Moeschlin, Elsa. The red horse - 1944

Vgl. Bilderwelt 656. Doderer-Müller
706 u. S. 308 ff. (mit Abb.). Klotz 4733/2. LKJ II, 491 f. Murken,
Stuffer 3 u. S. 61 f. (mit Abb. 4). SBI 832 u. S. 53 f. (mit Abb. auf
Tafel 26). Stuck-Villa II, 261. (All original German editions published
by Stuffer in 1927). – Third American edition. – ‘In the picture book
’The Red Horse“, Elsa Moeschlin depicts a child’s dream of revitalising a
toy and escaping from familiar but confined surroundings, from the
protection of the family and the supervision of the mother. However,
this freedom brings with it privations and new obligations. The return
to the security of the family means giving up some of the personal
freedom that is symbolised in the separation from the dream horse, which
has once again become an ordinary wooden horse. (The book) is
considered an example of expressionist art in picture books because of
its simple, ornamental-looking pictures, which are also influenced by
expressionism in form and colour“ (B. Murken). – ‘The pictures and text
do not set the fairy tale in an indeterminate past, as many attempts of
the time did, but in rural Sweden in the 20th century, characterised by
radio, engines, railways, landscapes with birch and fir trees, girls in
the folk costume of Dalarne’ (R. Rauter in LKJ). – The book was
published in the USA in 1929, 1933 and 1944. – Very good copy from the
estate of the German publisher Herbert Stuffer.