"Di Kupe" Yiddish (The Heap), (Ukrainian pogroms), by Peretz Markish – Lithographed cover and frontispiece - design by Henryk Berlewi, First edition, Published by "Kultur Lige", Warsaw, 1921, 32 pp. soft litho cover, 26.5 23 cm
Limited edition of 1500 copies
Condition: rear cover is missing; spine is damaged; some creasing to first pages; damping stain to upped corned near spine throughout the book; children’s scribbles on page 30; couple of tears to last page, some foxing stains.
A poem dedicated to the victims of the Ukrainian pogroms during the years 1917-1920 (The Petliura Riots).
The composition on the front cover, by artist Henryk Berlewi, plays on the poem's title, visually evoking "a heap" (Di Kupe). An identical composition was printed on the title page.
The Jewish-Polish artist Henryk Berlewi (1894-1967) was one of the leading constructivist artists in Poland in the 1920s. He studied art in Warsaw, Antwerp and Paris. During the years 1919-1921, he worked with the artistic and literary avant-garde group Yung Yidish. Berlewi designed and illustrated books; he is especially known for his illustrations for books by poets Uri Zvi Greenberg and Peretz Markish. Berlewi published a theoretical essay titled "Mechano-Faktura" in which he introduced the theoretical basis for his artistic work, namely, using mechanical means to create texture. The "Mechano-Faktura", which is based on arrangements of lines and simple geometric forms, using the colors black, white and red, rejects the illusion of space in favor of two-dimensionality. In late 1920s, Berlewi moved to Paris, where he mainly focused on portrait painting. After World War II, his works were displayed in several major exhibitions in Paris, as well as in Berlin, Warsaw, Zurich and New York. He lived until his death in Paris.