Illustration proof without text for A.M. David’s poem “Statuaire” in Louis Bertrard’s book “Gaspard de la nuit”
Armand Séguin
Description
Armand Séguin
France, 1869–1903
Illustration proof without text for Louis Bertrard’s book,
Gaspard de la nuit (Gaspard of the night)
1904
Woodcut on laid china paper
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink, 2013/2.549
Subject Matter:
Produced for Louis Bertrand's 1904 collection of poems "Gaspard de la nuit: Fantaisies à la manière de Rembrandt et de Callot," this illustration was made to accompany a poem called "Statuaire" by A.M. David. This proof state of Armand Séguin's illustration includes two rectangular friezes that were intended to frame the text. The wider, horizontal frieze along the upper margin depicts a bearded man's head inside a triangle, with curly-haired putti-like heads on either side blowing wind towards the corners of the design. This frieze is bordered with stars. In the vertical rectangle along the right margin, there are two more heads blowing gusts towards the bottom of the page, which is punctuated with two stars. This mystical image illustrated David's text quite literally, as the first line in "Statuaire" describes God shining from inside a symbolic triangle.
Physical Description:
An illustration proof without text depicting two decorative friezes for A.M. David's poem "Statuaire."
Usage Rights:
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