Monografieën over filmkunst 1931-33
⭆ Collecting | Piet Zwart’s typographic contribution to film history
Monografieën over Filmkunst was an innovative series of books published between 1931 and 1933 by W.L. & J. Brusse's Uitgeversmaatschappij in Rotterdam, edited by C.J. Graadt van Roggen (1904-1933), the film editor of the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant. This series served to provide simple and clear information about the young art of film and its innovative aspects. Most of the authors came from the circle of De Nederlandsche Filmliga, founded in 1927 by Menno ter Braak, Joris Ivens, L.J. Jordaan, Henrik Scholte en Constant van Wessem. The aim of the Filmliga was to introduce the public to the avant-garde films of the time, films that were not shown in regular cinemas. The Filmliga promised to counterbalance these theatres.
The modernist, constructivist typography of the covers was done by Piet Zwart. Because of this distinctive design, the volumes are still collector's items. The experimental process Piet Zwart had developed for the manufacture of the covers, which used heated varnish, proved to be not very durable, so that the covers are always crumpled and damaged at the edges.
If you look at the date of publication, you will notice that the books were obviously not published in the order in which they were numbered. Thus numbers 2 (1932), 3 (1933) and 4 (1932) appear after the following number 5 (1931). I also could not find out why the series remainded unfinished. The last two planned volumes, De techniek van de kunstfilm (The technique of art film) by well-known cinematographers Mannus Franken and Joris Ivens, and volume 12, Film advertisement by Piet Zwart, remained unprinted. However, at least a proof-printing of the cover of the latter has been preserved in the estate of Jan Tschichold, which today is held by the MoMa, New York. The long planned books by Zwart and Ivens would certainly have been the climax of this series.
Each edition features cover design, title page typography and interior layouts by Piet Zwart – these covers have been reprinted countless times in 20th century graphic design anthologies and stands as true high points of Avant-Garde graphic design. Zwart's use of photomontage and typography for this 1930s series of 10 books on modern cinema show the Dutch "typotekt" at the height of his powers. With nearly a decade of typographic experimentation under his belt, Zwart flexed his considerable muscles on the covers of the Filmkunst series, being a stunning vitality to each volume. A highly recommended artifact from the heroic age of graphic design. Piet Zwart experimented with a fragile heat-activated tissue laminate on the Filmkunst covers to give a glossed varnish to the type and photos in his compositions. This laminate has stiffened over the years and has rendered this whole series virtually impossible to find in collectible condition.
Order form for the 12 volumes of the Serie Monografieën over filmkunst designed by Piet Zwart.
Monografieën over filmkunst 01 – Het linnen venster by C. J. Graadt van Roggen
Rotterdam: Brusse's Uitgeversmaatschappij (1931), 72 pages
Monografieën over filmkunst 02 – Dertig jaar Film by L. J. Jordaan
Rotterdam: Brusse's Uitgeversmaatschappij (1932), 80 pages
Leendert Jurriaan (Leo) Jordaan (Amsterdam, 30 December 1885 - Zelhem, 21 April 1980), often referred to as L.J. Jordaan, was a prominent Dutch film critic and cartoonist. Jordaan is often called the Nestor of Dutch film criticism. He reviewed and wrote about films for Het Leven. Geïllustreerd (from 1912) and for De Groene Amsterdammer (from 1927). Later, he also published in the Haagsche Post and Vrij Nederland. Between 1931 and 1961, he wrote the weekly Filmpraatje for the AVRO radio station. Together with Menno ter Braak and others, Jordaan was among the founders of the Nederlandsche Filmliga, an avant-garde movement that championed pure, artistic films.
Monografieën over filmkunst 03 – Nederlandsche filmkunst by Henrik Scholte
Rotterdam: Brusse's Uitgeversmaatschappij (1933), 64 pages
Henrik Scholte (Groningen, 25 January 1903 - Amsterdam, 28 May 1988) was a Dutch writer. During his student years in Amsterdam, Scholte became editor of Propria Cures and, together with Menno ter Braak, was founder of De Nederlandsche Filmliga. Until the end of 1945, he remained involved with film, film criticism, scenarios and translations. Shortly after the German invasion, he was briefly a member of Nationaal Front; Scholte was pro-German. In September 1943, he became the editor-in-chief of the magazine Cinema en Theater, which he kept until the last issue was published on 2 September 1944.
Monografieën over filmkunst 04 – Russische filmkunst by Th. B. F. Hoyer
Rotterdam: Brusse's Uitgeversmaatschappij (1932), 84 pages
Monografieën over filmkunst 05 – Duitsche filmkunst by Simon Kloster
Rotterdam: Brusse's Uitgeversmaatschappij (1931), 75 pages
Simon Koster was a journalist and writer. He worked, among others, for the newspaper NRC - for which he also wrote film critiques - and at a young age he wrote a number of novels and short stories. In addition, he founded his own magazine in 1922, the theatre magazine 'Het mask' (later called 'Spel en dans'). In 1928, he also wrote the play 'Nul uur nul', a combination of theatre and film, for which he directed the film part himself. From 1926 to the early 1930s, Koster was a correspondent for the NRC in Berlin. He wrote about film and theatre and published two novels. In 1931, together with Piet Zwart, he wrote the book Duitsche filmkunst; volume 5 in the series Monographs on film art. After the Reichstag fire, he returned to the Netherlands. Together with Gerard Rutten, he worked on Dood water and in 1936, he directed and produced his own film Lentelied. In 1939, Koster leaves for the United States as a correspondent for the NRC. He stayed there until after the war. In 1956, he became the chief editor of Haarlems Dagblad. After his retirement, Koster started to write theatre reviews again. He continued to do so until the 1970s, after which he mainly published on the history of the theatre.
Monografieën over filmkunst 06 – Fransche filmkunst by Elisabeth de Roos
Rotterdam: Brusse's Uitgeversmaatschappij (1931),59 pages
Elisabeth (Bep) Geertruida de Roos, also Elisabeth du Perron, (The Hague, 15 July 1903 - Bergen, 28 November 1981) was a Dutch writer and translator. Elisabeth de Roos' literary career took off in 1925, when she started writing critical articles, then the literary form par excellence, on plays and films. When writing reviews, she took into account the technical side, the use of props and the director's style, among other things. Important magazines and newspapers for which De Roos published such reviews were, besides De Stem and Propria Cures, the NRC, De Vrije Bladen, Filmliga, De Groene Amsterdammer, Critisch Bulletin and Rythme. She excelled so much in these reviews that her friend and co-editor of Forum, Menno ter Braak, nicknamed her the Muse of the Free Sheets.
Monografieën over filmkunst 07 – Amerikaansche filmkunst by J. F. Otten
Rotterdam: Brusse's Uitgeversmaatschappij (1931), 70 pages
Jo Otten, in full Johannes Franciscus (Rotterdam, 4 May 1901 - The Hague, 10 May 1940) was a Dutch writer. At the end of the 1920s, Otten came into close contact with Menno ter Braak. Ter Braak, however, saw little value in Otten's publications, which led to a split in opinion between him and Otten. In contrast to the cerebral Ter Braak, Otten rejected the dominance of the intellect. In his work, he searched for a suitable balance between feeling and reason, between imagination and reality. According to him, reality could not be fathomed by intellect alone. For this reason, he disapproved of intellectually constructed prose. He would later remark about Ter Braak that he had 'thought life to pieces'.
Monografieën over filmkunst 08 – De absolute film by Menno ter Braak
Rotterdam: Brusse's Uitgeversmaatschappij (1931), 50 pages
Menno ter Braak (Eibergen, 26 January 1902 - The Hague, 15 May 1940) was an influential Dutch writer, essayist, cultural and literary critic. As co-founder of the Filmliga (Movie League) he wanted to prepare the Netherlands for European avant-garde film and for films from the Soviet Union. Ter Braak was rigid in his rejection of the commercial entertainment film that, in his opinion, stood in the way of developing film into an art form. With special screening evenings, the Filmliga tried to bring all kinds of 'experimental' films to the public's attention. In his essay 1928 Cinema Militans he argued for the recognition of film as an art form. With his monograph De absolute film (The Absolute Film) he made a name for himself in the Netherlands as a pioneer of film theory. With it, Ter Braak introduced the Russian directors Sergei Eisenstein and Vladimir Pudovkin to the Netherlands, as well as the German Walter Ruttmann, whose abstract compositions seemed to him at the time to be the ultimate in cinematic art.
Monografieën over filmkunst 09 – De komische film by Constant van Wessem
Rotterdam: Brusse's Uitgeversmaatschappij (1931), 56 pages
Jacques Constant van Wessem (The Hague, 25 April 1891 - Wassenaar, 21 December 1954) was a Dutch (novel) writer, translator and essayist. Van Wessem also was a member of the editorial board of Filmliga (1927-1933), the magazine of De Nederlandsche Filmliga. He was one of the first to point out the importance of the new medium of avant-garde film for the renewal of prose. The special issue of De Vrije Bladen devoted entirely to film, which Van Wessem compiled in 1926, should be mentioned in this context.
Monografieën over filmkunst 10 – De geluidsfilm by Lou Lichtveld
Rotterdam: Brusse's Uitgeversmaatschappij (1933), 79 pages
Lodewijk (Lou) Alphonsus Maria Lichtveld (Paramaribo, 7 November 1903 - Amsterdam, 10 July 1996) was a Dutch-Surinamese writer, politician and resistance fighter during the Second World War. He was also involved in film and wrote the music for Regen (1929) by Joris Ivens.
Monografieën over filmkunst 12 – Filmreclame by Piet Zwart (never released)
cover design from the Jan Tschichold Collection at the MoMa, Ney York