Kurt Vonnegut, Signed Limited Edition Art "Gilded Cage" Silkscreen Grey/Black #24/50 Framed [Very Fine]

KURT VONNEGUT (b. 1922). American novelist and graphic artist whose experience as an air force POW during the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, is recounted in his popular novel Slaughterhouse-Five (1969).

A wonderful Signed Limited Edition silkscreen serigraph entitled Freedom inspired by his book Breakfast of Champions (1973). An authentic hand signed print, with the presence of the two Vonnegut verification stamps on the lower left corner.

This rare artwork has been personally hand signed by the late Kurt Vonnegut in light pencil, Signed limited edition No. 43/50. Gold colored cage over matte black background. One of four in his series of serigraphs called "Gilded Cage", this hand-printed silkscreen print of an open birdcage, approx. 6"x9", is double pulled in black with gold overprint on White Rising Stonehenge deckle edge cotton paper.

Find more Kurt Vonnegut signed limited edition silkscreens here

The birdcage represents the home of the parakeet named Bill belonging to Vonnegut's character Trout, who offers Bill three wishes and the chance for freedom. The wise bird however chooses to return to his cage. Trout believes this to be the smartest choice of all because then Bill will always have something left to wish for. A great collectible from the series that first brought Vonnegut to attention as a graphic artist. Investment potential.

About the Author

1922 - 2007. Kurt Vonnegut was one of the most influential writers of his generation. Known for his dark humor, pessimism and sharp edge, he was the author of 14 novels - notably Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions - and other works of fiction and nonfiction.

His stories of human folly and cruelty have been assigned reading for at least two decades in college literature classes around the world! Most readers interested in the fantastic in literature are familiar with Kurt Vonnegut, particularly for his uses of science fiction. Many of his early short stories were wholly in the science fiction mode, and while its degree has varied, science fiction has never lost its place in his novels.

About Slaughterhouse-Five

Vonnegut's most powerful book and also as important as any written since 1945. An elegant leather-bound collector's edition from Easton Press. Personally signed by the late Mr. Vonnegut on a special dedication page.

Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the world's great anti-war books. Centering on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know. The contents of this book are studied in universities around the world.

Slaughterhouse-Five is taken from the name of the building where the POWs were held. Like Catch-22, it fashions the author's experiences in the Second World War into an eloquent and deeply funny plea against butchery in the service of authority. Slaughterhouse-Five boasts the same imagination, humanity, and gleeful appreciation of the absurd found in Vonnegut's other works, but the book's basis in rock-hard, tragic fact gives it unique poignancy -- and humor.

Don't let the ease of reading fool you--Vonnegut's isn't a conventional, or simple, novel. He writes, "There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick, and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters..." Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes 'unstuck in time' after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden.