Editors Portrait
Solyman Brown was an American dentist, creator of the first U.S. National Dental Society and the first U.S. Dental Journal, as well as a poet and artist.
Brown received his bachelor's, master's, and doctor of medicine degrees from Yale University, and also worked as a minister. He wrote many articles explaining dental principles and regulations and became one of the editors of the American Journal and Library of Dental Sciences.
Essentially, in the 19th century, American dentistry was in a terrible state. And Solyman Brown, through all his activism, contributed to the enlightenment and establishment of dentistry in the United States as a true profession and science.
Brown also wrote poetry, articles and essays, and was constantly published in the periodical press. He gained fame and notoriety as a dental poet with his epic "Dentology, a poem on the diseases of the teeth and their proper remedies," which he wrote in 1833. And many more of his poems were devoted to dental diseases, their prevention and treatment. Soliyman Brown, in addition, was a painter and sculptor, painting portraits and creating furniture in wood.
Edouard Chimot was a French Art Deco painter, illustrator and editor.
Edouard studied at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Nice and then at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lille. After the war, he was able to prove himself as an illustrator and master publisher. At the height of the Art Deco heyday, Chimot received a number of commissions to illustrate books with his original engravings, the first of which was the rare book Les Après-Midi de Montmartre with fourteen engravings by Chimot.
In 1920, Édouard Chimot founded his own publishing house, Éditions d'Art Édouard Chimot. Through this venture, he not only continued to create his own art, but also collaborated with other artists and writers to create high quality limited edition books, often with his distinctive illustrations. Édouard Chimot was associated with late Symbolist and decadent culture, and his own work is sometimes referred to as post-Symbolist. His collaborations with famous writers and poets, including Paul Verlaine and Charles Baudelaire, brought his illustrations to the forefront of the Art Nouveau movement.
With the collapse of the financial system in the early 1930s in Europe, the demand for luxury products also fell, but the artist continued to work, produce books and paint. Chimot's artistic style is characterized by sensuality and romanticism. He was an artist of the female figure, style, eroticism and embodied the essence of Art Deco imagery.
Adolf Hoffmeister (1902-1973) was a Czech artist, writer, journalist, playwright, translator, and diplomat, renowned for his multifaceted contributions to culture and art. His early career saw him collaborate with significant figures in the art world, including Philippe Soupault and Jaroslav Ježek. In 1928, Hoffmeister made his mark with a solo exhibition in Paris and became involved in various literary and artistic publications, such as Lidové noviny and Literární noviny.
Hoffmeister's art often intersected with his political views. He set up the anti-fascist magazine Simplicus in the 1930s and was a member of the Mánes Association of Fine Arts, where he defended the anti-Nazi artwork of John Heartfield. His life was dramatically affected by World War II; fleeing Nazism, he was interned in Paris and a Moroccan concentration camp before reaching New York in 1941. After the war, he returned to Prague and engaged in diplomacy and academia but faced political ostracization following his pro-reform activities in 1968.
Hoffmeister's work in collage was notable, especially his illustrations for Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days." He was also known for his libretto for the children's opera "Brundibar" and translating James Joyce’s "Anna Livia Plurabelle." His pieces, such as "Demonstration" (1963) and "Greek village by Syrakus" (1960), are preserved in archives like the Ruth and Marvin Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry, illustrating his unique approach to visual storytelling.
For collectors, auctioneers, and art and antiques experts, Hoffmeister's works represent a compelling blend of artistic innovation and historical context. His legacy continues to inspire, and keeping informed about exhibitions or sales of his work is essential for those interested in 20th-century European art and literature.
Irving Penn was an American photographer celebrated for his influential work in fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's journey into photography began with a background in painting and design, studying at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art. He moved to New York and initially worked in design and illustration, which paved the way for his transition into photography. Notably, Penn's work at Vogue magazine for over six decades helped define the visual style of mid-20th-century fashion photography.
Irving Penn's mastery extended beyond the camera to the darkroom, where he experimented with various printing techniques, including the platinum-palladium process, which contributed to the depth and subtlety of his prints. His works, such as the "Cigarette" series and his still life compositions, are renowned for their minimalistic elegance and meticulous detail. Irving Penn's artistry was not confined to one genre; his "Earthly Bodies" nudes series and street material collection demonstrated his versatility and depth as an artist.
His contributions to photography are preserved and celebrated in numerous exhibitions and collections worldwide, including major museums like The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and The Art Institute of Chicago. Irving Penn's legacy as a pioneering figure in photography continues to inspire artists and photographers today.
If you're a collector or an expert in art and antiques, staying updated on Irving Penn's works can be invaluable. To receive updates on new product sales and auction events related to Irving Penn, consider signing up for our newsletter. This way, you won't miss out on the opportunity to own a piece of photographic history.
François-Louis Schmied was a French painter, illustrator, wood engraver, printmaker, editor and Art Deco binder.
François-Louis studied wood engraving at the École des Arts industriels in Geneva and painting at the École des Beaux-Arts de Genève. A Swiss, Schmied settled and naturalized in France in 1895. In 1910, he was commissioned to engrave and print Paul Jouve's illustrations for Rudyard Kipling's The Life of the Jungle, which was not published until 1919. For this book, now considered a masterpiece, the master produced about 90 color illustrations. Thanks to the success of this publication, Schmied was able to expand his activity and hire a group of craftsmen to execute his most famous and innovative works.
François-Louis Schmied is considered one of the greatest Art Deco artists and became particularly famous for his beautiful rare books for bibliophiles. Schmied's unique books were very expensive to produce, which required a lot of time and effort, and were always printed in very limited editions, from 20 to 200 copies. During the Great Depression, Schmied's expensive projects could not withstand the competition: the master was forced to sell off almost all his assets and close his workshop and store, and around 1932 he left for Morocco, where he died.
François-Louis Schmied's works are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also express his desire to combine art and literature. The talented artist conveyed with passion and precision the essence of the Art Deco style contemporary to him. Today, Schmied's works, reissued as fine art reproductions, not only convey the aesthetics and precision inherent in each of his originals, but also add a new dimension to them. His son, Theo Schmied, took over François-Louis Schmied's workshop in 1924, reviving its former glory and revitalizing it over time.
