Max Unold (1885-1964), Gargantua (Bonn: Graphik-Verlag, 1910). [1] leaf, 3 pages, 20 woodcuts in portfolio. Copy 47 of 50. Inspired by François Rabelais’s novel. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2019- in process

The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired one of the earliest works of Max Unold (1885-1964). This project led to his first major gallery show in 1912 with the infamous Munich Secession but soon after, Unold aligned himself with the “New Objectivity” group along with Alexander Kanoldt, Heinrich Maria Davringhausen, Carlo Mense, Franz Radziwill, Georg Schrimpf and others.

In 1913, he was instrumental in the founding of the “Münchener Neue Secession” (also called “Neue Gruppe”) and later, served as the group’s president until they were forced to disband in 1936 at the rise of the German National Socialists. Throughout this period, Unold continued to illustrate and publish fine press editions.

For more on the early movements, see Alicia Faxon, “German Expressionist Prints, A Persistent Tradition,” The Print Collector’s Newsletter 14, no. 1 (March-April 1983): 3-4.

See also:
Max Unold (1885-1964), Ghetto. Sieben Erzählungen. Zwölf Steinzeichnungen von Max Unold. Translated by Alexander Eliasbert (München: G.Müller, 1921). Copy 236 of 330. Rare Books Oversize 2299.322

Voltaire (1694-1778), Candid: oder, Der Optimismus: eine Erzählung von Voltaire; mit 12 Holzschnitten und Initialen von Max Unold; [übertragen von Ernst Hardt] (Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1913). Copy 11 of 800. Rare Books 3298.323.7

Heinrich Lautensack (1881-1919), Altbayrische Bilderbogen: Prosadichtungen Heinrich Lautensack; mit zehn Original-Holzschnitten und zehn Zeichnungen von Max Unold (Berlin: F. Gurlitt-Verlag, 1920). Firestone 3467.84.312

François Rabelais (approximately 1490-1553?), Les oeuures de m. Francois Rabelais Docteur en Medecine, contenans la vie, faicts & dicts heroiques de Gargantua, & de son filz Panurge: auec la Prognostication Pantagrueline ([Paris? : s.n.], 1553). Rare Books EX 3281.1553 [Books 2, 3 and 4 and the Pantagrueline prognostication have special title-pages, included in paging.]