TZARA Tristan Vingt-cinq poèmes. H. Arp. Dix gravures sur bois.

Garvey, no. 2.

First edition of this lovely book illustrated with 10 original woodcuts by Hans Arp.

A very fine copy inscribed by Tzara to the artist and painter Pierre Daval.

Regular issue.

The first collection of Tzara’s poems, illustrated by Arp, two of the most important figures at the beginning of the newly created Dada style being the artistic expression of the most decisive European avant-garde movement of the 20th century. Composed between 1916 and 1918, these poems in the purest Dadaist vein hold an important place in the history of poetry, privileging pure rhythm over meaning.

They also mark the first meeting between the Romanian poet and the Alsatian painter, both co-founders of the Dada movement.

Dada was born in 1916 in Zurich, a meeting place for artists and writers who had fled the First World War. It was there that Tristan Tzara, Marcel Janco, Hugo Ball, Richard Huelsenbeck and Hans/Jean Arp met.

“In February 1916, Ball ad his partner Emmy Hennings foundet Cabaret Volatire, the epicenter of the Dada movement, where artists conveived ideas and organized performances. Dadaism erupted as a reaction to the mechanized atrocities unleashed by the war and quickly established itself in Berlin, Paris, New York, and various European centers. Unlike the Italian Futurists, who glorified militarism, Dada artists saw the war as the ultimate breakdown of Western civilization” (Andel, Avant-garde paper Design, p. 124).

“En janvier 1920, quittant Zürich pour Paris, Tristan Tzara était déjà célèbre. Les manifestations de Dada auxquelles il avait participées avec Hugo Ball ou qu’il avait fomentées, les expositions qu’il avait organisées, la revue Dada qu’il dirigeait depuis 1917, la Collection Dada, qu’il avait créée, où deux de ses plaquettes avaient paru (La Première aventure céleste de Monsieur Antipyrine en 1916, puis Vingt-cinq poèmes en 1918) l’avaient situé après le retrait d’Hugo Ball comme la principale figure de Dada” (Antoine Coron, De Goya à Max Ernst, Bibliothèque de R.M., p. 202).

The book is illustrated with 10 original woodcuts by Hans Arp, including one repeat for the lettering piece on the front cover.

“An important document of the Dada movement by two of the founders. The non-objective woodcuts are similar to Arp’s wooden reliefs and collages at this time and their free form is expressive of the automatic quality valued by the Dadaists” (Garvey).

Important provenance This copy is inscribed

“à Pierre Deval
très gazométriquement
avec pain
sel
acier
chapeau
glace
son
Tristan Tzara
chez Cerfà 7 mai 1921″

Pierre Deval (1897-1993), artist and painter, born Lyon, moved to Paris in 1921 as an art student. He there met the protagonists of Dada, namely Tzara, Breton et Aragon and participated in the movement.

Very good copy.