Parallèlement
Bonnard's response to Verlaine's poems on the parallelism of human nature was unprecedented in its rich expansiveness, his 109 designs suggesting the Rococo splendor of red-chalk drawings by Boucher and Watteau. The book, published by Ambroise Vollard, was the first modern livre de peintre, combining a classically printed text with a painter's freehand allusions. The illustrations are luxuriously unconfined by either strict format or literal attention to the text, and flow with extraordinary immediacy. While one contemporary critic dismissed the work as "uncertain ... stutterings," another declared that never before had illustrations been so perfectly adapted to a book of verse. Indeed, the harmonious relationship of word and image set a new standard in book design.
Artwork Details
- Title: Parallèlement
- Illustrator: Illustrated by Pierre Bonnard (French, Fontenay-aux-Roses 1867–1947 Le Cannet)
- Author: Written by Paul Verlaine (French, Metz 1844–1896 Paris)
- Publisher: Published by Ambroise Vollard (French, 1866–1939)
- Printer: Printed by Auguste Clot (French, 1858–1936)
- Printer: Printed by Tony Beltrand (French, Lyon 1847–1904 Paris)
- Printer: Printed by L'Imprimerie Nationale, Paris
- Date: 1900
- Medium: 109 lithographs printed in rose ink; 9 wood engravings
- Dimensions: Overall: 11 15/16 x 9 13/16 x 1 3/16 in. (30.3 x 25 x 3 cm)
sheet: 12 x 9 13/16 in. (30.5 x 25 cm) - Classification: Books
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1970
- Object Number: 1970.713
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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