L'Enchanteur pourrissant
Artist: André Derain (French, 1880-1954)
Publisher: Henry Kahnweiler, éditeur, Paris, 1909
Printer: Paul Birault, Paris
Author: Guillaume Apollinaire (French, 1880-1918)
Date: 1909
Dimensions:
box: 11 15/16 x 8 3/4 in. (304 x 222mm)
book: 11 1/4 x 8 1/8 in. (285 x 206mm)
page (untrimmed): 10 1/4 x 7 11/16 in. (260 x 196mm)
Medium: Original prints: 32 woodcuts (incl. head and tailpieces, initials, and publisher's vignette)
Text: letterpress
Paper: cream Arches laid paper
Classification: Books
Credit Line: Mrs. George W. Stevens Fund
Object number: 1989.125
Label Text:This is one of the chief masterpieces of early twentieth-century graphic art, literature, and book production. It is the first book published by Henry Kahnweiler (a Paris art dealer who first championed Fauve and Cubist works); the first text by the avent-garde poet Apollinaire published in book form; and the first original print illustrations by Derian, who, with Henri Matisse, was jolting the art world with his startling Fauve paintings. Derain's striking bold and intentionally rough-cut woodcuts characterized the dramatic forcefulness of the late Fauve style, seemingly derived from the savage vitality of primitive art, and his prints renewed interest in the woodcut. This bizarre and mysterious story is about the enchanter Merlin, moldering in his forest grave under the spell of the Lady of the Lake Vivian. The "imprisoned' Merlin receives a variety of strange visitors. The magical character of the tale inspired Darain to create images of a lush, enchanted forest, populated by druids, birds and animals.
A monument of triple firsts, this was the first book published by Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Picasso’s and Derain’s dealer, and contained the first published prints by Derain and the first text in book form by poet Guillaume Apollinaire. It tells the story of the sorcerer Merlin, imprisoned in an enchanted forest, and his love for Viviane, a fairy. The page displayed, unlike most here by Derain, closely reflects the text as Viviane dances on Merlin’s grave. Derain’s woodblock technique of heavy outlines, bold, flat shapes, and rough gouges evokes a ‘primitive’ style, an influence of African art and of the woodcuts of Paul Gauguin.
A monument of triple firsts, this was the first book published by Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Picasso’s and Derain’s dealer, and contained the first published prints by Derain and the first text in book form by poet Guillaume Apollinaire. It tells the story of the sorcerer Merlin, imprisoned in an enchanted forest, and his love for Viviane, a fairy. The page displayed, unlike most here by Derain, closely reflects the text as Viviane dances on Merlin’s grave. Derain’s woodblock technique of heavy outlines, bold, flat shapes, and rough gouges evokes a ‘primitive’ style, an influence of African art and of the woodcuts of Paul Gauguin.
Not on view
In Collection(s)