Midnight Horses: Epic
Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish (active France), 1881-1973)
Publisher: Le degré quarante et un, Paris, 1956 (Iliazd)
Printer: engravings and drypoint: Roger Lacourière, [Paris] (Robert Dutrou, pressman); text: l’Imprimerie Union, [Paris] (Jacques Snégarof)
Author: Roch Grey (Hélène d’Oettingen) (French, died 1950)
Date: 1956
Dimensions:
box: 13 1/4 x 9 3/8 x 3/4 in. (337 x 238 x 19 mm)
book: 12 13/16 x 8 15/16 x 15/16 in. (325 x 227 x 24 mm)
page (untrimmed): 11 15/16 x 8 1/4 in. (304 x 210 mm).
Medium: engraving and drypoint
Classification: Books
Credit Line: Gift of Molly and Walter Bareiss in honor of Barbara K. Sutherland
Object number: 1984.909
Label Text:Roch Grey was the pseudonym of Baroness d'Oettingen, who was a member of Apollinaire's circle and who had a central role in the cultural life of Russian emigré artists in Paris. She died in 1950. As hommage to her, the publisher and book designer Iliazd wanted to publish this text, which had been written 20 years earlier.
Roch Grey dedicated this epic about horses to "all horsemen, military and civilian / to those of the circus and the open country / to horsewomen fond of long rides / to firemen in memory of their former horse-drawn engines / to aviators and poets faithful to their vigil in the sky."
Picasso's 12 engravings of horses, drawn with great economy of line, evoke a graceful and joyful ballet of this majestic animal. Most of the illustrations appear as the center of a triple page, or triptych, with the words cleverly set on either side to suggest a gallop or a trot across the page.
Original prints by Picasso are included in over 140 books published during his lifetime. Some projects involved the artist personally; some merely used his artwork. Picasso frequently collaborated with the Russian designer Iliazd. These are two examples of the books they produced together. Each contains an unusual text, set in a unique composition and bound in vellum (animal skin).
Chevaux de minuit is the most important work of the Baroness d’Oettingen. She was a Russian expatriate living in Paris during the early 20th century and wrote under the pen name Roch Grey. After her death, Iliazd honored her with a special publication of her epic poem. He arranged the text around the engravings (provided by Picasso) in short Calligrams or visual poems. This was done in memory of Grey’s close friend Apollinaire, who first published the words of his poems as images. Picasso engraved a dozen simple, beautiful horses to accompany her words.
The text for Le Frère mendiant is the African travel diary of an unnamed Spanish monk living in the 14th century. Iliazd’s wife was African and he was fascinated with African culture. He wrote in the preface, “In the light of the past, the knowledge of the mendicant friar is admirable, and the soberness of his writings makes them pertinent today. He preaches neither conversion nor the taking of the rich, abundant African lands, personified by kings equal in nobility to the sovereigns of Europe and Asia.”
Roch Grey dedicated this epic about horses to "all horsemen, military and civilian / to those of the circus and the open country / to horsewomen fond of long rides / to firemen in memory of their former horse-drawn engines / to aviators and poets faithful to their vigil in the sky."
Picasso's 12 engravings of horses, drawn with great economy of line, evoke a graceful and joyful ballet of this majestic animal. Most of the illustrations appear as the center of a triple page, or triptych, with the words cleverly set on either side to suggest a gallop or a trot across the page.
Original prints by Picasso are included in over 140 books published during his lifetime. Some projects involved the artist personally; some merely used his artwork. Picasso frequently collaborated with the Russian designer Iliazd. These are two examples of the books they produced together. Each contains an unusual text, set in a unique composition and bound in vellum (animal skin).
Chevaux de minuit is the most important work of the Baroness d’Oettingen. She was a Russian expatriate living in Paris during the early 20th century and wrote under the pen name Roch Grey. After her death, Iliazd honored her with a special publication of her epic poem. He arranged the text around the engravings (provided by Picasso) in short Calligrams or visual poems. This was done in memory of Grey’s close friend Apollinaire, who first published the words of his poems as images. Picasso engraved a dozen simple, beautiful horses to accompany her words.
The text for Le Frère mendiant is the African travel diary of an unnamed Spanish monk living in the 14th century. Iliazd’s wife was African and he was fascinated with African culture. He wrote in the preface, “In the light of the past, the knowledge of the mendicant friar is admirable, and the soberness of his writings makes them pertinent today. He preaches neither conversion nor the taking of the rich, abundant African lands, personified by kings equal in nobility to the sovereigns of Europe and Asia.”
DescriptionBook with 12 engravings, 1 drypoint.
Not on view
In Collection(s)