PIECK, Henri C.
10 Dagen Die De Wereld Deden Wankelen.
Amsterdam, Skovino, 1927.
Lithograph in colour, 42 x 25in (106.7 x 63.5cm); folds visible, small chip to bottom and top margins; signed 14/1198 D. von H..’, stamped ‘Centrale Commissie voor Filmkeuring’ with seal; unbacked, very good.
A rare lithograph of Pieck’s dramatic illustration for Ten Days that Shook the World (October in English), a silent film commissioned by the Soviet government to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the October Revolution. Made by the director of Battleship Potemkin (1925), Sergei Eisenstein, the film utilized the concept of intellectual montage in order to juxtapose unrelated images in order to highlight the jingoistic patriotism promoted in the USSR during the period. The film was not commercially successful, and the government did not appreciate the artistic licence taken by Eisenstein with regards to the historical significance of the event depicted. However, Eisenstein’s groundbreaking use of montage and his subversion of the film’s original propagandistic purpose were regarded as an artistic triumph.
Pieck was a Dutch artist who worked turned to Soviet Intelligence in the 1930s. He was arrested in 1941 by the Germans due to his involvement with the Dutch resistance and sent to Buchenwald. He died at the Hague in 1972.
