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Paul Éluard and Michel Guino
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Acquired from Librairie Auguste Blaizot, Paris
Acquisition 2007
Date 1965
Size 44 x 33 cm.
Signature KOOPM E 69
The demand for Russian art has increased since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Works from the former Russian republics are likewise becoming more and more popular. The influx of new riches from Russia has not passed the antiquarian book world by. One example is the book art of Iliazd: his works are now being 'bought back' at auctions.
Iliazd - full name Ilia Zdanevich (1894-1975) - originally ran a publishing business, named Grad 41, in his native Georgia. He later continued this business in Paris. The Cyrillic books are now returning to Eastern Europe, and the later French publications are also in demand. The typography is uniquely connected to the text in each book and, certainly by French standards, is unusually playful. Iliazd saw more in words than their definitions alone; he combined their visual elements with the illustrations. And he took his time in doing so. Some books were in production for seven years. By comparison, Un soupçon (1965) was finished almost overnight: artist Michel Guino and publisher Iliazd spent two years working on this book. The parchment cover and Japanese paper give the book a luxurious look and feel.
The almost dignified appearance conceals a rough and tumble history. On 6 July 1923, a Dada meeting got completely out of hand; fights broke out about the agenda, the police were called to remove author Andre Breton from the premises, a follow-up meeting was cancelled and poets filed suits against one another. It was an awkward situation for Iliazd, who did not want to take sides. Consequently, Paul Éluard refused to write a preface for Iliazd's Dadaist poem Lidantiu faram (1923).
In the end, Éluard chose not to jeopardise his friendship with Iliazd and gave him the poem 'Un soupçon'. Forty years later, Iliazd assigned an entire page to each line of the poem.
(PVC/JJ)
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