Bookplates by Michel Fingesten (1884 – 1943) for Gianni Mantero:
From the collection of Richard Sica.
(a fine representation of A Journey Round My Skull headquarters)
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“One of the most well-known graphic artists in pre-war Berlin, Michel Fingesten is almost forgotten today…. At the age of 16, Michel left to study at the Vienna Academy of Art. For reasons that are unclear, however, he left the academy after two years and went to America, where he spent four years, travelling from town to town. In San Francisco in 1906, he was shanghaied onto a merchant ship bound for Australia, where he spent several months. In 1907 Fingesten landed in Palermo and walked all the way to Munich, where he studied with the painter Franz Stuck. After a year, however, he was again struck with wanderlust. This time he headed for Hong Kong and for another four years he drifted through Chinese and Japanese waters. He returned to Europe in 1912. In 1913, after a brief stay in Paris, he finally settled in Berlin — after ten years of restless wandering…” [continue reading about Fingesten]
The Cyber Journal of Heraldic Bookplates has written about Mantero, a legendary Italian collector. (Alternate post title: Gianni Mantero’s Party Dream.)
Previously:
Ex Bibliotheca Macabrum
Ex Libris Mr. Reaper (one and two)
