Sagesse
Artist: Maurice Denis (French, 1870-1943)
Publisher: Ambroise Vollard, éditeur, Paris, 1911
Printer: Jacques Beltrand, Paris (Emile Fequet, pressman)
Author: Paul Verlaine (French, 1844-1896)
Date: 1911
Dimensions:
Slipcase: H: 11 7/8 in. (302 mm); W: 9 3/8 in. (238 mm); Depth: 1 3/8 in. (35 mm).
Chemise: H: 11 1/2 in. (292 mm); W: 9 1/4 in. (235 mm); Depth: 1 in. (25 mm).
Book: H: 11 11/16 in. (297 mm); W: 9 3/16 in. (234 mm); Depth: 1 3/8 in. (35 mm).
Page (untrimmed): H: 11 1/8 in. (283 mm); W: 8 11/16 in. (220 mm).
Medium: Original prints: 89 wood engravings in colors, from blocks cut by Jacques Beltrand.
Text: letterpress in black with colors.
Paper: Van Gelder laid paper, watermarked with the title.
Classification: Books
Credit Line: Gift of Molly and Walter Bareiss
Object number: 1984.377
Label Text:Verlaine's SAGESSE, a group of religious poems, first appeared in 1881. While this Vollard publication was not Denis' first book, the illustrations, originally drawn in 1889, were his first set of images inspired by a text.
Publisher: Ambroise Vollard
Pierre Bonnard, Parallèlement (In Parallel). Text by Paul Verlaine (1900)
Pierre Bonnard, Les pastorales de Longus; ou Daphnis et Chloé (Pastorals of Longus; or
Daphnis and Chloë). Text by Longus (1902)
Maurice Denis, Sagesse (Wisdom). Text by Paul Verlaine (1911)
The Parisian art dealer Ambroise Vollard was one of the leading publishers of livres de peintre or painter’s books. These were deluxe editions matching original prints with a text.
For his first project Vollard chose Parallèlement, a collection of poems by Paul Verlaine. He settled on Bonnard to create the prints. Bonnard’s sensuous lithographs were printed with rose-colored ink. For the most part the publication was received poorly. Collectors didn’t consider lithography a fine-art technique. The edition did not sell out for over 20 years.
Undaunted, Vollard commissioned Bonnard to create lithographs for a translation of an ancient poem by Longus. Unlike the images for Parallèlement, the designs for Daphnis et Chloé conformed to a rectangular format above five lines of text. Colored ink was replaced with the same gray-black ink as the text, adding to the overall unity of the design. This volume too did not sell well.
Many of Vollard's projects took years to complete and some were left unfinished at his death. Sagesse was written by Verlaine in 1873. The poem inspired a series of drawings by Maurice Denis, which Vollard saw in 1891. He knew this would make a wonderful livre de peintre, but two decades would go by before the book was published. For this project, Vollard had Denis’s drawings converted to wood engravings.
Vollard went on to produce 45 fine press books with such artists as Redon, Maillol, Rouault, and Picasso. They are now considered some of the finest and most influential in the genre.
Publisher: Ambroise Vollard
Pierre Bonnard, Parallèlement (In Parallel). Text by Paul Verlaine (1900)
Pierre Bonnard, Les pastorales de Longus; ou Daphnis et Chloé (Pastorals of Longus; or
Daphnis and Chloë). Text by Longus (1902)
Maurice Denis, Sagesse (Wisdom). Text by Paul Verlaine (1911)
The Parisian art dealer Ambroise Vollard was one of the leading publishers of livres de peintre or painter’s books. These were deluxe editions matching original prints with a text.
For his first project Vollard chose Parallèlement, a collection of poems by Paul Verlaine. He settled on Bonnard to create the prints. Bonnard’s sensuous lithographs were printed with rose-colored ink. For the most part the publication was received poorly. Collectors didn’t consider lithography a fine-art technique. The edition did not sell out for over 20 years.
Undaunted, Vollard commissioned Bonnard to create lithographs for a translation of an ancient poem by Longus. Unlike the images for Parallèlement, the designs for Daphnis et Chloé conformed to a rectangular format above five lines of text. Colored ink was replaced with the same gray-black ink as the text, adding to the overall unity of the design. This volume too did not sell well.
Many of Vollard's projects took years to complete and some were left unfinished at his death. Sagesse was written by Verlaine in 1873. The poem inspired a series of drawings by Maurice Denis, which Vollard saw in 1891. He knew this would make a wonderful livre de peintre, but two decades would go by before the book was published. For this project, Vollard had Denis’s drawings converted to wood engravings.
Vollard went on to produce 45 fine press books with such artists as Redon, Maillol, Rouault, and Picasso. They are now considered some of the finest and most influential in the genre.
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