Cover art: The Castle in the Pyrenees (1961) by René Magritte.
A final post for this week devoted to Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, and it occurs to me that “Miscellanea” could easily be the name of one of Marco Polo’s cities.
One thing that’s become apparent over the past few days is that this subject is a very popular one with artists, especially in Italy. This is understandable but it also means you could probably fill another week of posts pursuing further illustrations and homages. Rather than belabour things I’m ending with a few of the more notable derivations including some cover designs. The Einaudi volume above was the first printing in Italy in 1972.
Cover design by Arnold Skolnick.
And this was the first American edition from Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich in 1974. The cover is printed in silver foil which makes the book a particularly desirable item. This might explain why it’s also rather expensive today.
Cover art: Martyrdom of a Saint by Monsù Desiderio.
The 1979 Picador edition is one of two paperback editions I own. The enigmatic “Monsù Desiderio” has a confused identity (see this post), and specialised in curious architectural paintings so this is an apt choice.
Cities and Memory 5: Maurilia by Matteo Menotto.
Yet more contemporary interpretations. Matteo Menotto’s piece is one of a series of silhouetted artworks from 2011. The artist discusses his work (in Italian) here. Gabriele Genini’s linocut was part of a group exhibition in Florence in 2013. Works by some of the other artists may be seen here and here.
Cities and Eyes 1: Valdrada by Gabriele Genini.
Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The book covers archive
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Seeing Calvino: Invisible Cities
• Gérard Trignac’s Invisible Cities
• Colleen Corradi Brannigan’s Invisible Cities
• Le Città In/visibili
• Mikhail Viesel’s Invisible Cities
• Bookmark: Italo Calvino
• Crossed destinies revisted
• Crossed destinies: when the Quays met Calvino
• Tressants: the Calvino Hotel