{painting} – Page 158 – { feuilleton }

More decorated books from the Netherlands

left: Jan Toorop (1898); right: no designer credited (1904).

A search this week for work by Dutch designer Chris Lebeau (1878–1945) turned up another collection of fantastic decorated covers and prints from the Netherlands, running from the Art Nouveau period through Art Deco up to the 1940s. I found some Lebeau pieces but the big surprise was also discovering a number of cover designs by the Symbolist artist Jan Toorop (1858–1928). Toorop’s highly-stylised draughtsmanship easily lends itself to graphic design but I’ve never seen cover illustration mentioned in any discussion of his work. The site doesn’t have any text in English but the pictures are well worth a browse.

Update: Well…the pictures were worth a browse but the site is currently offline, all the links now go to a domain holding-page.

left: Albert Angus Turbayne (1913); right: CA Vlaanderen (1919).

The peacock cover is a variation on an earlier design by Albert Angus Turbayne.

left: Chris Lebeau (1924); right: AP Hahn Jr. (1931).

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The book covers archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Netherlands decorated books

Repin and Ljuba

Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom (1876).

This painting by Russian artist Ilya Yefimovich Repin (1844–1930) is included in one of my Symbolist art books despite its pre-dating the Symbolist period and there being little else in the artist’s career which might suit the label. It’s a curious picture, however, illustrating a medieval folk tale and depicting the moment when the Sadko of the title is forced by the Sea Tsar to choose a wife from a line of aquatic maidens. It was art historian Philippe Jullian who had me returning to Repin, and the reminder gives me an excuse to post something by Serbian Surrealist Ljuba (aka Ljuba Popovic) whose colours, fauna and metamorphic female figures are a match for Repin’s sirens. Last time I looked for Ljuba pictures there were few available, a situation which has now been remedied by blogs such as this one.

Lot and Lotus (1972).

Previously on { feuilleton }
• The art of Ivan Bilibin, 1876–1942
• Magic carpet ride
• Short films by Walerian Borowczyk
• The art of Ljuba Popovic

Weekend links 11

Panneaux decoratifs (1900) by Manuel Orazi at NYPL.

• Ghostsigns: “a collaborative national effort to photograph, research and archive the remaining examples of hand painted wall advertising in the UK and Ireland.”

• Golden Age Comic Book Stories posts some Alphonse Mucha.

• Voyage Fantastique – An illustrated guide to the body and mind at A Journey Round My Skull.

• The gallery of the International Exhibition of Calligraphy.

• Trevor Wayne Pin-Up Show, a new photo collection of the tattooed Mr Wayne which includes photos and a foreword by Clive Barker.

• Phallophonies, a gallery exploring the penis in religious art. Related: “Churchgoers are outraged over a crucifix in a Catholic church that they say shows an image of genitalia on Jesus.”

• Hollingsville: “Expect live and unscripted wanderings around voodoo science parks, examinations of cities as battle suits and thoughts on pods, capsules and world expos.”

• Phantom Circuit #33 is a Ghost Box special featuring an interview with Jim Jupp (Belbury Poly) and Julian House (The Focus Group). Related: Ghost Box films at YouTube.

• Eldritchtronica and Wyrd Bliss, a mixtape by Simon Reynolds.

• Avant garde music and cinema meet at The Sound of Eye.

• Make your own newspaper with Newspaper Club.

• Drawdio: A pencil that lets you draw music.

• Yoko Ono collects rare books.

• KittehRoulette.

• Song of the week: The Four Horsemen (1972) by Aphrodite’s Child.

The recurrent pose 33

A double helping of that pose today. The photo above was a tip from commenter Jeremiah Q. Oxterwhiff and is credited on its Tumblr source as being by gay photographer Fred Holland Day (1864–1933). I can’t definitely confirm this but I’m fairly sure I’ve seen it credited to Day before. It’s also the case that another of the photographer’s pictures used the same pose and happens to be part of the first post in this series.

This depiction of Superman’s day off is by Worth1000 contributor jbuck43701 and was another tip from Evan Peterson. Thanks Evan!

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The recurrent pose archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Fred Holland Day

Dorothea Tanning: Early Designs for the Stage

Monstre from The Witch (1950).

If this squid-headed costume design by Surrealist artist Dorothea Tanning isn’t a unique creation in the history of ballet then I’d like to know what challenges it. These paintings form part of an exhibition of Tanning’s designs for ballet companies which go on display at The Drawing Center, New York from April 23–July 23, 2010. The press release mentions her collaborations as being with George Balanchine but The Witch was choreographed by John Cranko after a score by Maurice Ravel.

Dating from 1945–1953, the designs will be shown together for the first time, and will be accompanied by archival photographs and ephemera related to the staged productions. This series explores the dynamic intersections of dance, performance, visual art, and costume, while drawing important parallels to Tanning’s early discoveries in both painting and sculpture. (More.)

The Butlers from The Witch (1950).

Via BibliOdyssey.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Angels of Anarchy: Women Artists and Surrealism
• Surrealist women