Elegy of Ihpetonga and Masks of Ashes (Élégie d'Ihpétonga suivie de Masques de cendre)

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Elegy of Ihpetonga and Masks of Ashes (Élégie d'Ihpétonga suivie de Masques de cendre)

Artist Pablo Picasso Spanish (active France), 1881-1973

Publisher Éditions hémisphères, Paris, 1949

Printer text: Dominique Viglino; lithographs: Mourlot Frères

Author Yvan (Iwan) Goll (Isaac Lang) French, 1891-1950

Date1949

DimensionsSlipcase: H: 13 1/4 in. (337 mm); W: 10 1/8 in. (257 mm); Depth: 13/16 in. (21 mm).
Book: H: 13 in. (330 mm); W: 10 in. (254 mm); Depth: 1/2 in. (13 mm).
Page: H: 12 3/4 in. (324 mm); W: 9 7/8 in. (251 mm).

MediumOriginal prints: 4 transfer lithographs. Text: letterpress in black with blue. Paper: Rives white wove paper, watermarked.

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineGift of Molly and Walter Bareiss in honor of Barbara K. Sutherland

Object number

1984.898

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Published Referencescf. Goeppert, Sebastian, et al., Pablo Picasso: The Illustrated Books, Catalogue raisonné, Geneva, 1983, no. 53 (English version: no. 70)

cf. Garvey, Eleanor M., The Artist & the Book, 1860--1960, Boston, 1961, no. 236.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Picasso as an Illustrator, Jan. 23-May 29, 1988, no. 26.Label TextThe French poet Yvan Goll (1898-1950) lived in New York from 1939 to 1947. ÉLÉGIE D'IHPETONGA, which is dedicated to Picasso, reflects on Goll's New York experiences. In the book, the title is explained: Ihpetonga, meaning "high cliff", was the name that the Canarsie Indians gave to the part of Brooklyn that overlooks the port of New York. Goll's poem contrasts the infernal city with incantations of an Indian Squaw banished from her land, whose totems wreak a terrible vengence. The second part of the book is comprised of seven poems titled MASQUES DE CENDRE, dedicated to Goll's wife Claire. The poems speak ardently of life consumed by words, looks, love, sickness, and, ultimately, death. Picasso chose to make 4 masks of fauns as illustrations.