Ex Libris et Musicis Mantero,
1930
by Michel Fingesten
Print : paper, etching 30 x 24 x 0.2 cm 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
Sold
Free returns within 14 days
Authenticity guaranteed
Learn more
Paypal
American Express
Visa
Mastercard
About the artwork
Numbered and limited to 100 copies
Hand-signed by artist
Sold with certificate of Authenticity from the gallery
Invoice from the gallery
Artwork sold in perfect condition
Artwork location: Italy
Image dimensions: 15x11 cm
Original Ex Libris includes passpartout. Edition of 100 prints (47/100).
Hand signed.
Read more
Original Ex Libris includes passpartout. Edition of 100 prints (47/100).
Hand signed.
About the seller
Wallector Srl • Italy
Artsper seller since 2019
Vetted Seller
Collector’s Guide
Imagine it at home
Michel Fingesten, known as Fingesten, was born in 1884 in Buzkovice u Ostravy; he was a painter and engraver, who was famous particularly for his extraordinary production of Ex Libris (bookplates).
After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and in Monaco with Franz von Stuck, who addressed him to the caricature and to the graphics of small size, Fingesten left Austria; he travelled all over the world, visiting Europe, the United States of America and the Oriental countries.
Fingesten’s stay in Berlin since 1913 was decisive for his contact with the world of the engraving. After his adhesion to the New Secession, Fingesten destroyed his previous pictorial production and he decided to dedicate himself to the dimension of the engraving; even if he preferred the graphics, he continued to see himself as a “painter”.
The German city was characterized by a very dynamic artistic atmosphere that stimulated Fingesten. The engravings of this artist were published since 1915 in files and books in limited edition.
Fingesten’s works were published also in the famous periodicals of the expressionist avant-garde, like “Genius” and “Marsyas”, with the artists and the writers most important of his age.
Considered as a genius of the Ex Libris, that became with him a big art of small size, Fingesten realised more over than 1.500 of these brands of property since 1915. Fingesten’s Ex Libris were nourishment for the bibliophiles, who glued the bookplates on the first page of theirs books to indicate the property and who traded these Ex Libris.
The Ex Libris is a genre that doesn’t have confines and that can’t be reduced to indicate the name of the owner on the book, on which it is glued.
It left his old function of simple heraldic sign of property, and it became almost the projection of the bibliophile’s personality.
Even if he didn’t fall in the eclecticism, Michel Fingesten used generously the medium of the quote, in the subject, in the form and in the style.
In the 20s, for example, his art oscillates between Otto Dix and George Grosz, of which he overcomes the social critique and the erotism, and Karl Arnold of which he beats the irony.
The Great Depression of 1929 and the rapid advance of the Nazism contributed in a significant way to the progressive isolation of the Czech painter and engraver.
In the spring of the 1935, Fingesten left Germany and went to Italy, where he settled in Trieste and Milan.
The collector Mantero remembers about Fingesten’s Italian stay that “he lived in a home without furnitures” in Via Chiaravalle 11.
Mantero, who was one of the most important Fingesten’s customers of Ex Libris, wrote: “I understood he had a difficult and poor life for absence of money, but he didn’t have ambition of a rich life, indeed he told me that the earnings to buy some bread and a glass of wine were enough for him”.
In that period, the main means of subsistence were the commissions of the collectors of Ex Libris, especially the collectors of Milan and Como, members of the circle of friends of the art merchant Luigi Filippo Bolaffio.
Also known as “Picasso of the Ex Libris”, Fingesten explored this artistic medium and he elevated it with new and powerful expressive resources.
When the Ex Libris was detached from its practical function, the Artist began to create Ex Libris also for fake customers, for “famous contemporary people”, poets, musicians, and since 1928, for political men.
The Ex Libris, realised with a lot of graphic techniques, like the etching, the drypoint and the lithography, has always (with the graphics of occasion) the signature of the Artist, that underlines the awareness of his valour.
An important chapter of the production of this Artist was dedicated to the erotic Ex Libris, that for their irony were understood with difficulty by people that didn’t belong to the circle of the Artist.
Some of the most secret and rare erotic works by Fingesten are linked to the commissions of Gianni Mantero.
The dominant element of these engravings is the sarcasm, that is sometimes connected to a gloomy irony, and to the presence of the death, that coincided with the war, particularly in the last years of the Artist existence.
In his compositions, Fingesten was a narrator of life and death, of sex and love, of nightmares, hopes, art and poetry. His narration wasn’t without the time and the space, but it was at the center of the contemporary dimension, in the 20s and 30s of the anguished Europe that was going to the ruin.
We can underline that the relationship between the Artist and the customer had an important role in the definition of the power of these graphic works; actually the creative energy, that was born from the contact between the Artist inspiration and the customer personality, generates a strong expressive freedom.
After his death, Michel Fingesten and his works were forgotten; today there is a new attention to this very important artist and to his visionary sign.
Bibliography
• N. Nechwatal, Michel Fingesten – Das graphische Werk, Coburg 1984
• A. Tomasetig, Michel Fingesten: dalla collezione Cauti una mostra di ex libris e grafica d’occasione, 2005
• A. Parik, The unknown Michel Fingesten, Praha 2008.
More works from Wallector Srl
Goddess and Pillar of the Western Sky
Parimah Avani
Fine Art Drawings - 182 x 32 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 71.7 x 12.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,443
10 - Greene & Greene
Genny Puccini
Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 50 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$943
Like a Red Rower
Giuseppe Zumbolo
Painting - 67 x 54 x 0.1 cm Painting - 26.4 x 21.3 x 0 inch
$1,221
Leaves
Aurelio Mistruzzi
Fine Art Drawings - 48 x 35 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 18.9 x 13.8 x 0.1 inch
$333
Need help?
How does Artsper protect you?
Protect your purchase
We’re here to help you collect art securely. When you browse and buy on Artsper, you benefit from our guaranteed protections.
Buy works from the best galleries
We partner with the best art galleries. All sellers on Artsper have been carefully reviewed and approved by our team. All of our partner galleries respect our code of ethics.
Know what you’re getting
Each work on Artsper is studied and validated by our team before appearing online. Get personalized support Contemporary art specialists are available by phone and email to answer all of your questions about our works of art. Get personalized advice and curated suggestions for your collection.
Resell your artworks
As a private individual, you have the possibility to resell on Artsper your works acquired on Artsper. For more information click here.
Make an offer with Artsper
Negotiate prices
Price negotiation is possible. Like in a gallery, this allows you to open a discussion and purchase your works at your preferred price.
Get our help negotiating
Let our team handle the negotiations and get back to you once the best deal is made.
Order safely
Artsper’s satisfaction guarantee
With Artsper, you have the opportunity to return a work free of charge within 14 days of receipt if it does not suit you, for whatever reason. You will then receive a full refund for your order.
Protect your purchase with Artsper’s payment partners
All credit card payments are processed by Paybox, the trusted leader in payment processing for international businesses. Paybox ensures the highest level of security.
Get specialized support from Artsper in the event of a problem
On the rare occasion that a work of art arrives in a different condition than described, we will work to administer a return, refund, restoration or exchange for you. Our team will always keep you informed on the progress of your request and will go above and beyond to offer you personalized solutions.
To benefit from Artsper’s protections you must:
-
Place your order using one of Artsper's payment methods.
-
Report any issues to Artsper within one week of receiving your work.
-
Provide all requested photographic evidence of the problem (including the original artwork and packaging).
Artsper’s guarantee covers the following problems:
-
You receive a work that’s missing a described characteristic (such as a signature or a frame)
-
You receive a work with different characteristics than those described at the time of purchase
-
You receive a damaged piece of work
-
Your purchase is declared lost or damaged during transit
-
You receive a work that is a different in color than what you ordered
-
Your purchase is delayed
Why buy on Artsper?
Artsper gives you access to the largest catalog of contemporary artworks, from the best galleries (200,000 works, 25,000 artists, 2,000 partner galleries).
We select the galleries with which we collaborate. This demanding selection, operated by our team of experts, offers you several guarantees:
- Double expertise regarding the quality and originality of the works. On the one hand by professional galleries that select their artists and works. On the other hand by Artsper which selects its partner galleries according to the quality of their catalog and their reputation.
- Access to the entire catalog of works from our partner galleries, sold at the same price as in the gallery.
- The possibility of returning purchased works (within 14 days) if they do not suit you, wherever you are in the world. Which is not the case outside Artsper.
- The possibility of easily reselling the work you purchased on Artsper.
We also facilitate the search for works according to your preferences thanks to our intelligent features such as:
- Your custom selection, created based on your tastes;
- Your custom universe, choose from our different universes the one that suits you and access selections of works!
Or simply thanks to our filters on the catalog allowing you to refine your searches.
Our customer service is also at your service and responds within the shortest time!
Can I negotiate the price of an artwork?
For some artworks, you can negotiate the price. If the price of the work is negotiable, you have a “Make an offer” button under the “Buy this work” one.
To submit your offer, you must make a payment of the desired amount. Your offer will then be forwarded to the gallery, which reserves the right to accept or reject it. If your offer is accepted, it means that your order is confirmed by the gallery and they will prepare the artwork for shipment. If your offer is rejected, you will be refunded the total amount paid automatically. The gallery can also propose a counter-offer for the acquisition of the artwork.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us: [email protected].
Where can I have my order delivered?
Artsper delivers worldwide!
However, please note that once your order reaches its destination, it may be subject to VAT or other customs fees. These charges are beyond our control and you will be responsible for paying them (this is indicated at the ‘checkout’ first step).
Select the delivery address of your choice. Please make sure that someone is present to receive your order.
If your billing address is different to your delivery address you can specify this at the checkout.
Return and cancellation
You can return the artwork without needing to provide a reason or pay a penalty fee up to 14 days after receiving your order.
In the case that the right of withdrawal is exercised in the aforementioned time frame, the price of the artwork(s) purchased and the shipping costs will be reimbursed by us as soon as the gallery has received the artwork and notified us.
Artsper will manage the return of the work and will bear the cost of returns (which will either be paid by you and refunded by Artsper or directly paid by Artsper).
The artwork must be returned in perfect condition and in its original packaging (or equivalent).
The buyer exercises his right of withdrawal directly from MUMART, by sending an email to the address: [email protected].
How can I best showcase my work?
If you have bought a painting, a sculpture or a work on paper, find expert advice on its conservation and how to best enhace it:
Artwork added to cart
Michel Fingesten
Ex Libris et Musicis Mantero, 1930
Print
Sold
Checkout