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Kwadraat-Bladen
Quadrat Print

Item date(s): 1955-1974

Pieter Brattinga  - (edited by)


Size: 250mm
Language: English; Dutch; French; German


Publisher: de Jong & Co

Additional notes:
Kwadraat-Bladen were a series of experimental publications in which artists, designers, architects and writers were invited into a collaborative working relationship with the Dutch printing firm steendrukkerij de Jong & Co. in order to explore the artistic and graphic possibilities of printed media. The series was overseen by Pieter Brattinga, the firm's 2nd generation owner and chief designer, who initiated the project as a means of advertising de Jong & Co.'s superior artistic and technical qualities. Kwadraat-Bladen were published at irregular intervals from 1955 to 1974, gradually evolving into a well-known avant-garde journal credited with having produced some of the most technically advanced and aesthetically innovative printed matter to emerge from Europe during this period. The publications were not sold, but distributed free of charge as promotional materials to clients, friends and other interested parties around the world.

The one constant of the Kwadraat-Bladen was a standard format, 25 x 25 cm square, and multi-lingual text (Dutch, English, French and German), but the publications were otherwise as varied as the artist involved, including Dieter Rot, Bruno Munari, Buckminster Fuller, Marc Chagall, Ed van der Elsken, Wim Crouwel, Henry Miller, and Gerrit Rietveld, to name a few.

Numbers included: 1-2; 5-15; 17-20; 22; 25-26; 28-31; 33-35. Missing: 3,4,16,21,23,24,27,32.

See the catalogue: Kwadraat-Bladen, a series of graphic experiments 1955-1974 published by Unit Editions in 2012 and housed in the box with the numbers collected: AB/2629.

Reference note:
Additional Material

Exhibition notes:



Ref: GB/14063



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