This week, we acquired an artbook that is one of the most beautiful that we have ever seen.
And this is saying a lot! I have never seen a book from this publisher, a husband-and-wife team, who wrote the text as well and I have never seen a substrate used as is done in this book. The book exudes quality and class. I don’t know if I have mentioned this before in a musing, but one of the first things I do when I pick up an art book is to flip the dust jacket of the book to see if it has a French Fold dust jacket, the presence of which signifies that this is a top end production.
It did and it is.
Earlier today, I put this book up on the internet for sale. But, before I share my book description that I used, I would like to introduce you to the people that created this wonderful bookish delight. This is from the blurb – Jacqueline and Maurice Guillaud, who hold degrees in law as well as in literature, are known for their commitment to the arts. During the 1960s they developed programs for regional cultural festivals and created their first experimental center. In the early 1970s they founded the Centre Culturel du Marais in Paris to present contemporary dance, music, and theater, and in 1976 began to mount ground-breaking art exhibitions showing the works of Goya, J.M.W. Turner, Hokusai, Friedrich, and many other major artists in uniquely innovative ways. Their catalogues, which have been received with high praise, include “Degas: Form and Space; Picasso; The Musin Room at Mougins; Claude Monet at the Time of Giverny; and Casper David Friedrich.
Here is my description of Fra Angelico for the Abebooks listing.
Fra Angelico: The Light of the Soul – Painting panels and Frescoes from the Convent of San
Marco, Florence; by Jacqueline and Maurice Guillaud; Guillaud Editions, Paris and New York,
July 1986. Manufactured in Italy. From the blurb – The fifteenth-century Florentine painter Fra Angelico was a pivotal figure of the Italian Renaissance. The work of this devout Dominican friar was nurtured in Gothic convention, yet came to embody and carry forward the ride of innovation begun by Giotto and others a century before. In frescoes and paintings on wood , Angelico’s superb handling of color, his mastery of the new science of perspective, and his delicate modelling of faces and figures have earned him increasing recognition as the greatest successor to Masaccio and an important influence on Piero della Francesca. Prefigurations of the High Renaissance work of Raphael and da Vinci may also be glimpsed in Angelico’s mature work. Yet for this deeply religious artist/friar, innovation always served his higher purpose: to inspire the viewer to contemplation, devotion, and awareness of the sacred. Fra Angelica: the Light of the Soul is the first major book devoted to the art of this inspired Renaissance master. Focusing on his work in the museum and cells of the convent of San Marco, Florence, which houses Angelico’s finest and most representative work, this beautiful volume contains 190 illustrations reproduced in four colours plus gold. The great frescoes, presented for the first time since their restoration in 1983, are reproduced on onionskin paper to stunning effect, beautifully conveying their luminosity and freshness. Dramatic close-ups, moving details, and startling juxtapositions bring to life the full range of the artist’s work – from his famous frescoes, the Crucifixion and Annunciation, to the monumental San Marco and Bosco ai Frati altarpieces, to his small and delicate Scenes from the Life of Christ.
This large book is in fine condition in a fine dust jacket that is now in a protective mylar wrap.
This large volume may require additional postage. We have over 500 art books in inventory and this volume is one of the most spectacular – the reproductions on onionskin are unbelievable.
Here are some of the photos that appear with the text.
Now here are the photos of illustrations that have been reproduced on onionskin – over 150
pages! These photos do not do justice to these illustrations. They are soft and move gently on
the finger. You should read one of my first musings “Books and the Sense of Touch”!
I hope that you enjoyed your time with Fra Angelico.