18 April 1884, Buczkowitz, (today’s Buczkowice in Poland) – 8 October 1943, Cosenza/Cerisano, Italy

An exceptionally innovative graphic artist who lived in Berlin before the Second World War, Michel Fingesten created extraordinary bookplate art that abounded with irony, humor, and a broad range of symbolism. In sum, this was the essence of his artistic expression.

Michel Fingesten (Michl Finkelstein) was born in 1884 in the village of Buczkowice (Buczkowitz), at the time part of Austria-Hungary. His father, a weaver, was of Jewish origin, but was a professed Protestant. His mother descended from a family of Triest Jews.
Michel was the eldest of six siblings. In 1900, he left home to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, but after two years he set out on worldwide travels that brought him to the United States, Australia, Japan, and China. He continued to study, this time in Munich under the supervision of Franz von Stucke. During his studies he took part-time jobs as a draughtsman an painter.
In 1913, he settled in Berlin. His artistic works attracted positive critical attention, leading to cooperation with magazines like Marsyas and Kunst der Zeit. Soon he became one of Berlin’s most famous graphic artists. In 1914, Fingesten married and in time became the father of two children. With the Nazis’ takeover of power, his works were branded entartete Kunst –
„degenerate art” – and removed from the art galeries and exhibitions. His wife and daughter fled to South America while Fingesten and his son moved to Milan.
Peter Fingesten (1916-1987) managed to reach the United States in 1939, becoming an artist after the war. Michel Fingesten stayed in Italy, continuing to create artworks as well as exhibiting, despite the increasingly grave situation.
In 1937, he was one of the initiators of the first Italian group of bookplate collectors, Gruppo Italiani dell’Ex Libris e del Bianco e Nero.
On October 9, 1940, Michel Fingesten was arrested and detained in the internment camps: Civitella del Tronto and Ferramonti di Tarsia. He died on October 8, 1943, of an infection he contracted in the camps after liberation by the British Army.
Despite his earlier celebrity, Michel Fingesten disappeared into oblivion. However, his graphics were preserved by private collectors and testify to his ingenuity and unlimited imagination. Thanks to Fingesten, bookplates evolved from a functional, decorative form into independent pieces of art. His artistry fluctuated between eroticism and politics and vividly responded to the reality that surrounded him, including the catastrophe of the two great wars of the 20th century.

Sources:
Pařík Arno, Michel Fingesten, Židovské muzeum v Praze 2008.
Placák Jan, Biographical entry of Michel Fingesten, written for the exhibition Michel
Fingesten (1884-1943). Obrazy, rysunki, grafika i ekslibrysy (City Galary in Wrocław, 22.02.-29.03.2024).
University of Colorado Boulder, The Fingesten Collection,
https://www.colorado.edu/jewishstudies/archives/fingesten-collection (19.01.2024).
Jewish Museum in Prague, The Unknown Michel Fingesten,
https://www.jewishmuseum.cz/en/e-shop-en/exhibition-catalogues/48-the-unkown-michel-fingesten/ (19.01.2024)