The Tiger's Eye. On Arts and Letters
Westport, Connecticut: The Tiger's Eye Publishing Company, 1947 - 1949. Item #293 9 issues all published. 4to. Original color printed wrappers; spine edges rubbed, with a few minor repairs, and a few pieces missing, otherwise sound and attractive. First edition of this highly regarded art and literary magazine edited by Ruth and John Stephan, which became the voice for abstract expressionism, surrealism, and the Latin American avant-garde in the United States. Blending the prose and images of post WWII artists like Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, Stanley William Hayter, Pablo Picasso, Rufino Tamayo and Anne Ryan, to name a few, the Tiger’s Eye became the visual forum for the “new”. In a review of an exhibition on the Stephans at Yale University in 2002 Roberta Smith of the NY Times wrote, "the magazine, which took its title from William Blake, was one of the few that 'took visual art as seriously as literature.' It was also an eccentric mom-and-pop operation, put together with love, sophistication and a fair amount of attitude, as well as Ruth's money. (Her family owned Walgreen's). It largely excluded criticism in favor of artist's writings and reproduced artwork without captions, to unfetter the reader's response." Ruth and John Stephan's paper are at Yale University. In 2002 the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library organized an exhibition of their work with emphasis on The Tiger's Eye. Pamala Franks published a catalogue entitled The Tiger's Eye: The Art of a Magazine and Robert Smith reviewed both the exhibition and the publication for the NY Times, March 22, 2002. ”The Tiger's Eye was designed by Ruth Stephan. Cover and color scheme by John Stephan. Typography by Sven Jansen. Composition and printing by the Elm Tree Press, Woodstock, Vermont. Collotypes by Meriden Gravure Company, Meriden, Connecticut. Color Reproductions and Photo Engraving by Melford Photo Engraving Company, New York.” With faults a very good copy of the complete set. (293)
Price: $1,250.00