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  Brassai / Paul Morand “Paris de Nuit” (Paris After Dark) 1933

  Brassaï (1899-1984) Austria-Hungary [now Romania]

  Paul Morand (1888-1976) France

  “Paris de Nuit” (Paris After Dark) 1933

  Published by Arts et métiers graphiques, Paris

   

  Dimensions:

  Book: H: 9 13/16” x W: 7 9/16”

  Custom leather box: H: 10 5/8” x W: 8 5/8” x D: 1 3/8”

  Custom silk slipcase: H: 11 21/32” x W: 9 5/8” x D: 2 7/16”

  Brassaï is the pseudonym of Guyla Halász from Transylvania (Hungarian at the time of his birth, but currently part of Romania). Brassaï literally means: from Brasso (his native village). He decided to use this pseudonym in 1932, the year in which Paris de nuit was published. He had already been living in Paris for eight years, where he wrote articles for German magazines and met photographers such as Atget and André Kertész. Not until 1930 did he first begin to take photographs himself, immediately discovering his main subject: Paris.

   He moved into an apartment on the corner of the Rue de la Glacière and the Boulevard Auguste-Blanqui in 1928, where Raymond Queneau also lived. He would go out at night with Queneau or other nocturnal people such as Léon-Paul Fargue, but Brassaï usually just walked through the abandoned streets and alleys of the city. He could only take 24 photographs per walk because the stack of glass photo plates would otherwise grow too heavy.

  His nocturnal journeys yielded a wealth of photographs, which by now have gained the status of icons of modern photography. They were first published on 2 December 1932 by Arts et metiers graphiques, which was Charles Peignot’s publishing business. He was also the founder of the magazine Arts et metiers graphiques (1927-1939) in which articles on design, typography, illustration and advertising appeared. It was printed in an edition of 4000 copies: there were also printers associated with the editing staff, like Léon Pichon. Peignot was the president of type foundry Deberny et Peignot, and were in contact with the Union des Artistes Modernes (Cocteau, Gide, Sonia Delaunay, Maximilien Vox and others) and with poster designers such as Cassandre.

  The first review of Paris de nuit was published in a Dutch newspaper, the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant of 29 December 1932. An English edition of the photo book appeared in 1933 from Batsford Gallery in London. The photographs were also exhibited. Many photo books were to follow, including a book in 1960 about the graffiti on Parisian walls, which he had documented in his photographs since 1930. Not without reason did Henry Miller call him ‘the eye of Paris’. Jean Paulhan actually asserted that Brassaï had more than two eyes.

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  E. A. Seguy, “Papillons” portfolio c. 1925

  E. A. SEGUY (1890-1985) France

  “Papillons” portfolio c. 1925

  Twenty pochoir over photogravure plates (hand painted collotypes) in paper portfolio with cotton ties
  Pochoir is process by which rich color is applied layer by layer by hand with the aid of stencils, resulting in intense hues similar to those in stained glass windows.
  Published by Editions Duchartre et Van Buggenhoudt, Paris, France

  Dimensions:
  Book: H: 18” x W: 13 1/8” x D: 1 ½”
  Custom leather box: H: 20” x W: 14 5/8” x D: 1 ¾”

  Brilliantly and boldly colored butterflies from around the world are shown in interesting arrangements in pochoir prints from a set of 20 by the French designer and author E.A. Seguy. Plates 1 to 16 show large specimens in colorful arrangements, often overlapping, emphasizing colors, and patterns and shapes of wings and wing veins. Plates 17 through 20 are composite uses of butterfly patterns, in geometric boxes, like fabric or wallpaper designs.

  In his foreword to Papillons, Seguy describes the prints as “un monde somptueux de formes et de couleurs” — a world of sumptuous forms and colors. He explains that they are intended to provide a record of rare, exotic specimens from museums and private collections, within an aesthetic context, thereby making them more widely accessible as inspiration for decorative arts designers. Nonetheless, Seguy based his images of butterflies and insects on illustrations in scientific publications, thereby maintaining scientific accuracy. They were enlarged up to 10 to 15 times to reveal intricacies of their design not visible without magnification. Also included with the set was a Table Des Noms Scientifiques [Table of Scientific Names], providing the technical species and genus names as well as the countries or regions of habitat for the species shown in Plates 1 through 16.

  Eugene Alain Seguy produced eleven albums of illustrations and designs from the turn of the century to the 1930s, and his style reflected the influences of both Art Nouveau and Art Deco. His various color portfolios of visual ideas for artists and designers often featured motifs based on the natural world, including flowers, foliage, crystals and animals. Although his compositions were design oriented, he made the depictions scientifically accurate. His later works showed an increased interest in geometric and cubist designs. The prints in the portfolios were produced using the pochoir technique characterized by rich, intense color. This printing process, utilized in the early 20th century for high quality prints, involved applying colors to each plate with a number of stencils. Seguy’s works include Les Fleurs et Leurs Applications Decoratives (1900), Samarkande – 20 Compositions en Couleurs dans le Style Oriental (1914), Floreal (1920), Papillons (1924), Insectes (1924), Primavera –Dessins et Coloris Nouveaux (1929), Suggestions (1930), and Prismes – 40 Planches de Dessins et Coloris Nouveaux (1931).

  Collections of prints like those produced by Seguy provided source material for designers of fabrics, wallpaper, ceramics, book illustrations, posters, and advertisements, and were popular in the late 19th and early 20th century. The leading Victorian publication of this type was Owen Jones’s Grammar of Ornament, first issued in a folio edition in London in 1856. Other trendsetting styles in art, design, decoration and fashion in the second half of the 19th century, and early 20th century, came from Paris, Austria, and Germany, and many such print collections were published there, including designs by Emile Belet, Armand Guérinet, Ernst Haeckel, Arsène Herbinier, and Anton Seder. To search our site for more Art Nouveau designs by such artists please type “Art Nouveau” into our search engine.

  Editions Duchartre et Van Buggenhoudt was a publisher located at 15 Rue Ernest-Cresson, Paris. The series also was published by Tolmer Editeur, 13 Quai d’Danjou, Paris.

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  Fernando and Humberto Campana, Zig Zag Screen 2001

  Humberto Campana (1953 – )  Brazil
  Fernando Campana (1961 – ) Brazil

  Zig Zag Screen, 2001

  Circular iron frame with electrostatic silver painted surface, translucent PVC hose stretched in a web pattern.

  Illustrated: Campanas, Humberto and Fernando Campana (Sao Paulo: Bookmark 2003) p. 240; Mood River, February 3 – June 26, 2002, exh. cat. Jeffrey Kipnis and Annetta Massie (Ohio: Wexner Center, 2002)

  H: 78” x D: 69”

  Price: $11,500

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  W.C. Handy, “Blues – An Anthology” 1926

  W.C. HANDY ed. (1973-1958) USA
  “Blues – An Anthology” 1926
  180pp. bound in blue cloth with original dust jacket. Very scarce work, considered the most famous blues collection in history, it includes historical notes, tunes and arrangements, notes for each song, a bibliography, and a chart of guitar chords.
  With an introduction and notes by Abbe Niles
  Illustrations by Miguel Covarrubias
  Published by Albert & Charles Boni, New York

  Dimensions:
  Book: H: 11 ¾” x W: 9 1/8” x D: 1”
  Custom leather box 2008: H: 13 13/16” x W: 10 3/8” x D: 2 7/16”
  Custom silk slipcase: H: 15” x W: 11 1/8” x D: 3 3/8”

  William Christopher Handy was a composer, musician and a music publisher. He was sometimes called the “Father of the Blues” and was credited with helping popularize blues music. Handy was a seminal figure in the development of American songwriting. His compositions assimilated folk tunes, blues, spirituals, minstrel songs, and elements of European music and forged a new sound in American popular commercial music. Born in Florence, Alabama, Handy began arranging music when in grade school. By the turn of the century, he had toured or was touring with a number of minstrel acts and bands. He became a leading bandleader in Memphis, Tennessee, and eventually wrote such classics as “The Memphis Blues” (1912), “The St. Louis Blues” (1914), and “Beale Street Blues” (1916). In addition to his songwriting, Handy also founded an important and influential music publishing concern, the Pace and Handy Music Company, in 1913. Finally, Handy’s books and writings, such as his autobiography, Father of the Blues (1941), and Blues: An Anthology (1926), comprise an important contribution to American culture. In 1979, New York City joined the list of institutions and municipalities to honor Handy by naming a stretch of West 52nd Street in Manhattan “W.C. Handy Place.”