N.K.F. N.V. Nederlandsche Kabelfabriek. 80 pp. Illustrated throughout with photomontages by Piet Zwart. With promotional poster laid in. Folio, 295 x 210 mm, bound in publisher's yellow wrappers. Delft: N.V. Nederlandsche, [1928].
First Edition. A fine copy of the Dutch edition of this masterpiece of avant garde book design in the form of a dynamic promotional work for the Dutch Cable Factory designed by Piet Zwart (1885-1977). An architect by training, Zwart began his career as a typographer designing letterhead for architect Jan Wils while both where members of the artist's association The Hague Kunstkring. As a result of his interest in both typography and industrial design, he was hired by the Delft Cable Factory (N.K.F.) to design advertisements for the trade magazines Sterkstrrom and Tijdschrif voor Electrotechniek. Thus began an intense collaboration between Zwart and N.K.F, as he designed hundreds of advertisements between 1923 and 1933.
The present work is the first full catalogue designed by Zwart for the N.K.F. It represents an important step forward in industrial art, being one of the first works to combine "new" typographical elements espoused by El Lissitzky, Kurt Schwitters, Moholy-Nagy and others, with close up photographic elements while also showing the influence of Russian documentary film. The result is astounding, as a seemingly boring subject like industrial cable is rendered into a visual feast for the eyes. An English edition was published a year after the Dutch.
The catalogue is rare in any form, Worldcat locates a copy of both the Dutch and English editions at the Getty, a copy of the Dutch edition at the Art Institute of Chicago and our own research locates a copy of the Dutch Edition at MOMA. Minor restoration to the spine, otherwise in fine condition.
Broos and Hefting, Dutch Graphic Design A Century 86-87. Center, The Open Book 70-71. The Photobook, II, 178.
