Les murs
Les murs
Artist
Jean Dubuffet
(French, 1901-1985)
Publisher
Éditions du livre
([Paris], 1950)
Author
Eugène Guillevic
(French, born 1907)
Date1950
DimensionsSlipcase: H: 15 3/4 in. (400 mm); W: 11 7/8 in. (302 mm); Depth: 1 3/8 in. (35 mm).
Chemise: H: 15 1/4 in. (387 mm); W: 11 3/8 in. (289 mm); Depth: 1 in. (25 mm).
Book: H: 15 1/8 in. (384 mm); W: 11 9/16 in. (293 mm); Depth: 13/16 in. (21 mm).
Page (untrimmed): H: 14 15/16 in. (380 mm); W: 11 5/16 in. (287 mm).
Chemise: H: 15 1/4 in. (387 mm); W: 11 3/8 in. (289 mm); Depth: 1 in. (25 mm).
Book: H: 15 1/8 in. (384 mm); W: 11 9/16 in. (293 mm); Depth: 13/16 in. (21 mm).
Page (untrimmed): H: 14 15/16 in. (380 mm); W: 11 5/16 in. (287 mm).
MediumLithographs
ClassificationBooks
Credit LineGift of Molly and Walter Bareiss
Object number
1984.405
Not on View
DescriptionOriginal prints: 15 lithographs (incl. front wrapper). Text: letterpress (typeface: Bodoni Bold). Paper: Montval cream wove, watermarked.
Label TextCommonplace "walls" are scrutinized by the author and artist in terms of what happens to them and in front of them. Dubuffet was also intrigued by the texture, shape and graffiti of walls. This book is copy 67 of 160 in the edition. Walls form an important backdrop to our lives. They compartmentalize our environment: things happen on them, to them, and in front of them. Walls also have interesting textures and shapes. Wall scribbling - from ancient cave paintings to contemporary graffiti - prove man's insatiable need to express himself in pictures. The subject of this book is common to us all. Dubuffet's images were a conscious effort to unite lowly and banal subject matter with the realm of art. The lithographs, created and printed in 1945, were Dubuffet's second important print series after MATIERE ET MEMOIRE.Published Referencescf. Garvey, Eleanor, The Artist & the Book, 1860--1960, Boston, 1961, no. 88, repr.
cf. Hogben, Carol, Rowan Watson, editors, From Manet to Hockney: Modern Artists’ Illustrated books, London, 1985, no. 122, repr.
cf. Strachan, W. J., The Artist and the Book in France; The 20th Century livre d'artiste, New York, 1969, p. 330.
cf. Johnson, Robert Flynn, Artists' Books in the Modern Era 1870--2000: The Reva and David Logan Collection of Illustrated Books, San Francisco, 2001, no. 128.
Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The Bareiss Collection of modern illustrated books from Toulouse-Lautrec to Kiefer, 1985, no. 24.
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