11: EDMOND KAPP
179 233 SEGOVIA signed, inscribed with title and dated ’58 pen and ink 17 1⁄2 x 14 inches Andrés Segovia The Spanish guitarist, Andrés Segovia (1893-1987), was one of the most influential classical performers of the twentieth century, who did more than anyone to raise the status of his instrument. Growing up in Granada, Andalucía, he began to learn the guitar at an early age, and gave his first recital in that city in 1909. Following his move to Madrid, in 1913, he acquired his first guitar of quality and gave significant early recitals at the Ateneo, in the capital, and at the Palau de la Musica, Barcelona. Alongside national and international tours, he began to edit guitar music for publication and transcribe works by Bach. Leaving Spain at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, he lived in Montevideo, Uruguay, and later in the United States. Following the end of the Second World War, he returned to Europe to perform and record, producing his first long-playing albums in Britain in 1949. His repertoire included many works written especially for him, by such composers as Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Mompou, Ponce, Rodrigo and Villas-Lobos. In 1958 – the year that his drawing was made – he won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance by an Instrumentalist for the recording, Segovia – Golden Jubilee.
234 ARTUR RUBINSTEIN pen and ink 12 1⁄2 x 8 1⁄2 inches pen and ink drawing of Artur Rubinstein’s head on reverse Artur Rubinstein Polish-born Artur Rubinstein (1887-1982) was widely considered one of the greatest classical pianists of the twentieth century, and especially an outstanding interpreter of the works of Chopin. Recognised as a prodigy at the age of four, he studied in Warsaw and Berlin, before making his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under Joseph Joachim in 1900, at the age of thirteen. Moving to Paris in 1904 to develop his career in earnest, he made his American debut, in New York, in 1906, and then toured internationally. However, his early career was less than successful so that, in 1908, he made an attempt on his own life while staying at a hotel in Berlin. The attempt and failure had a positive effect, making him feel ‘reborn’. Following his London debut in 1912, he was welcomed into the musical salon of Paul and Muriel Draper, and made the city his home during the First World War. Between the wars, he continued to tour extensively and, from 1928, made the first of many recordings for RCA Victor. Increasingly, his career centred on the USA and, in 1946, he became a naturalized American citizen. Kapp’s drawing of him seems to have been made about 20 years later.