The Wenzel Book: Large photos in this post>Worth it!

[Mike Jackson]

My 50th birthday was on the 11th of February, and a book I had ordered a week or so earlier arrived on the 12th. What a birthday present to myself! The plates are just a few from the book/folios.

If interested, you can read more about the comments we made on the earlier BB by clicking here:
http://www.theletterheads.com/wwwboard/ ... /4053.html

I need to make these into a permanent page on TheLetterheads.com but for now, they will at least have a home on this Forum.

Mike

















My post from Feb. 12, 2004:

Wow, my birthday box arrived a day late. I've known about a book called Modern Decorative Art by Paul Wenzel since I attended the Boise BBQ back in 1982. Someone had a few black and white photocopies from the book and I copied what he had. I had located a copy of the book via the Internet, but it was $600 and I could never quite pull the trigger. When I found the same book on a different site at $500, I got permission from Darla and went ahead and placed the order (my big birthday present).

Again, all I can say is WOW, WOW, WOW! The box weighed 22 lbs, and instead of a single book, it consists of 8 "folios". Most pages are printed on glossy stock is rich, deep colors. 417 color plates! Most interesting is the fact they were printed in 1911 and 1912. The images are so diverse that I am having a problem trying to catagorize them, but almost every plate is a keeper. It is easy to see that CJ Strong's influenced by similar artwork in the three or four watercolor plates in his book. Certainly Mucha influenced many of the plates, but they are not limited to the Noveau period. Besides the fine art paintings, there are illustrations for tile, carpet, wallpaper, signs, stained glass and so much more. Absolutely beautiful color schemes throughout!

I'll try to scan a few of my favorites and include them somewhere either on my Golden Era Studios site or this one. That's the most I ever spent on a book, but I can guarantee you I'm not having any buyer's remorse.

Mike Jackson

Hope you enjoy them,
Mike Jackson

PS: There are lots of little gems of information still on the old Forum. You can read them but not post to them anymore.
http://www.theletterheads.com/wwwboard/multipage1.html

[Larry White]

Hey Mike, do you have any idea of the current value of those Wenzel folio books?

Thanks, Larry

[Mike Jackson]

Hi Larry,
I mentioned paying $500 for mine. I wouldn't sell it for $1000. But, others might find one for $100 somewhere. Needless to say, the "value" of something like this is a moving target.

Mike Jackson

[Larry White]

I found an ebook of Volume VIII of these folios,

Modern Decorative Art, Volume VIII

I also found volume VII for sale at Abebooks....$62!
Volume VII

Which is a tad better than,
Volume V for $230!

How 'bout that!

-WB

[Anthony Bennett]

Nice, thanks for the information.

[Raymond Chapman]

50!!!!????

Good grief.

Nice book, though.

[Larry White]

In case you're interested, I have decided it's time
to pass on my 7 volumes of Modern Decorative Art.
The set does not include volume 8.
I have it listed up on ebay at:

Modern Decorative Art portfolios

Good luck, heh?.....

-Larry