February 27, 2008

A gentle and cubist woman by Gierlowski


A young woman has just committed suicide. Near her body, the husband wonders and relives their past.

Repeating a process used by Victor Hugo in The Last Day of a Condemned, a reference given by Dostoyevsky in the author's note of the book, A Gentle Woman refers to a drama of domestic life. The husband analyzes the facts that lead to this fateful moment when his wife decided to throw out the window. He looks again at the poor girl he married, at misunderstandings, at this day she tried to kill him, and then at the reduction of this women to the status of a submitted wife .

Polish Painter close to the Russian avant-garde and influenced by Cubism, Stefan Gierlowski offers a constructivist interpretation of this tragedy and emphasizes the isolation of the young woman in her marriage.

A Gentle Woman was also adapted into a screen movie by Robert Bresson in 1969.

Currently the Librairie Loliée offers :

Dostoievski -Gierlowski
. Une Femme Douce. Traduction d'Ostoya et de G.Masson. Paris, Marcel Seheur, 1927, in-4, broché. Edition illustrated by 10 eaux-fortes etchings by Gierlowski. Limited to 301 copies. One of the first 21 copies on Japan paper.

February 20, 2008

Robbe-Grillet : Le Voyeur

Published in 1955 by les Editions de Minuit, whose Robbe-Grillet was a literary advisor for two decades, Le Voyeur recounts the journeys of a travelling salesman who crosses an island by bicycle. The book was rather coolly received by critics who went to see in this text almost without heroes and almost without a plot a mental aberration. The literary initiative pursued by Robbe-Grillet and opened two years earlier with Les Gommes, breaks with the humanistic tradition of novel. Jérôme Lindon, his publisher, get in the press kit, among others, the signatures of Roland Barthes and Maurice Blanchot who participe in make Robbe-Grillet "Pope of Nouveau Roman." The attribution of the Critics Award to Le Voyeur is the occasion of a virulent battle, at the heart of which lies the definition of literature, but also of the critical disconcerted by a problematic work .
(sources : www.universalis.fr - www.evene.fr - www.libération.fr)


Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :
  • Robbe-Grillet (Alain). Le Voyeur. Paris, Editions de Minuit, 1955, in-12, binding by Alix. First Edition. One of the 25 copies on vellum, only deluxe paper.
  • Robbe-Grillet (Alain). Dans le Labyrinthe. Paris, Editions de Minuit, 1959, in-12. First edition. One of the 70 copies on vellum paper.

February 12, 2008

Bengt Lindström

Bengt Lindström, born in 1925 in northern Sweden, lived in Paris for many years. He died late January in his country. Painter of modernity, close to the CoBrA movement yet independent, he leaves an intense work. His thick colored canvases evoke the roughness of nature, of human soul. "His painting, rhythmical as an immemorial ritual, bewitches with its twisted faces, his grimaces, his uneasiness. A grotesque and grin world (...) In the eighties, to deepen emotional states up to panic , framing tightens on faces. It is hard to see more than the eyes and a mouth that screams or whispers. " (In La Gazette de l'Hotel Drouot, February 2008).

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers:
  • Nimier (Roger) - Lindström (Bengt). Paméla eut le tort de répéter sa phrase. Nouvelle ornée par Bengt Lindström. S.l., Association des Cahiers Roger Nimier, 1986, large in-4, blue fabric casing. First edition decorated with an original lithograph by Bengt Lindström numbered and signed. Limited edition of 165 copies on Arches paper.

February 05, 2008

Paris capitale

Paris Capitale is a tribute book in which each chapter refers to a typical place of the city. The text by André Maurois, known for his skill as storyteller, presents for each location a short scene between two characters. "Under the Arc de Triomphe" brings together a mother and her child, "Au Lapin Agile," an old writer and a bartender. For "The Eiffel Tower", Maurois improvise a friendly dialogue between an artist and an engineer. They are satisfied that the structure, yet qualified for its construction of "a carcass that dishonours Paris," remains in place.
The book includes ten full page lithographs by Maurice Utrillo, born in the Montmartre area, who gives a refreshing vision of Paris. It is Lucie Valore, his wife, who made the ornaments.

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :
  • Utrillo (Maurice) - Maurois (André). Paris Capitale. Ornements de Lucie Valore. Paris, Joseph Foret, 1955, in-4, beautiful contemporary binding representing Paris (Manuel Gérard) . 10 full-page original lithographs in colors by Maurice Utrillo and ornaments by Lucie Valore. Limited edition to 207 copies numbered and signed by the publisher. One of the 122 copies on Johannot paper.