The Mendicant Friar or The Book of Knowledge (Le Frère mendiant, ó libro del conocimiento)
Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish (active France), 1881-1973)
Publisher: Latitud Cuarenta y Uno, Paris, 1959 [Le degré quarante et un] (Iliazd)
Printer: drypoints: Roger Lacourière and Jacques Frelau, [Paris]; text: l’Imprimerie Union, [Paris] (Raymond Billoir)
Author: Iliazd (Ilia Zdanevitch) (Russian, 1894-1975)
Date: 1959
Dimensions:
Slipcase: H: 17 9/16 in. (446 mm); W: 13 3/4 in. (350 mm); Depth: 1 7/8 in. (48 mm).
Chemise: H: 17 5/16 in. (439 mm); W: 13 1/2 in. (343 mm); Depth: 1 9/16 in. (39 mm).
Cover: H: 16 5/8 in. (423 mm); W: 13 7/16 in. (341 mm); Depth: 1 1/8 in. (29 mm).
Book: H: 17 in. (432 mm); W: 13 1/4 in. (337 mm); Depth: 1 1/16 in. (27 mm).
Page: H: 16 1/8 in. (410 mm); W: 12 in. (305 mm).
Medium: Original prints: 17 drypoints, incl. 1 double page image repeated on wrappers.
Text: letterpress in black with sanguine (typeface: Gill Sans capitals).
Paper: antique Japan paper.
Classification: Books
Credit Line: Gift of Molly and Walter Bareiss in honor of Barbara K. Sutherland
Object number: 1984.922
Label Text:The "frère mendiant" (mendicant friar) was a 14th-century Castillian Franciscan monk who went to Africa. The account of his travels in Guinea and Ghana was published in Spain in 1877 by Jimenez de la Espada. Iliazd loved travel books, and he was particularly interested in accounts about Africa before it was 'spoiled' by coloniazation. For his book, Iliazd combined this Spanish text with an 1896 French text by Margry of a 1402 missionary voyage.
Picasso enthusiastically participated in this project. He created drypoints depicting the African landscape, vegetation, and people -- although he had never actually visited the continent -- and these alternate with illustrations of European banners.
Iliazd's lay-out of the book creates a processional rhythm as the reader leafs through the pages. The text (which is in French and Spanish) is composed of capital letters with spaces of varing size between them. This was a typographical trick dear to Iliazd, but it had the practical result of "opening up" the pages so it was not dense with words, and they were, in turn, more legible.
Pablo Picasso, Chevaux de minuit: Épopée (Horses of Midnight: Epic). Text by Roch
Grey (1956)
Pablo Picasso, Le Frère mendiant, ó libro del conocimiento (The Mendicant Friar, or Book of Knowledge). Text by Iliazd (1959)
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.”
Picasso enthusiastically participated in this project. He created drypoints depicting the African landscape, vegetation, and people -- although he had never actually visited the continent -- and these alternate with illustrations of European banners.
Iliazd's lay-out of the book creates a processional rhythm as the reader leafs through the pages. The text (which is in French and Spanish) is composed of capital letters with spaces of varing size between them. This was a typographical trick dear to Iliazd, but it had the practical result of "opening up" the pages so it was not dense with words, and they were, in turn, more legible.
Pablo Picasso, Chevaux de minuit: Épopée (Horses of Midnight: Epic). Text by Roch
Grey (1956)
Pablo Picasso, Le Frère mendiant, ó libro del conocimiento (The Mendicant Friar, or Book of Knowledge). Text by Iliazd (1959)
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.”
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