Herbert Matter by Louis Finkelstein, not dated, c. 1962. Herbert Matter, New York, USA. 8 x 5.5, unpaginated (pp. 16), saddle-stitched with a dull coated stock. Design by Herbert Matter (1907–1984) in black and red with his distinctive “M” slab-serif printed on the translucent vellum verso and a punched paper tape graphic on the back cover; perhaps from a study for an M.I.T. project.
This uncommon exhibition booklet was published in conjunction with Herbert Matter’s 1962 one-man exhibition at the American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York. This exhibit featured photographs and graphic symbols ... “Blown up to large formats for showing, they were akin to the abstract fine art works of his painter friends in New York, rather than banal commercial heraldry.” — Herbert Matter: Translating the Modernist Soul by Mark S. Reeve, 1994.
Featuring one image per page ... photographs and graphic symbols printed for works related to: Arts & Architecture, Alberto Giacometti, First National Bank of Miami, Tea-room Matter (Engelberg, CH), New Haven Railroad and Cummins Engine Corp. With a list of (16) works exhibited; not all shown in this booklet
From the excellent Introductory text by Louis Finkelstein: “Because the printing and related industries pour out such a quantity of visual material much of our experience of photographs and symbols tends to be casual and commonplace. It is only when they are illuminated by the special qualities of devotion which Matter brings to his work that they attain the level of art.”
A very good, original exhibition booklet with some waviness to the wrappers and a few rusty staples.