Scarce first edition of avant-garde work on gender
PRINNER, Anton. La Femme Tondue. Paris: APR. 1946.
8vo. Beige card wrappers with black lettering on front cover and spine; pp. [50], with 2 loose etchings by Prinner (from an original set of 8); pages untrimmed and partially unopened; very good.
First edition, number 356 of 450 copies printed on vélin du Marais, from a limited edition of 600 copies, with 2 plates signed and numbered by the transgender Hungarian artist Anton Prinner.
Born in Budapest as Anna, painter and sculptor Prinner identified as a man and adopted the name Anton upon moving to France in 1928. He studied under the English painter and printmaker Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17, placing him at the heart of the European avant-garde during the 1930s and 1940s. Prinner was also a close friend with André Breton, Jacques Prévert, and Pablo Picasso.
La Femme Tondue (The Shorn Woman) is an extended prose poem exploring the theme of shame, inspired by the treatment of women accused of fraternizing with the Germans during the Second World War. These women not only had their heads shaved but also endured other public humiliations after the Liberation. Prinner is also the creator of two graphic etchings that vividly depict female degradation and vulnerability.
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