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Drawings by Victor Hugo
Shadows of a Hand: The Drawings of Victor Hugo (1998)
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]Shadows of a Hand: The Drawings of Victor Hugo (1998) features contributions of Luc Sante, who also contributed to a monograph of Guy Bourdin.
Octopus with the initials V. H. (ca. 1866) - Victor Hugo
The great romantic painter, Delacroix, wrote to Victor Hugo that, had he decided to become a painter instead of a writer, he would have outshone the artists of their century.
Many are not aware that Hugo was almost as prolific in the visual arts as he was in literature, producing more than 4,000 drawings in his lifetime.
Originally pursued as a casual hobby, drawing became more important to Hugo shortly before his exile, when he made the decision to stop writing in order to devote himself to politics. Drawing became his exclusive creative outlet during the period 1848-1851.
Hugo worked only on paper, and on a small scale; usually in dark brown or black pen-and-ink wash, sometimes with touches of white, and rarely with color. The surviving drawings are surprisingly accomplished and "modern" in their style and execution, foreshadowing the experimental techniques of Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism.
He would not hesitate to use his children's stencils, ink blots, puddles and stains, lace impressions, "pliage" or folding (i.e. Rorschach blots), "grattage" or rubbing, often using the charcoal from match sticks or his fingers instead of pen or brush. Sometimes he would even toss in coffee or soot to get the effects he wanted. It is reported that Hugo often drew with his left hand or without looking at the page, or during Spiritualist séances, in order to access his unconscious mind, a concept only later popularized by Sigmund Freud.
Hugo kept his artwork out of the public eye, fearing it would overshadow his literary work. However, he enjoyed sharing his drawings with his family and friends, often in the form of ornately handmade calling cards, many of which were given as gifts to visitors when he was in political exile. Some of his work was shown to, and appreciated by, contemporary artists such as van Gogh and Delacroix; the latter expressed the opinion that if Hugo had decided to become a painter instead of a writer, he would have outshone the artists of their century.
Amazon connections
Nerval by Nadar
Of all the online recommendation engines, Amazon's 'customers who bought this also bought this' has proven itself the most useful. A while back I added The Other Side (Dedalus European Classics) to my Alfred Kubin page which brought The Maimed (1923) by Hermann Ungar to my attention.
The Maimed connects to Hell by Henri Barbusse, Dark Spring (1967) by Hans Bellmer companion Unica Zürn, Scarecrow & Other Anomalies (1932) by Argentine poet Oliverio Girondo, The Obscene Bird of Night (1970) by Chilean writer José Donoso, Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille, Moravagine (1926) by Blaise Cendrars (who once called the French cinematic serial Fantômas "the modern Aeneid"), Aurelia by French writer of the fantastique Gérard De Nerval and decadent classic Maldoror by Comte de Lautréamont.
The above looks like a decent list of cult fiction.
When books by Dedalus are central, the connections turn out to be particularly undergroundish.
Visuals
Vanitasstilleven met nautilusbeker en pomander aan een gouden ketting (1636) - Pieter Claesz
The Monk and the Nun (1591) - Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem
Egon Schiele
Photograph of Egon Schiele
The Fool: His Social and Literary History (1935) - Welsford Enid
The Fool: His Social and Literary History (1935) - Welsford Enid
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]Another instance of thematic literary criticism
Various
Geltenbachfall im Winter (1778) - Caspar Wolf
Le jeu des vagues (1883) - Arnold Böcklin
Grotesque Head [detail] (1878) - from “Magazine of Art Illustrated”
Ruhender weiblicher Akt (1886 - 1887) - Lovis Corinth
2006, Dec 09; 20:05 ::: Truth And Convention In The Middle Ages (1991) - Ruth MorseIn search of intertextualness
Attention to the conventions of rhetoric in a medieval text, be it romance, chronicle, or biography, maintains that these texts were created in an historic moment, but by emphasizing the intertextualness of the object of study, as Morse’s study does, this moment becomes destabilised. --James Wade, U. of Cambridge via http://www.marginalia.co.uk/journal/06illumination/wade.php [Dec 2006]
2006, Dec 09; 20:05 ::: Emile Lévy
Death of Orpheus (1866) - Emile Lévy
2006Jun07 archive
2006, Dec 09; 20:05 ::: Archive
2006, Dec 01; 20:05 ::: Rochegrosse
The Booty (pre-1893) - Georges Rochegrosse
Etched by Eugene-Andre Champollion, sourced hereRochegrosse (1859–1938) is above all else the painter of Flaubert's Salammbô, which he illustrated in great detail with absolute accuracy but a complete lack of understanding. The antique pictures which the artists of the fin de siècle offer us are more often than not laborious reconstructions and pretexts to depict nudes. Dreamers of Decadence, Philippe Jullian, page 140.
2006, Nov 13; 20:05 ::: Elephant-headed man
Elephant-headed man from Physica Curiosa, Sive Mirabilia Naturæ et Artis Libris
Image sourced here.
2006, Nov 13; 20:05 ::: Louise Brooks (1906 - 1985)
Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box (1929)
2006, Nov 09; 20:05 ::: Black Hole (2005) - Charles Burns
Black Hole (2005) - Charles Burns
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]Charles Burns (born September 27, 1955) is an award-winning U.S. cartoonist and illustrator. He is renowned for his meticulous, high-contrast and creepy artwork and stories. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles Burns [Nov 2006]
Charles Burns Google gallery
See also: graphic novel - the new flesh
2006, Nov 05; 20:05 ::: Georges and Franz
2006, Nov 01; 20:05 ::: Diamanda Galás
The Shit of God: The Texts of Diamanda Galas (1996) - Diamanda Galas
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]Diamanda Galás quoted in The Shit of God:
The Japanese and Germans have always had a lot in common. I relate a lot to Bataille. Actually, I'm taking part in a recording of Marquis de Sade very soon. I think Jerry Lewis is going to be invited... he's a fucking natural de Sade... don't you think? I adore him, fucking adore him, loudly adore him. --The Shit of God, 1996 via http://www.fringecore.com/magazine/m5-1.html [Nov 2006]See also: national stereotypes
Simimilar vocalists: Lene Lovich - Nina Hagen
2006, Oct 31; 20:05 ::: Come Closer (2006) - Didier Carré
Come Closer (2006) - Didier Carré
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]See also: erotic photography
2006, Oct 24; 20:05 ::: Approaching Nowhere: Photographs (2006) - Jeff Brouws
Approaching Nowhere: Photographs (2006) - Jeff Brouws
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]Jeffrey T. Brouws (born 1955) is an American photographer whose work captures the social experience and cultural relevance of classic American iconic images, from highway landscapes of run-down motels and neon-lit gas stations to carnival scenes of small-town sideshows. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Brouws [Oct 2006]
Synopsis
Like many Americans who grew up during the spread of sprawl - with its predictable landscape of housing developments, shopping malls, interstate highways and big-box construction - acclaimed photographer Jeff Brouws is drawn to places that still embody the vernacular past as well as to those that starkly portray the soulless, franchised American landscape. This collection of evocative images of buildings and places seen from the American road began as a cultural geography of Main Streets and became a visual critique of the myth of upward mobility that created this car-centred, paved-over universe. Some images look outward to the edges of suburbia where sprawl is encroaching upon nature. Others turn inward, documenting the devastated inner cities. All of them reflect the complex beauty and desolation of visual life in America today.
2006, Oct 09; 20:05 ::: Elijah in the Desert (1818) - Washington Allston
Elijah in the Desert (1818) - Washington Allston
Image sourced here.See also: Salvator Rosa - 1818
2006, Oct 09; 20:05 ::: Un Autre Monde (1844) - J. J. Grandville
From Un Autre Monde (1844) - J. J. Grandville
Image sourced here.See also: Grandville - 1844
2006, Oct 09; 20:05 ::: Piranesi
Giambattista Piranesi Portrait for Antichitta Romane (1750) - Felice Polanzani
Image sourced here.
2006, Oct 08; 20:05 ::: Digital typography
Unidentified digital typography from 1974
Can anyone tell me what the name of this typeface is?
2006, Oct 02; 20:05 ::: In Defence of Realism (1998) - Raymond Tallis
In Defence of Realism (1998) - Raymond Tallis
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]Book by an unfavourable critic of postmodernism:
In Defence of Realism is a powerful indictment of the fog of bad philosophy and worse linguistics that has shrouded much contemporary literary theory and criticism. Raymond Tallis, one of the most important critics of post-Saussurean literary theory in the English-speaking world, examines the reasons often cited by critics and theorists for believing that realism in fiction is impossible and verisimilitude a mere literary "effect." He trenchantly shows not only that the arguments of critics hostile to realism are invalid, but that even if they were sound, they would apply equally to anti-realist fiction, indeed to all intelligible discourse.
"A bracing counterblast to the post-modernizing gibberish of contemporary literary theory." -- The Spectator
See also: realism in literature
2006, Sept 25; 20:05 ::: Black trombone (1962) - Serge GainsbourgBlack trombone
Monotone
Le trombone
C'est joli
Tourbillonne
Gramophone
Et bâillonne
Mon ennui[...]
Black trombone
Monotone
C'est l'automne
De ma vie
Plus personne
Ne m'étonne
J'abandonne
C'est finiThis track first appeared on the 10 inch N°4 in 1962. It was written by Gainsbourg and arranged and orchestrated by Alain Goraguer.
It is available on this CD, released by French Mercury records in 1996:
Du Jazz dans le Ravin (1996) - Serge Gainsbourg
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]Question: who plays trombone on this track
The title is French for Jazz in the Ravine. All the tracks have a jazz, loungy feel and date from the late 1950s, early 1960s period. Serge released his debut single Ça n'vaut pas la peine d'en parler in 1954.
Highly recommended.
See also: 1962 - Serge Gainsbourg - Alain Goraguer
2006, Sept 25; 20:05 ::: Guernsey (2005) - Nanouk Leopold
Guernsey (2005) - Nanouk Leopold
I really can't tell you if this film is any good, but I adore the poster. My local videostore recommended it in its storefront.
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanouk Leopold
See also: Dutch art - film - 2005
2006, Sept 25; 20:05 ::: Field of Vision (1956) - Wright Morris
Field of Vision (1956) - Wright Morris
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]Wright Morris (born January 6, 1910 in Central City, Nebraska; died April 25, 1998) was an American novelist, photographer, and essayist. For a time, he was also an English professor at San Francisco State College.
He is best known today for his innovative "photo-texts" and his writings on photography, but his off-beat novels about society and the human condition continue to be read and discussed. Many of his works experimented with point of view, tone, and style. Morris published his memoirs in three volumes, the first Will's Boy in 1981, followed by Solo and A Cloak of Light.--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright Morris
See also: American literature - 1956
2006, Sept 25; 20:05 ::: Ralph Ginzburg (1929 - 2006)See : Ralph Ginzburg or Ralph Ginzberg
2006, Sept 22; 20:05 ::: Time
2006, Sept 18; 20:05 ::: Mr. Tambourine Man (1965) - The Byrds
Mr. Tambourine Man (1965) - The Byrds
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]See also: 1965 - folk music - rock
2006, Sept 17; 20:05 ::: Towards a Poetics of Culture (1986) - Stephen GreenblattIn search of a poetics of culture
The New Historicism (1989) - Harold Veeser
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]Greenblatt's works on new historicism and “cultural poetics” includes "Towards a Poetics of Culture" (1986), in which Greenblatt asserts that the question of “how art and society are interrelated,” as posed by Jean-François Lyotard and Frederic Jameson, “cannot be answered by appealing to a single theoretical stance” (Cadzow). --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Greenblatt [Sept 2006]
See also: 1986 - culture - new historicism - poetics
2006, Sept 12; 20:05 ::: Karel Thole (1914 - 2000)
Illustration of German pulp fiction novel by Karel Thole
Carolus Adrianus Maria Thole (1914, Netherland - 2000, Italy) is a Dutch painter. He is one of the best-known european illustrators of science fiction and the fantastique. Influenced by painters like Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí or René Magritte his style is instantly recognizable.
See also: le fantastique
2006, Sept 10; 20:05 ::: Fisherman Style (2006) - The Congos & Friends
Fisherman Style (2006) - The Congos & Friends
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]A one-riddim album, it utilises the "Fisherman" riddim by The Congos and features new material from a variety of singers including Horace Andy, U Roy, Big Youth, Luciano, Tony Tuff and Dillinger.
The Congos together with the good people at Blood & Fire decided to voice new versions of the group’s Black Ark classic “Fisherman” last year. Originally the cut was produced by Lee Perry back in the seventies and can be found on “The Heart of The Congos” - we’re talking Scratch at his absolute best and legendary material to work with here. The fact that the song has never really been versioned before and that Blood & Fire got the Rhythm & Sound crew to do the mastering makes it even tastier. --http://www.computerstyle.org/blog/?p=26 [Sept 2006]
See also: 2006 - riddim - reggae - Lee Perry
2006, Sept 04; 20:05 ::: The Atrocity Exhibition (1970) - J. G. Ballard
The Atrocity Exhibition (1970) - J. G. Ballard [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Cover for the first edition of The Atrocity Exhibition.See also: experimental literature - British literature - 1970 - J. G. Ballard
Definition
definition |Biography
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biography
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