CAHIERS D'ART
Volume XI, Nos. 1-2, 1936
L'objet
[Objets mathematiques. Objets naturelles. Objets sauvages.
Objets trouves. Objets irrationnels. Objets ready made.
Objets interpretea. Objets incorpores. Objets mobiles]
[Marcel Duchamp] Christian Zervos [Editor]: CAHIERS D'ART. Paris: Cahiers d'Art, Volume XI, Nos. 1-2, 1936. Original edition. Text in French. Small folio. 68pp. Prof. illus. (4 plates by Duchamp on heavy paper, of which 2 in colors). Original perfect-bound magazine with both covers present yet detached with a neat split along the front and rear joints. Textblock reinforced with cloth tape and marbled paper. Cover has small ink signature at the crossbar of the 'A' and "Dup' lightly penciled in red area. There is light edgewear and a thumbcrease with resultant closed tear on outer edge. Textblock tight and secure, with a couple of penciled marginalia notes throughout. The Duchamp Rotorelief remains tipped in, with a couple of finger impressions to edges. The color Duchamp collotype is also present. Original lithograph cover by Marcel Duchamp. A good copy overall, rarely offered and exceedingly scarce.9.75 x 12.5 perfect-bound magazine with 68 pages printed on a variety of coated and uncoated paper stocks. Texts by Zervos, Andre Breton ("Crise de l'objet") Georges Hugnet ("L'oeil de l'aiguille"), Paul Eluard ("L'habitude des tropiques"), Gabrielle Buffet ("Coeurs volants"), Claude Cahun ("Prenez garde aux objets domestiques"), Salvador Dali ("Honneur a l'objet!"), Marcel Jean, and Hans Bellmer.
Artwork by Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray (multiple full-page plates), Hans Bellmer, Max Ernst and many others. The historic value of this particular issue cannot be overstated.
The superb special issue devoted to the Surrealism and the Object, with cover ("Coeurs volants," printed in dayglo red and blue) designed by Duchamp. The topic was inspired by an exhibition held at the gallery of Charles Ratton, a distinguished Parisian expert and dealer in primitive art; though on view for only a week, it was one of the most important shows of the Surrealist epoch. "For this particular issue of the magazine, Duchamp was asked by the editor, Christian Zervos, to provide a design for the cover, and he submitted a paper collage of blue and red hearts to be superimposed over one another, their sharply contrasting colors intended to create the illusion of vibration -- thus the title 'Fluttering Hearts"-- a poignant image from someone who had suffered from a heart murmur in his youth. Moreover, as Duchamp himself later explained: 'In French, it is a society expression to express flirting.' The idea came from similar optical experiments Duchamp had seen reproduced in text books. 'It is a very well known experiment in optics,' he explained. 'I think they call them flying hearts . . . . they use that [term] to indicate the idea of playing . . . . he optical play on the retina'" [Naumann].
Christian Zervos (1889 - 1970) was a Picasso scholar and magazine editor. Zervos began writing art articles for the magazine L'Art d'aujourd 'hui, later founding his own journal Cahiers d'art in 1926. The Cahiers featured contributions by scholars and critics alike in a wide range of fields, from prehistoric art to modern and was noted for its layout and presentation as much as its content. Zervos married Yvonne Marion [Zervos] (1905-70) who ran an art gallery next to her husband's shop. During this same time Christian Zervos issued an eclectic variety of monographs, including ones on Henri Rousseau, Greek Art and Frank Lloyd Wright before settling upon his life's work, a catalogue raisonnˆ© of Pablo Picasso. Begun in 1932, catalog was completed in 33 volumes after Zervos' death in 97 volumes. World War II interrupted many of Zervos' publishing projects, including the Cahiers, which suspended 1941-43, resuming in 1944 to last until the end of his life. His wife's shop, moved to larger premises in 1939 and renamed the May Gallery, exhibited many of the major French artists active between the wars.
Spreads from this volume can be viewed here.
out of stock