Book design by Seiji Togo

Togo, Seiji.

Renai kabushiki kaisha [Lovers Co., Ltd.].

Tokyo, Hasuisha 1931.

345, (3)pp. 22 fullpage line drawings hors texte, signed Seidzi.

20,5 x 15,5 cm. Publisher’s remarkable photo- illustrated boards, printed in red and black, original slipcase.

EUR 240

Book design by Seiji Togo. “Togo had achieved recognition in Japanese art circles with his cubofuturist painting ‘Woman Holding a Parasol’ (Parasoru saseru onna), exhibited at the third Nika exhibition in 1916. This work went on to win the Nika prize. Togo first studied in France from April 1921 until March 1922; he met the leader of Italian futurism, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, along with Luigi Russolo, the Dadaists and poets Tristan Tzara and Philippe Soupault and Pablo Picasso. Upon his return to Japan, Togo was one of a number of Nika artists spearheading a stylistic move toward a cubo-futurist and abstract expressionist style and away from the post-impressionist modes that had dominated the group” (Weisenfeld).

The slipcase is slightly tanned, rubbed and has minor damage. The delicate binding has a tanned spine and minimal tanning along the left edge.

Lit.:Weisenfeld, Gennifer: Mavo: Japanese Artists and the AvantGarde, 1905-1931 (2002), pp. 275 n. 16, 279 n. 56 63.