Jack Ginsberg Centre for the Book Arts

Exhibition: Artists’ Books from the Ginsberg Collection

Start of the exhibition
Preface 1
Preface 2
Preface 3
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
End note

Preface. Livre d' Artiste

In this introductory section of the exhibition you will find examples of work which are not, strictly, artists' books. Judith Mason's interpretations of Dante's verse, for example, aligns this collaborative work more with the tradition of the livres d'artistes - a book illustrated by an important or celebrated artist, usually of classic verse. The books in the first two cabinets display aspects of the book arts outside of the concerns of the artist's book and emphasise mainly fine press elements and books dealing with illustrative graphic material. Compare Mason's work with that of Wilton Priestner's illustrations of Voltaire's Candide or Optimism (Cat: 78 and 79).