War or Peace. Twelve linocuts by Noel Counihan (signed edition)

A$7,700 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Signed · Limited edition

London: Collet’s Holdings Ltd., 1950. Later lettered paper portfolio (385mm tall), cut lettering from the original folio pasted on (foxed), 4pp. letterpress (long split along fold), twelve linocuts on separate sheets, very good examples. Limited to 300 copies signed by the artist, this is number 88. In this example, each linocut has been signed by the artist, and dated 50/81 (created in 1950, signed in 1981). Rare. ‘In this set of lino-cuts he illuminates the terrible fears and the impatient hopes of mankind in their daily struggle with the danger of war. They are a proud justification of the confidence of his Australian friends in his continuation of clear vision and optimism’ James Boswell. Foreword to War or Peace . When Jack Lindsay saw Counihan’s powerful linocuts folio in London in 1950, he was moved to write a poem to accompany each of them. These poems, along with reproductions of the Counihan originals, together with some additional poems by Paul Eluard and Pablo Neruda, were published later the same year, again by Collet’s Holdings, as a booklet titled Peace is Our Answer . Born in the aftermath of the Second World War, the booklet bore a dedication to the Second World Peace Conference in Warsaw, and the original linocuts from this folio War or Peace were exhibited there in Poland, as well as Counihan’s 1951 exhibition in London (DIMMACK, Max. Noel Counihan. Melbourne: MUP, 1974, p.49). Counihan returned to Melbourne in 1953, and exhibited these linocuts at Tye’s Ga

• Binding: Hardcover

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