Transworld Art CorporationBiblio.com
Your Huddled Masses" being Part 1 of An American Portrait 1776-1976 constructed 1973-1975
19751270241975. New York: Transworld Art Corporation 1975. <br /> <br /> Huge folio 711 x 540 mm: 98 unnumbered pages in 24 leaves and 1 sheet of Arches of which 10 leaves contain the 10 prints in a square-cut folder of Arches contained in a white leather-covered solander box with the title blocked in gold on the front and the subtitle with one star on the spine. The solander box and sculpture contained in a white leather-covered presentation case fastened with two metal studs with the title blocked in gold on the front and the subtitle on the spine. Condition: Prints and text leaves near-fine with very minimal off-setting and age toning; small blemish to one edge of the Soto sculpture; the presentation case with a touch of inevitable wear to the edges. Muriel Rukeyser's copy and evidently very rarely removed from the original cardboard shipping box together with her copy of the absurdly small trade edition with her ownership inscription on the half title.<br /> <br /> § One of 25 copies not intended for sale with the ten original prints numbered "H.C. 20/25" and signed in pencil by the artists together with a signed multiple by Jesus Soto. <br /> <br /> A lavish celebration of the United States bicentennial combining original artworks and literary extracts with an introduction by Muriel Rukeyser. Incredibly this monumental construction was only part one of the project and two similar compendia followed published and issued separately.<br /> <br /> The portfolio contains the following:<br /> <br /> JESUS SOTO "Homenaje al Humano"<br /> Multiple sculpture made by Atelier Tosi Milan Italy 1975<br /> <br /> HENRY MOORE "Two Women Bathing Child"<br /> Lithograph printed by Curwen Press London England 1975.<br /> <br /> PIERRE ALECHINSKY "Central Park"<br /> Lithograph printed by Clot Bramsen et Georges Paris France 1975.<br /> <br /> GRACIELA RODO BOULANGER "Le Dimanche Matin"<br /> Lithograph printed by Mourlot Paris France 1975.<br /> <br /> ALEXANDER CALDER "Flies in the Spider Web" <br /> Lithograph printed by Mourlot Paris France 1974.<br /> <br /> ROMARE BEARDEN "The Family"<br /> Etching printed by The Printmaking Workshop New York City 1975.<br /> <br /> PAUL JENKINS "Phenomena Franklin's Kite"<br /> Lithograph printed by Mourlot Paris France 1974.<br /> <br /> MARK TOBEY 'The Scroll of Liberty"<br /> Lithograph printed by Mourlot Paris France 1973.<br /> <br /> RICHARD ANUSZKIEWICZ "New Glory"<br /> Serigraph printed by New York Institute of Technology Old Westbury New York 1975.<br /> <br /> SALVADOR DALI "The Glory That Was Spain's"<br /> Etching hand colored printed by Atelier Rigal Fontenay aux Roses France 1975.<br /> <br /> NANCY GROSSMAN "The Road to Life"<br /> Lithograph printed by Styria Studios New York City 1975.<br /> <br /> The literary extracts are by John F. Kennedy Abraham Cahan Horace Traubel Jane Addams William Faulkner Jacob Riis Gustavus Vasa José Martí Charles Dickens Gottlieb Mittelberger Nathaniel Hawthorne Willa Cather Morris Shloss O. E. Rölvaag Stephen Crane John Wise Emma Lazarus Benjamin Franklin and anonymous authors.<br /> <br /> The full edition consisted of 175 regular sets numbered 1-175 50 deluxe sets numbered I-L 25 sets numbered H.C. 1-25 "reserved for exhibition purposes and gifts to those who made this project possible" and 25 sets numbered E.A. or A.P. 1-25 reserved for the artists. In total 275 sets.<br /> <br /> Despite the relatively large edition number there are almost no records of this portfolio in institutional catalogues or at auction suggesting either that the full edition was never issued or that copies were immediately broken up for their splendid prints both is likely true. The sole institution that appears to have any of the portfolios is ironically the National Library of Quebec which has all three. <br /> <br /> The Transworld Art Corporation was a New York-based company which published contemporary art prints and portfolios in deluxe formats. The 33 artists involved in the three volumes of the American Portrait project were commissioned and corralled over four years prior to the bicentennial and the result was celebrated with a travelling exhibition which opened at the Graphic Eye Gallery in July 1976. A reviewer for the New York Times while critical of the razzmatazz surrounding the exhibition praised the artists' contributions: "Quality is not in short supply. Not only are the physical properties of the prints of an estimable worth-quality of paper intensity and intricacy of color tones and sharpness of design-but the prints themselves are also among some of the artists' most distinguished achievements." <br /> <br /> Most striking today perhaps is the portfolio's internationalism and open celebration of multi-cultural America. The volume subtitled "Your Huddled Masses" is dedicated to a "nation of immigrants" and Muriel Rukeyser's introduction and the literary extracts are all on the theme of migration to America. The artists themselves are of many nationalities: the seven Americans joined by a Belgian a Venezuelan a Bolivian a Spaniard and an Englishman. <br /> <br /> Alexander Calder in a statement accompanying his lithograph writes "An American Portrait 1776-1976 portrays America and its many peoples as they really are - a contrasting melting pot of peoples and opinions. This project which features the work of many of the world's greatest artists will help to explain America to its people on its 200th Anniversary.". unknown
