The Captive. 1966.

Exceptional! Six original steel plates -measures: 20.9 x 14.3 cm / 8.22 x 5.63 in-, preserved in an envelope; surely thus entered into the Kraft publishing house: "Unpublished Alfredo Guido drypoint engravings" The captive. Former Guillermo Kraft collection.

These are six original metal plates of the nine made by Alfredo Guido for the illustrated edition of La cautiva, by Esteban Echeverría, published by the Kraft publishing house. More than fifty years wrapped in a wooden paper envelope, they allowed it to be preserved in an optimal state, to the point of being able to appreciate the trace of Alfredo Guido on each plate.

The drypoint prints were published by Kraft in 1966 in an edition for bibliophiles in branch and with a box, with a limited edition of 123 copies; of them, 55 on laid paper and 45 on “papier a la cuve”. The engravings are full page (31.3 x 23.4 cm) and include five vignettes.

José León Pagano indicated in his time about Alfredo Guido, that “he is one of our most complete artists”. (1) This judgment is confirmed by appreciating the technical diversity of his production, always marked by the Americanist aesthetic, like his brother, Ángel. He obtained the First Prize for Painting in the National Hall of 1924 with La Chola (Municipal Museum of Fine Arts Juan B. Castagnino, Rosario). In 1937 he was awarded a gold medal at the International Exhibition in Paris.

He illustrated, among others, the editions of Santos Vega (Viau y Zona, 1932); Facundo (Society of Bibliophiles, 1933), La Guerra Gaucha (Peuser, 1946) and Martín Fierro (Kraft, 1959). In this case, it is a founding work of national literature, La cautiva, by Esteban Echeverría, published for the first time in 1837 in the book Rimas. An epic poem that unfolds one of the great legends that "captivated" early Argentine society, that of the civilized white women kidnapped by the Indians, in their gangs in the cities.

Note:

1. José León Pagano: The Art of the Argentines. Buenos Aires, ed. from the author, 1938, vol, 2, p. 355.

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