About this artwork
Mary Reynolds produced book bindings for at least six of Alfred Jarry’s novels and plays; Jarry’s energetic output at the end of the 19th century helped set the trajectory for the avant-garde thinkers and artists with whom Reynolds worked in the 20th.
In Gestes et opinions du Docteur Faustroll, Jarry’s protagonist travels through an imaginary Paris in a polished copper boat absurdly drilled with thousands of holes like a sieve. Reynolds represented this fanciful vessel with a pair of thin copper plates, punched with a meticulous constellation of holes, and set over translucent sheets of glassine, the faint green color of which evoke the surface of the ocean or perhaps Doctor Faustroll’s long, sea-green mustache. Framed with meaty black leather, the gentle perforations lend a sense of buoyancy to the otherwise heavy materiality of this small book.
-
Status
- On View, Gallery 289
-
Department
- Ryerson and Burnham Libraries Special Collections
-
Artist
- Mary Reynolds
-
Title
- Gestes et opinions du Docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien (Exploits and Opinions of Doctor Faustroll, Pataphysician)
-
Place
- Paris (Object made in:)
-
Date
- 1923
-
Medium
- Full brown leather embossed in a herringbone pattern, with black calfskin-covered, die-cut panels; gold stamping; and inlaid perforated copper sheets; green glassine endpapers and gilt edges; original paper covers bound in
-
Dimensions
- 14.5 × 10.5 × 1.7 cm (5 3/4 × 4 3/16 × 11/16 in.)
-
Credit Line
- Mary Reynolds Collection, Ryerson & Burnham Libraries
-
Reference Number
- 2019.178
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
