Au soleil du plafond
Paris: Tériade Éditeur, [1955]. First edition.
Folio (16 ½” x 12 ½”, 420 x 320 mm): 66 leaves, 1–152 [4] (tribute to Gris, blank, limitation, blank). With 12 lithographs, of which 11 are printed in color (11 of which are included in pagination but unnumbered).
Inlaid mosaic morocco binding in turquoise, umber, ochre, and black. Title and illustrator bound to front board in black morocco relief. Print run limited to 220 examples on Vélin d'Arches paper. Limitation number “XIV” of the 15 hors-commerce examples. Presented in a black clamshell box.
Leaves mounted on guards, as issued. Peripheral tanning and offsetting to the text and lithographs. Binder’s ticket to the lower inner corner of the rear pastedown.
Au soleil du plafond was José Victoriano González-Pérez (pseud. Juan Gris, 1887–1927) final body of work, as he died of kidney failure at only 40 years old in the midst of production. The collection of poems and lithographs was published nearly thirty years after Juan Gris's death, with Pierre Reverdy's (1889–1960) text produced as "a tribute to the memory of a friend who passed away prematurely." The initial plan had been to illustrate each of Reverdy's twenty poems with a plate by Gris. The artist's death in 1927 brought this undertaking to a halt; as Gris left behind the 11 completed lithographs, the project was subsequently reconceived. Reverdy writes at the conclusion of the preface: "But I wrote these lines — already more than thirty years ago — solely to be at peace with myself. This is not to say that I did not wish to be so with anyone else — and above all with that great painter and great friend, with whom I find myself reunited here, thanks to all that defies the grave."
The volume was published by Efstratios Eleftheriades — better known simply as Tériade. The status and success of a modern artist living in mid XXc century Paris was largely dependent on their relationship with the city’s art critics and publishers and Tériade was the influencer to impress. A top art critic, publisher, and collector, the Greek expat was synonymous with fine printing and exquisite taste. He contributed to Christian Zervos’ Cahiers d’art and was artistic director of Minotaure before founding his own renowned journal, Verve. Having printed the works of Chagall, Matisse, and Miro, Gris was a natural addition to the ouevre. Reverdy’s verse and Gris’s lithographs work in tandem; despite Reverdy being determined to remain independent of the prevailing "-isms," his writing compliments Gris’s cubist and surrealist still lifes. Both artists sought to uncover (in Reverdy’s words) "the sublime simplicity of reality." The volume contains the following 12 lithographs (with titles as dictated by Reverdy, when available)”
- Untitled [Peugeot coffee grinder]
- Moulin à café
- La pipe
- Le livre
- Guitare
- Violin
- La lampe
- Soupière
- Compotier
- Pot de fleurs
- Bouteille
- Untitled [open book, black and white]
Tériade has since hailed the collaboration as "one of the few great Cubist books in existence; it dates from Juan Gris's finest period — the time when he had reached the full maturity of his powers."
Cataloged by G.R. Murdock
Item #GRM0084
Price: $14,500