SCARCE! SIGNED & NUMBERED! “THE ARTISTS OF THE ROCKS” BY WALTER BATTISS, FIRST EDITION

SIGNED & NUMBERED! THE ARTISTS OF THE ROCKS BY WALTER BATTISS. NUMBERED 423/500, 1948, HARDCOVER, INTACT DUST JACKET WITH MINOR TEARS AS SHOWN IN PICTURE, FIRST EDITION, PREVIOUS OWNER'S NAME, 250 PAGES, IN GOOD CONDITION CONSIDERING AGE.

Sought-after title by this renowned artist, who found great inspiration in the prehistoric paintings and engravings of the subcontinent. The author examines the materials, styles, locations and speculates on the age of this wealth of creative and mystical work. Comprising 100 pages of text with 15 tipped in coloured plates, 3 tipped in black and white photographs and a large section of glossy photographic plates at the rear.

In addition to being a prolific painter and printmaker, Walter Battiss was a passionate student of Southern African rock art, publishing no fewer than seven books on the subject in the 1940s and 50s. The elongated figures typical of his art were directly inspired by his large collection of rock art photographs and tracings. In the 1960s his work was characterised by a sgraffito technique (scratching images through layers of oil paint) and in the early 1970s Battiss invented an imaginary artistic construct, Fook Island, which he populated with material culture (a Fook alphabet, currency, postage stamps, passport, etc.). His numerous travels to the US, Middle East, Greek Islands, etc. were constant sources of inspiration.