Fables (vol. 1)

Artist Marc Chagall (Russian (active France), 1887-1985)

Author Jean de La Fontaine (French, 1621-1695)

Publisher Tériade (Paris, 1952)

Printer Maurice Potin ([s.l.], 1927-1930)

Printer Raymond Haasen (1952)

Date1952

DimensionsSlipcase: H: 16 1/8 in. (410 mm); W: 12 1/2 in. (317 mm); Depth: 4 1/2 in. (115 mm).
Book: H: 15 5/8 in. (397 mm); W: 12 1/16 in. (307 mm); Depth: 1 15/16 in. (49 mm).
Book1: H: 15 5/8 in. (397 mm); W: 12 1/16 in. (307 mm); Depth: 1 13/16 in. (46 mm).
Page (untrimmed): H: 15 7/16 in. (392 mm); W: 11 7/8 in. (302 mm).

MediumOriginal drawing: watercolor with black ink (vol. 1). Original prints: 102 etchings, some with engraving and/or with drypoint, incl. wrappers. Text: letterpress (typeface: Garamond Italic, 24 pt.). Paper: Rives BFK cream wove (different stocks, slightly different tones, because the text and etchings were printed 22 years apart).

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineGift of Molly and Walter Bareiss

Object number

1984.342A

Not on View

Label TextTwo volumes with 100 etchings, two etched covers, and this copy with one watercolor inscribed to "W. Bareiss" and signed by the artist. This was originally commissioned by Vollard in 1927, and initially there was some outcry that a foreign artist had been chosen to illustrate such a venerated French text. The publication, delayed for over twenty years, was finally completed by Teriade.Published Referencescf. Garvey, Eleanor M., The Artist & the Book, 1860--1960, Boston, 1961, no. 52, repr.

cf. Hogben, Carol, Rowan Watson, editors, From Manet to Hockney: Modern Artists’ Illustrated Books, London, 1985, no. 79, reprs.

cf. Strachan, W. J., The Artist and the Book in France; The 20th Century livre d'artiste, New York, 1969, p. 327

cf. Wheeler, Monroe, Modern Painters and Sculptors as Illustrators, New York, 1946, p. 99.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The Bareiss Collection of Modern Illustrated Books from Toulouse-Lautrec to Kiefer, 1985, no. 15

Toledo Museum of Art, Don't Feed the Books: Birds, Bugs, and Bestiaries Featuring the Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection of Modern Illustrated Books, 2001

Toledo Museum of Art, Splendid Pages: The Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection of Modern Illustrated Books, Feb. 14--May 11, 2003

Toledo Museum of Art, Monkey Business, July 2 - August 30, 2009.