Stein, J.A.W. von (1896-1965). Personal archive

Archive compiled by the artist, consisting of diaries (1918-24), (ill.) letters addressed to Margreeth Nijhuis-Kempers, sketchbooks, albums w. orig. designs (incl. designs for posters and sm. advertorial items), executed designs in print (a.o. for Rotterdam Lloyd and for Nederlandsche Rotogravure Maatschappij), orig. drawings (incl. framed portraits), a collection of orig. oil portraits, a few posters, 18 orig. linocut printing plates, ill. notebooks compiled during his artistic education, a short modern biography, a list of his travels (1922-35, incl. "Keulen 1922", "1. Autoreis 1932", "2. Autoreis 1932", "Aanhangwagen 1933" and "Marokko 1935"), and other items. A few noteworthy items: (1) Eleven diaries, the first lacking front wr., the others numb. A2-A-9 and X and XI w. labels on front wr., dated "21.I.2019" to "28 Mei '24" on wr. (final entry dated June 23, 1924), all notebooks 20 x 16 cm, w. num. mounted or loosely inserted ills., clippings, additions, correspondence, thread-bound or stapled wr. Together a rich and very detailed personal account of the early years of his career as an artist. (2) Scrapbook containing approx. 70 mounted orig. drawings, var. techniques and sizes, some dated (1919-26), incl. views of Cologne (1922), orig, designs/ sm. versions of his posters, portraits, caricatures, orig. cord-bound wr., sm. folio. Front wr. loose. (3) 23 (ill.) letters and postcards to Margreeth Kempers, mostly starting w. "Lieve Margreeth", dated 1960-63. (4) 'Portrait of Margreeth Kempers'. Oil on canvas, 91 x 65.5 cm, signed and dated '63, no frame. A few sm. holes. (5) "Marcel". Portrait, oil on canvas, 71.5 x 50 cm, signed and titled. Present in 2 astonishingly identical versions. One sl. dam. the other w. orig. frame preserved. (6) "Ahmed". Oil on board, signed and titled, framed. W. a photogr. of a drawing of the same boy, dated Rabat, 23 June 1935, an advertorial sheet w. reproduction of the same drawing issued by Rotogravure Leiden and the article "Erinnerungen an Marokko. Kleine Notizen aus den Tagebuchblättern eins Holländischen Malers" (Deutsche Zeitung in den Niederländen, December 1942), w. ills. w. drawings after Von Stein (incl. Achmed). (7) Mooi Insulinde. Complete calendar for 1949, issued by Dorco, w. title-p. and 12 lvs w. col. portraits of Indonesian women and a few men, 38 x 25 cm. First 2 lvs loose, title a bit torn and frayed. W. orig. designs for the months February and April (gouaches, both framed), and May and June (both oil on board, no frames). (8) Several modern albums containing num. orig. drawings in var. sizes and techniques, incl. a number of commercial designs (some w. the publ. ill. present).

Fantastic and coherent personal archive. Von Stein, born in Haarlem in 1896, earned his MO degree in drawing in 1917 (the notebooks present in the lot were compiled during his studies); he also took an evening course at the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. From 1930 onward, he was head of the design department of the Nederlandsche Rotogravure Maatschappij in Leiden, designing advertorial posters, programs, etc. He also made many designs for the periodical "De Reclame", and designed posters for a.o. Philips, AVRO, ANWB, Avifauna and the municipality of Naarden. Especially noteworthy are his designs for the Rotterdamsche Lloyd (incl. posters), for which he could be called the "Dutch Cassandre". Apart from his advertorial designs, Von Stein was a remarkable painter, especially portraits. One of his most important models was Margreeth Kempers, also the addressee of the stack of highly personal letters by Von Stein present in the collection. Von Stein died in Naarden in 1965.