Bilder. Portfolio 3.

Heidelberg.: Edition Staeck., 1971 - 1972.. 4 volumes. Original grey wrappers, stapled. Front covers stamped with titles. Loose in the original cardboard envelope portfolio, with taped edges as issued, and artist’s name stamped on front.. Various formats: (9.3-22 x 7-14.8 cm).. Feldmann’s Bilderhefte (published between 1968 and 1974) are small, staple-bound booklets in various formats with grey cardboard covers, rubber-stamped with the author’s surname and title, indicating the number of pictures they contain (for example, 3 Bilder or 5 Bilder). Printed in black-and-white on offset paper, without text, the picture books bring together everyday phenomena. These small artist’s books consist of reproductions of both found and self-produced black-and-white photographs. By making series of these images of common objects and situations, Feldmann at once neutralises and links them. His work gives credit to the ethos of mass production and to amateur photography. By giving equal value to all types of images, Feldmann recognises the problematic nature of pictures and art in a culture bombarded by images, and as such, presents the photographs in an entirely unpretentious manner. The Bilder books were issued in a sequence of four portfolios. This is the third of those portfolios, and is complete with 4 of the booklets: 9 Bilder (Cyclists, 1971), 152 Bilder (Portraits of women, 1971), 15 Bilder (Trees, 1972), and 10 Bilder (Sailboats, 1972). This third portfolio of Feldmann’s Bilder books was published by Klaus Staeck in a deluxe edition limited to 50 copies, with each of the four booklets numbered and signed by Feldmann in pen on their title pages. Renowned for rarely signing his works, such sets of the third Feldmann portfolio are rare. ”The small artist's books simply entitled either Bild (Picture) or Bilder (Pictures) that Hans Peter Feldmann made … constitute one of the most important bodies of artist’s bookworks in the twentieth century"" (Parr & Badger - The Photobook).