuing a formal study of art in a variety of cities including Munich, Moscow, and Paris, he moved to the United States following the Russian Revolution of 1917. Burliuk is known for working in a Cubo-Futurist style and is often called "the Father of Russian Futurism."

Color and Rhyme was a periodical published by the Burliuk family for several decades that promoted David Burliuk's work and avant-garde ideas more broadly.

The inscription in this book is likely made to Philip Sawyer, an artist who, like Burliuk, frequently visited and painted the Florida coast.

Ex-library book with associated marks, stamps, and remnants from library due date cards; boards with toning on spine and upper board, rubbed and bumped corners, and an occasional scuff or mark; two areas of gutter cracking and wear before front and rear free endpaper, with an associated small tear; interior with light staining, scattered foxing, and an occasional mark or notation in pencil; one page with a small tear mildly impacting text and one with a closed tear at the lower edge. A good to very good copy.