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Paris in the early 1900s, the famed art dealer Ambroise Vollard commissioned Pierre Bonnard to illustrate the book Parallement, written by Paul Verlaine. The success of the work inspired Vollard to start a publishing house, which he funded with his art dealing. Enlisting other artists such as Picasso, Aristide Maillol, Georges Braque and Georges Rouault, among others, Vollard moved on to produce 27 works and left 24 in progress. Following his lead, two other publishers entered the market in the next two years: D.H. Kahnweiler and Deplanche. In the 1930s they were followed by Albert Skira, among others, although Vollard maintained control of the market until WWII. Even the German occupation of France did not hamper the production of livres d’artistes, with M. Fabiani, among others, entering the field with editions of his own. In fact, WWII stimulated more creativity as the publishing houses produced such masterworks as the Chant des Morts (Songs of the Dead), illustrated by Picasso. It must be noted that livres d’artistes remained mostly a French enterprise, though certain American publishers ordered works of their own, such as Maecenas Press’ commissioning of Alice in Wonderland to Dali. “The English publishers’ nearest equivalent to the éditions de luxe were the Cresset Press’ limited edition of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels […], and Thomas Browne’s Urne Burial and the Garden of Cyrus, published in London by Cassell and Co. in 1932 […].” Over the following decades, “a wide variety of artistic movements, including Symbolism, Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, and Existentialism” contributed to the medium as new generations of artists, often recruited by the first pioneering publishers, found inspiration in its format. Though production slowed down significantly towards the end of 20 th century, the works remain as brilliant as when they were first produced.

Strachan, W.J.

Anonymous, Editions de Luxe

Strachan, W.J.

Anonymous, Editions de Luxe

Farrell, T., Groundbreaking Collaborations Between Artists and Poets of 19th and 20th Centuries on Display at The New York Public Library, NYPL website May 5th 2006, accessed at http://www.nypl.org/press/2006/frenchbookart.cfm on December 2006.

All from Strachan, W.J.

Interested collectors, please contact Mr. Steve Todd for pricing and availability at 805-522-6230 or steve@artmavn.com.