Quicksand (Sable mouvant)
Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish (active France), 1881-1973)
Publisher: Louis Broder, Paris, 1966
Printer: aquatints: l'Atelier Crommelynck, [Paris]; text: Fequet et Baudier, [Paris]
Author: Pierre Reverdy (French, 1889-1960)
Date: 1966
Dimensions:
Slipcase: H: 20 5/16 in. (516 mm); W: 16 7/16 in. (417 mm); Depth: 2 3/4 in. (70 mm).
Chemise: H: 19 13/16 in. (503 mm); W: 16 5/16 in. (414 mm); Depth: 2 1/2 in. (64 mm).
Cover: H: 19 7/16 in. (494 mm); W: 15 11/16 in. (398 mm); Depth: 2 in. (51 mm).
Page: H: 18 15/16 in. (481 mm); W: 15 in. (381 mm).
Medium: Original prints: 10 aquatints (some worked with drypoint and scraper).
Text: letterpress.
Paper: Rives white wove paper, watermarked "L.B."
Classification: Books
Credit Line: Gift of Molly and Walter Bareiss in honor of Barbara K. Sutherland
Object number: 1984.941
Label Text:Pablo Picasso, Sable mouvant (Quick Sand). Text by Pierre Reverdy (1966)
Je suis sorti du port I left the port
Par un étroit passage Through the narrow passage
Et je rentre à la mort And at death I return
démuni de baggage. stripped of my belongings.
Sable mouvant, Pierre Reverdy’s last poem, explores the highs and lows of the process of writing. It is the poet’s quiet summation of an artistic life.
Reverdy converted to Catholicism in 1926. He spent the rest of his life in relative seclusion near a Benedictine monastery, dividing his time between poetry and religion. When he died in 1960, only three friends were contacted: Georges Braque, the publisher Efstratios Tériade, and Pablo Picasso.
Picasso agreed to illustrate this posthumous edition of Reverdy’s final work as a tribute to his friend. In his selection of images, he seems to be looking at his own artistic life. His prints mirror the theme of artistic process—most show an artist at work in his studio. The aquatints show the delicate gradations of tone that the technique is capable of when expressed by an artist as talented as Picasso. The impact of these compelling prints builds with each successive image. Their cumulative effect balances the power of the text.
203 words
Je suis sorti du port I left the port
Par un étroit passage Through the narrow passage
Et je rentre à la mort And at death I return
démuni de baggage. stripped of my belongings.
Sable mouvant, Pierre Reverdy’s last poem, explores the highs and lows of the process of writing. It is the poet’s quiet summation of an artistic life.
Reverdy converted to Catholicism in 1926. He spent the rest of his life in relative seclusion near a Benedictine monastery, dividing his time between poetry and religion. When he died in 1960, only three friends were contacted: Georges Braque, the publisher Efstratios Tériade, and Pablo Picasso.
Picasso agreed to illustrate this posthumous edition of Reverdy’s final work as a tribute to his friend. In his selection of images, he seems to be looking at his own artistic life. His prints mirror the theme of artistic process—most show an artist at work in his studio. The aquatints show the delicate gradations of tone that the technique is capable of when expressed by an artist as talented as Picasso. The impact of these compelling prints builds with each successive image. Their cumulative effect balances the power of the text.
203 words
Not on view
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