Parallèlement

Artist Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867-1947)

Publisher Ambroise Vollard, éditeur, Paris, 1900

Author Paul Verlaine (French, 1844-1896)

Date1900

DimensionsSlipcase: H: 12 1/8 in. (308 mm); W: 10 1/16 in. (255 mm); Depth: 1 5/16 in. (33 mm)
Book: H: 11 3/4 in. (298 mm); W: 10 1/6 in. (256 mm); Depth: 1 1/8 in. (29 mm)
Page: H: 11 1/2 in. (292 mm); W: 9 3/8 in. (238 cm)
Leaf: H: 11 13/16 in. (300 mm); W: 9 5/8 in. (244 mm)

MediumOriginal prints: 109 lithographs in rose, plus an additional suite of 109 (bound at end); plus wood engraved vignettes in black. Text: letterpress (typeface: Garamond Italic) Paper: china paper

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineGift of Molly and Walter Bareiss

Object number

1984.280

Not on View

Label TextPARALLELEMENT, the first great livre d'artiste of the 20th century was the first such publication by the art dealer Vollard, who spared nothing to produce this magnificent edition-de-luxe. Regarded as a epoch-making achievement in the French illustrated book, Bonnard's inspired lithographs freely flow over the margins and infringe on the lines of type thus uniting poetry and image in an innovative way. Bonnnard's exuberant and uninhibited drawings, printed in a delectable rose-pink color, underscore the sensuality of Verlaine's poetrv. Publisher: Ambroise Vollard Pierre Bonnard, Parallèlement (In Parallel). Text by Paul Verlaine (1900) Pierre Bonnard, Les pastorales de Longus; ou Daphnis et Chloé (Pastorals of Longus; or Daphnis and Chloë). Text by Longus (1902) Maurice Denis, Sagesse (Wisdom). Text by Paul Verlaine (1911) The Parisian art dealer Ambroise Vollard was one of the leading publishers of livres de peintre or painter’s books. These were deluxe editions matching original prints with a text. For his first project Vollard chose Parallèlement, a collection of poems by Paul Verlaine. He settled on Bonnard to create the prints. Bonnard’s sensuous lithographs were printed with rose-colored ink. For the most part the publication was received poorly. Collectors didn’t consider lithography a fine-art technique. The edition did not sell out for over 20 years. Undaunted, Vollard commissioned Bonnard to create lithographs for a translation of an ancient poem by Longus. Unlike the images for Parallèlement, the designs for Daphnis et Chloé conformed to a rectangular format above five lines of text. Colored ink was replaced with the same gray-black ink as the text, adding to the overall unity of the design. This volume too did not sell well. Many of Vollard's projects took years to complete and some were left unfinished at his death. Sagesse was written by Verlaine in 1873. The poem inspired a series of drawings by Maurice Denis, which Vollard saw in 1891. He knew this would make a wonderful livre de peintre, but two decades would go by before the book was published. For this project, Vollard had Denis’s drawings converted to wood engravings. Vollard went on to produce 45 fine press books with such artists as Redon, Maillol, Rouault, and Picasso. They are now considered some of the finest and most influential in the genre.Published Referencescf. Bouvet, Francis, Bonnard: The Complete Graphic Work, New York, 1981, no. 73, reprs.

cf. Castleman, Riva, A Century of Artists Books, New York, 1994, pp. 86--87, repr.

cf. A Catalogue of the Gifts of Lessing J. Rosenwald to the Library of Congress, 1943 to 1975, Washington, 1977, no. 2125, col. repr. p. 382.

cf. Garvey, Eleanor M., The Artist & the Book, 1860--1960, Boston, 1961, no. 27, col. repr.

cf. Hogben, Carol, Rowan Watson, editors, From Manet to Hockney: Modern Artists’ Illustrated Books, London, 1985, no. 17, repr.

cf. Johnson, Una E., Ambroise Vollard, éditeur: Prints, Books, Bronzes, New York, 1977, no. 166, col. repr. pp. 54--55.

cf. Ray, Gordon N., The Art of the French Illustrated Book, 1700 to 1914, vol. II, New York, 1982, no. 383, repr.

cf. Roger-Marx, Claude, Bonnard lithographe, Monte-Carlo, 1952, no. 94, repr. Symmes, Marilyn, "Illustrated books at The Toledo Museum of Art", The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, Miami, winter 1988, pp. 56--57, reprs.

cf. Strachan, W. J., The Artist and the Book in France: the 20th Century livre d'artiste, New York, 1969, p. 326.

cf. Catalogue complet des éditions Ambroise Vollard, Portique, Paris, 1930. (1984.438)

cf. Cate, Phillip Dennis, et al., Prints Abound: Paris in the 1890s; from the Collections of Virginia and Ira Jackson and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2000, no. 91A-B

cf. Wheeler, Monroe, Modern Painters and Sculptors as Illustrators, New York, 1946, p. 98

cf. The Frank Crowninshield Collection of Modern French Illustrated Books, New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries, 1943, no. 55.

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. 11.

cf. Sims Reed, "Circa 1900", London, 2001, cat. 15.

McMaster, Julie A., The Enduring Legacy: A Pictorial History of the Toledo Museum of Art, Superior Printing, Warren, OH, 2001, repr. (col.) p. 39.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The Bareiss Collection of Illustrated Books from Toulouse-Lautrec to Kiefer, 1985, no. 8 (repr.)

New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pierre Bonnard: The Graphic Art, Dec. 2, 1989-Feb. 4, 1990.

Toledo Museum of Art, Artists and Printers: Prints and Books from the Late 19th Century, Nov. 22, 1994- Feb. 26, 1995 (no cat.)

Toledo Museum of Art, Embracing the Page: Images of Love and Romance, Featuring the Bareiss Collection of Modern Illustrated Books, Feb. 14-May 19, 2002 (p.18-19)

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, Strong Sensations: Impressionism and Symbolist Works on Paper, 1860-1900, April 23-June 20 2010 (no cat.)