Holiday Greetings! Signed Rudy + Carol 1987 [Rudolph de Harak]

Holiday Greetings!, greeting card by Rudolph de Harak, 1987. Self-published, USA. 8.5 x 11, image size 7 x 7, single-sided card featuring an image of a collage made by Rudolph de Harak (1924–2002). It was sent to friends, colleagues and clients, not sold publicly. Printed in an unknown quantity on an ivory colored coated paper.

This holiday greeting card is signed “Rudy + Carol 1987” [Carol is Rudy’s wife] in the top margin with a black marker. The collage is included on page 373 in Rational Simplicity Rudolph de Harak by Richard Poulin (Thames & Hudson, 2022).

De Harak’s collage reveals the strong influence of Kurt Schwitters. It’s composed with various layers in a warm, brown palette with small traces of bright red, blue, yellow, white and black rectilinear shapes. De Harak’s abstract fragmentation is assembled with scraps of modern typographic references (wrappers, tickets or paper ephemera), cardboard, acrylic on canvas and staples on plywood; even his tiny name and the date are pasted/printed in. Later in life, de Harak and his wife Carol left New York City for the coast of Maine where he practiced his fine art: painting, collage and photography.

A very good plus, original greeting card with light handling, faint surface wear and a pinhole at the top center margin, above the signatures. Excellent and uncommon!