50 Pages Topolski chron;icles about China in the 1930's until 1940's

Description

50 pages of brown paper printed on both sides pen and ink sketches by Felix Topolski describing in a continuous narrative the development of China from about 1931 into the 40's. There are very few descriptive notes written in English so it is not clear why or for whom this chronicle was commissioned. I believe that Felix Topolski was a British citizen at the time. These pages appear to have been printed from the original drawings which were drawn on site in China. The paper has become very fragile and many of the pages are separated on the fold lines. There are museums and organizations devoted to Topolski 's drawings as in some cases they are a more accurate record of the actual recorded History. The sketching is wonderfully energetic even after 80 years . These records were gifted to me and my hope is that whomever acquires them Will treasure this narrative of just after WW11.

More images available upon request.

From Wikipedia:

Topolski's experiences were initially captured in pencil and ink drawings. These were the first stage of his prolific Chronicles, which appeared fortnightly from 1953 to 1979, interrupted only to accommodate his exploratory investigations across the globe. The Chronicles communicated his art and observations to a wider audience. They were independently published, without advertisements or subsidies. Since his death in 1989 Topolski's Chronicles have retained respect as a pictorial and political record spanning nearly 30 years of world history. The Chronicles contain 3,000 drawings, and were exhibited in New York City, Moscow, Cologne, Hamburg, Hawaii, Tel Aviv and serialised in the United States, Poland, Italy, Denmark and Switzerland. Joyce Cary wrote, it is "the most brilliant record we have of the contemporary scene as seized by a contemporary mind."[citation needed]

In 1959, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, commissioned Topolski to create a mural depicting the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The mural contains 14 friezes divided into two narratives; one narrative; entitled "In The Streets" shows various processions to Westminster Abbey, while the second, entitled "In The Abbey", depicts the procession out of the Abbey after the coronation.

Topolski painted portraits of contemporaries, including the authors H. G. Wells, Graham Greene, John Mortimer and Evelyn Waugh, and politicians Harold Macmillan and Aneurin Bevan,[4] He also painted murals, contributed to BBC programmes, such as the caricatures of guests used in Face to Face and designed theatrical sets. Between 1975 and his death he worked on a 600 ft mural in a studio in railway arches near London's South Bank,[5] depicting events and people of the 20th century. It opened to the public as a free permanent exhibition called Topolski Century. In 2014 it was re-opened as a café-bar called Topolski, featuring his art.

In 1989 he was elected a senior Royal Academician as a draughtsman.

Feliks Topolski died in London on 24 August 1989 at the age of 82. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery, north London.