Moscow, OGIZ Molodaia Gvardiia, 1932
Vladimir Griuntal (1898-1963) was a Soviet avant-garde photographer and member of the October group. In 1932, he created a puzzle photobook 'What Is This?' together with G. Iablonovskiy. There close-ups of food and items were printed as clues to math tasks for children and it is regarded as one of the most abstract photo abstract photo-publications of the 1930s.
In the first half of the work, Griuntal's snimki-zagadki [snapshot-puzzles] ask the reader to guess at what is being pictured in black-and-white photographs and, at the same time, to solve a seemingly unrelated arithmetic problem. The answers to these visual and arithmetic puzzles are revealed in the latter half of the book. Objects which initially were shot from unexpected angles or shown in an unrecognisable close-up (such as a tea kettle shot from above) are revealed from a more familiar angle in the second half of the book. Here the photographed object and the solution to the mathematical problem are re-familiarised as a complete picture of a recognisable object from everyday life.
The only text to accompany the maths is '2 x 2 = 4 khoroshaia veshch arifmetika !' which is surely a reference to Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground when the narrator says that two times two is a very fine thing.
First edition, oblong 8vo (18 x 25 cm); 32pp., photographic illustrations throughout; original printed wrappers, some wear to spine and a little age toned, a very good copy.
In the first half of the work, Griuntal's snimki-zagadki [snapshot-puzzles] ask the reader to guess at what is being pictured in black-and-white photographs and, at the same time, to solve a seemingly unrelated arithmetic problem. The answers to these visual and arithmetic puzzles are revealed in the latter half of the book. Objects which initially were shot from unexpected angles or shown in an unrecognisable close-up (such as a tea kettle shot from above) are revealed from a more familiar angle in the second half of the book. Here the photographed object and the solution to the mathematical problem are re-familiarised as a complete picture of a recognisable object from everyday life.
The only text to accompany the maths is '2 x 2 = 4 khoroshaia veshch arifmetika !' which is surely a reference to Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground when the narrator says that two times two is a very fine thing.
First edition, oblong 8vo (18 x 25 cm); 32pp., photographic illustrations throughout; original printed wrappers, some wear to spine and a little age toned, a very good copy.
About us
Shapero Rare Books is an internationally renowned dealer in antiquarian & rare books and works on paper.
Our Bookshop and Gallery can be found in the heart of Mayfair at 106 New Bond Street, where most of our stock is available to view and on public display.
We exhibit at major international art fairs, including TEFAF (Maastricht and New York), Frieze Masters, Art Miami and Masterpiece London, as well as antiquarian & rare book fairs including New York, Paris, London, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Hong Kong.
