LE DAILY BUL. Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13. 1957-1969. A SUBSTANTIAL RUN OF THIS IMPORTANT BELGIUM ARTIST’S JOURNAL. SOME WITH UNIQUE WORKS.

Bruxelles: La Louviere, 1957-1969

Ten separate issues of this artist journal which evolved out of the Benelux surrealist activity and Lettrisme/Cobra. Later Bury’s activities became more nihilist and adopted various aspects of Fluxus and the German avant garde and the journal took on a life of its own (with many off-shoots and “collections” specialising in reprints on a theme or individual artist’s books.  

Le Daily Bul is an important document if for no other reason that it charts the changes in artistic temperament and interests during an important period in Belgium, and nearby Holland, with the emergence of letterisme, Cobra, the anarchist movements such as Provo and the beginnings of the international situationists.  

The ten numbers offered here are more or less uniform at 22.5 x 17 cm (except nr 6 which is undersize at 21.5 x 19 cm and nr. 12 which is oversize at 36 x 21cm) with pagination varying per. Illustrated throughout with various collaged elements, pageworks, original articles, humorous editorial and lithographs (some are original contributions) throughout.

Notable is Number 7 which is hand coloured by the artists and is much sought after, number 9 with unique collaged elements (each issue is different) and No. 12: ‘Qui Etes-vous/Who are you?’ which has original contributions by Fluxus and post-Cobra activitists including Alechinsky, Vautier, Brecht, Cage, Christo, Dine, Higgins, Knowles, Paik, Oppenheim, Rot, Spoerri, Topor, Williams and Filliou and is perhaps the first use of the surrealists’ technique of published “surveys” within a different artistic context in Belgium.

In addition, in a bold move Number 13 is effectively an object multiple in the form of a badge (“Daly Bul”) inside an envelope within a faux book form made up of cardboard covers and hollowed out polystyrene.  

All are in very good condition with some minor closed tears and scuffs to some edges and are very scarce and even broken runs of 5 or more issues are rarely encountered however there is inevitable rust on the staples on most numbers .  The polystyrene in nr 13 is split but complete because it is glued onto the back board.

Price is for all 10 issues as a group