Les Horribles et Espovantables Faictz et Prouesses du Très Renommé Pantagruel, Roy des Dipsodes, Fils du Grand Géant Gargantua
Artist: André Derain (French, 1880-1954)
Publisher: Albert Skira, Paris, 1943
Author: François Rabelais (French, about 1494-1553)
Date: 1943
Dimensions:
Slipcase: H: 14 3/16 in. (360 mm); W: 11 1/2 in. (292 mm); Depth: 2 5/16 in. (58 mm).
Chemise: H: 14 1/8 in. (358 mm); W: 11 1/2 in. (292 mm); Depth: 2 1/16 in. (52 mm).
Book: H: 13 11/16 in. (348 mm); W: 11 1/8 in. (282 mm); Depth: 2 in. (51 mm).
Page (untrimmed): H: 13 1/2 in. (343 mm); W: 10 7/8 in. (277 mm).
Medium: Original prints: 180 woodcuts in colors (incl. cover and decorated initials), from hand-painted blocks.
Text: letterpress (typeface: Garamond).
Classification: Books
Credit Line: Gift of Molly and Walter Bareiss
Object number: 1984.381
Label Text:The style of Derain's lovely multi-colored woodcuts, printed from a single block instead of cutting a separate block for each color, recall hand-colored 16th century tarot cards.
With this single exception, Derian illustrated books with bold black-and-white woodcuts. His 179 color woodcuts for PANTAGRUEL, the revered sixteenth-century masterpiece of French literature, make this book one of the greatest achievements of modern multicolored illustration. The style of Derian's images deliberately recalls the the sixeenth-century hand-colored woodcut tarot cards, which depict flat figures in simplified outline.
The complete title ( in translation) "Pantagruel, The Horrible and Dreadful Deeds and Acts of Prowess by this Reknowned King of Dipsodes, Son of the Great Giant Gargantua" announces the coarsely humorous and satirical story that follows. Derain's illistrations, then, temper the effusive text with a restrained pictorial elegance.
André Derain, Pantagruel. Text by François Rabelais (1943)
The novel Pantagruel chronicles the life of the tyrannical giant Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. Humanist physician and priest François Rabelais wrote the work in the 16th century as a satire on the moral concerns of the day. It remains one of France’s greatest literary masterpieces. André Derain’s woodcuts for the novel took three years to complete under the German occupation of France during World War II.
Publisher Albert Skira commissioned the book just before the war broke out. This complicated project was made more complicated by the Occupation. Paper and other materials were scarce and expensive. Many printers were unable to operate during the war, or were extremely limited in their resources.
Most challenging was the occupation of Derain’s home by German soldiers in 1940. The soldiers destroyed much of Derain’s work. Although the woodblocks and paper for Pantagruel survived, he was prevented from working on them.
When Derain was finally able to continue, he worked with master printer Roger Lacourière. Lacourière followed the Eastern practice of using only one woodblock for each multi-colored print. Derain and Lacourière hand-inked each section of the woodblock, with a white line to separate each color. Derain’s woodcuts recall the hand-colored woodcut tarot cards used during the Renaissance. Such cards were contemporary with Rabelais’s novel.
André Derain
French, 1880–1954
Pantagruel
Text by François Rabelais (French, about 1494–1553)
Book with woodcuts in colors, 1943
Gift of Molly and Walter Bareiss, 1984.381
The novel Pantagruel chronicles the life of the tyrannical giant Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. Humanist physician and priest François Rabelais wrote the work in the 16th century as a satire on the moral concerns of the day. It remains one of France’s greatest literary masterpieces.
This luxury edition with multi-colored woodcuts by André Derain was conceived and commissioned by Swiss publisher Albert Skira in the late 1930s, but work on it did not begin until after World War II had broken out. It was a complicated project, made more complicated by wartime privations. The paper and other materials required were expensive and hard to come by. Many printers were unable to operate during the war, or were extremely limited in their resources. Most challenging was the occupation of Derain’s home by Nazi soldiers in 1940. The soldiers arrived when Derain was away, and destroyed much of his art. The woodblocks and paper for the half-finished Pantagruel thankfully survived the soldiers’ wrath, but it would take almost three more years to complete the project.
With this single exception, Derian illustrated books with bold black-and-white woodcuts. His 179 color woodcuts for PANTAGRUEL, the revered sixteenth-century masterpiece of French literature, make this book one of the greatest achievements of modern multicolored illustration. The style of Derian's images deliberately recalls the the sixeenth-century hand-colored woodcut tarot cards, which depict flat figures in simplified outline.
The complete title ( in translation) "Pantagruel, The Horrible and Dreadful Deeds and Acts of Prowess by this Reknowned King of Dipsodes, Son of the Great Giant Gargantua" announces the coarsely humorous and satirical story that follows. Derain's illistrations, then, temper the effusive text with a restrained pictorial elegance.
André Derain, Pantagruel. Text by François Rabelais (1943)
The novel Pantagruel chronicles the life of the tyrannical giant Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. Humanist physician and priest François Rabelais wrote the work in the 16th century as a satire on the moral concerns of the day. It remains one of France’s greatest literary masterpieces. André Derain’s woodcuts for the novel took three years to complete under the German occupation of France during World War II.
Publisher Albert Skira commissioned the book just before the war broke out. This complicated project was made more complicated by the Occupation. Paper and other materials were scarce and expensive. Many printers were unable to operate during the war, or were extremely limited in their resources.
Most challenging was the occupation of Derain’s home by German soldiers in 1940. The soldiers destroyed much of Derain’s work. Although the woodblocks and paper for Pantagruel survived, he was prevented from working on them.
When Derain was finally able to continue, he worked with master printer Roger Lacourière. Lacourière followed the Eastern practice of using only one woodblock for each multi-colored print. Derain and Lacourière hand-inked each section of the woodblock, with a white line to separate each color. Derain’s woodcuts recall the hand-colored woodcut tarot cards used during the Renaissance. Such cards were contemporary with Rabelais’s novel.
André Derain
French, 1880–1954
Pantagruel
Text by François Rabelais (French, about 1494–1553)
Book with woodcuts in colors, 1943
Gift of Molly and Walter Bareiss, 1984.381
The novel Pantagruel chronicles the life of the tyrannical giant Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. Humanist physician and priest François Rabelais wrote the work in the 16th century as a satire on the moral concerns of the day. It remains one of France’s greatest literary masterpieces.
This luxury edition with multi-colored woodcuts by André Derain was conceived and commissioned by Swiss publisher Albert Skira in the late 1930s, but work on it did not begin until after World War II had broken out. It was a complicated project, made more complicated by wartime privations. The paper and other materials required were expensive and hard to come by. Many printers were unable to operate during the war, or were extremely limited in their resources. Most challenging was the occupation of Derain’s home by Nazi soldiers in 1940. The soldiers arrived when Derain was away, and destroyed much of his art. The woodblocks and paper for the half-finished Pantagruel thankfully survived the soldiers’ wrath, but it would take almost three more years to complete the project.
DescriptionOriginal prints: 180 woodcuts in colors (incl. cover and decorated initials), from hand-painted blocks.
Text: letterpress (typeface: Garamond).
Paper: Arches cream wove paper, watermarked.
Text: letterpress (typeface: Garamond).
Paper: Arches cream wove paper, watermarked.
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