The Departure of the Argonaut

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The Departure of the Argonaut

Artist Francesco Clemente (Italian, born 1952)

Publisher Petersburg Press, [New York and London], 1986

Printer lithographs: Rolf Neumann, Stuttgart text: Staib & Mayer, Stuttgart

Binder Helmut Koss, Cologne

Author Alberto Savinio (Italian, 1891-1952)

Date1986

Dimensionsbox: 26 1/2 x 20 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (673 x 527 x 38mm)
book: 25 3/4 x 20 1/8 x 3/4 in. (654 x 511 x 19mm)
page: 25 1/2 x 19 5/8 in. (648 x 498mm)

MediumOriginal prints: 49 lithographs in black and in colors Text: letterpress in black with red (typeface: Bembo) Paper: ivory mouldmade Okawara kozo paper

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineGift of Molly and Walter Bareiss and Mrs. George W. Stevens Fund

Object number

1986.45

Not on View

Label TextAlberto Savinio (1891-1952), born Andrea de Chirico (brother of the artist Giorgio), wrote this text to chronicle his 1917 wartime journey (by train and ship) from Farrara to the Salonika front. The author presented his complex diary/travelogue as a parallel to the ancient Greek account of Jason's voyage with the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece. Clemente, who had long admired Savinio's text, selected it for his most ambitious illustrated book to date -- a monumental undertaking which took three years to complete. Clemente's lithographs simultaneously derive from his own repetoire of personalized figurative expression, which ranges from the provocative and sexual to the metaphysical, and from stimuli in the text. Some of the black monochromatic lithographs incorporate brooding self portraits and other self-indulgent imagery. The vividly-colored lithographs dramatically "wash over" the text. the rest of the lithographs, such as the depiction of nautical knots and signal flags, are clues to the journey theme. Clemente's diverse images reflect the varied moods of the author's involuntary odyssey. Francesco Clemente, The Departure of the Argonaut. Text by Alberto Savinio (1986) The work of Francesco Clemente is often autobiographical or self-referential. Metamorphosis, displayed through disembodiment and transport, is a basic theme in Clemente’s work. The metamorphosis is often applied to representations of the artist himself as he is transformed between male and female, man and animal, or a combination. Clemente chose to illustrate the writing of Alberto Savinio in part because it is suffused with a sense of Italy’s loss of civility, refinement, and frivolity. The text is a travelogue, written in 1917, which tells the story of Savinio’s experience in the First World War. Clemente’s work for this book is not narrative or illustrative in the classic sense although a nautical theme, associated with a transport boat in the narrative, is carried throughout the book in the representations of signal flags and nautical knots. Clemente’s images often encroach upon, and at times, completely overlay the text. The use of transparent color, similar to watercolor washes, conveys lightness, accentuating the feeling of disembodiment inherent in the imagery while allowing the text to be read. The artist wrote, “Fancy, artifice, imagination, contradiction, virtuosity, licentiousness—all are present in abundance, yet always with the requisite lightness of touch.” 195 words FK12.0Published Referencescf. Castleman, Riva, A Century of Artists Books, New York, 1994, p. 217, color repr. cf. Phillips, Elizabeth, The American Livre de Peintre, New York, The Grolier Club, 1993, no. 11 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. 169Exhibition HistorySplendid Pages: The Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection of Modern Illustrated Books, Feb. 14--May 11, 2003