A Selection of Unique European Maquettes, 1920s–1940s

Designer unknown (signed: Scholz)
Das neue Porzellan, Kunstgewerbehaus Wilhelm Knittel
(The new porcelain, department store Wilhelm Knittel),
Breslau, c. 1929–1930
Gouache and gelatin silver print on board, 32 1/2 x 23” (82.5 x 58.4 cm)

We are pleased to share with you today a selection of unique maquettes of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Issuing from France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Italy, and Poland, each experiments with typography, photomontage, and fragmentation. Some we know to have been realized as posters or advertisements, others may have remained proposals.

Designer unknown
Ned Kring van Beeldhouwers (Dutch association of sculptors).
Tuinplastiek (garden sculpture). Bloemendaal (18 May-15 June), c. 1924
Gouache on paper, 33 1/4 x 24 1/16" (84.4 x 61 cm)

Edmund Kesting (German, 1892–1970)
Left: Der Weg Kunstschule für Gestaltung (The way, school for design),
Dresden, c. 1925
Gouache and ink on paper, 11 5/8 x 8 1/2" (29.5 x 21.5 cm)
Right: Künstlerfarben (artists’ paints), Günther Wagner,
Hannover-Vienna, c. 1925
Gouache and ink on tracing paper, 7 1/8 x 7 1/8” (18 x 18 cm)

Victor Barthe (Russian, 1887–1954)
Bal de l’aide Amicale aux Artistes (Artists’ Charity Ball)
(May 23, 1924), 1923
Gouache on paper, 47 1/2 x 32 3/4" (120.6 x 83 cm)

Karl Steiner (Austrian, 1902–1981)
Weihnachtsgeschenke, Drogerie Lois Fellner
(Christmas presents, drug store Lois Fellner), Neunkirchen, c. 1928
Gouache on paper, 23 1/2 x 15 3/4” (59.5 x 40 cm)

György Konecsni (Hungarian, 1908–1970)
Huszár Penge (Hussar blades), 1937
Left: gouache on board, 13 1/4 x 8 3/4" (33.6 x 22.2 cm)
Right: gouache and pencil on board, 12 5/8 x 8 3/4" (32 x 22.2 cm)

Bruno Munari (Italian, 1907–1998)
U.L.M.A., c. 1930
Cut-and-pasted gelatin silver prints and cut-and-pasted paper and ink (airbrushed) on board, 15 1/2 x 12 1/4” (39.2 x 31 cm)

Francis Bernard (French, 1900–1979)
Croisieres (Cruises), Blue Star Line, 1936
Gouache on paper mounted on board, 17 1/2 x 10 3/4” (44.4 x 27.3 cm)

Álmos Jaschik (Hungarian, 1885–1950)
Somogyi János: Könyve (Book by János Somogyi), c. 1930s
Gouache, ink (airbrush), gelatin silver print, and pencil on paper
10 1/4 x 7 3/4” (26 x 19.6 cm)

Tadeusz Trepkowski (Polish, 1914–1954)
Grunwald 1410 / Berlin 1945, 1945
Gouache on board, 27 x 19 3/8" (69.5 x 49.2 cm)

Designer unknown (signed: Nacht)
Deutsche Bau-Ausstellung (German building exhibition),
Nuremberg (September 1–18, 1949), 1949
Gouache and pencil on board, 24 x 16 3/4” (62.8 x 42.5 cm)

March 11, 2025