De Luxe edition limited to 100 copies of which this is no. 58. It contains a signed & dated etching by the artist with original tissue guard loosely tucked in.
White boards with gilt titles to the spine. 280pp. Illustrations in profusion.
Book is clean and square with white pages and no inscriptions. Jacket is in near fine condition with no markings and only very slight wear to the spine crown.
Ullmann's sculpture "The Playmakers", illustrated on the front of the dust jacket, is a focal point of Johannesburg's Civic Theatre. The Ernest Ullmann Park in Morningside, Sandton, was named after him.
'In this highly personal account of an eventful life, the artist Ernest Ullmann tells with rare candour of his aspirations and experiences.
The man who has writ large all over South Africa (and beyond) reveals the springs and impulses of a sensitive creator confronted by very different circumstances. His early life in Europe when, for the first of many times he looked death in the face, was feverishly active and often violent. It hardly changed when he came to South Africa.
To a land starved of artistic expression, he brought fresh and stimulating talent. Today, in the main centres, his statuary alone is known to millions.
Ullmann's life has been as variegated as his talents. His book describes his answer to the challenge of his times in a dazzling output of many forms - industrial designs, paintings, graphics, the famous wall-hangings known as "Ullmann tapestries" executed by his wife Jo to his designs, stage décors, book illustrations, superb pencil portraits of notabilities, even posters, commemorative stamps and toys.
As much a picture-book as an autobiography, his story is illustrated on every page with his work and enlivened by anecdotes of the people he has known, from the highest to the lowest - Elizabeth Bergner, General Smuts, Albert Schweitzer, the Queen Mother (he was awarded the Coronation Medal), J. H. Hofmeyr, Ben Gurion, Yigael Yadin, Violet the African cook - all told with whimsical charm and humour.
In a unique compound of text and illustration, the book records not only the mind and work of an exceptionally versatile artist but also the social history of his times. Biography in the South African cultural field is very rare. This book is of the highest present interest and also of enduring value.'
- Jacket Condition: Near Fine
- Binding Condition: Fine
