La Prose du Transsibérien et de la petite Jehanne de France, 1913
Gift of Winton and Janet Jones, Ruth and Bruce Dayton, the Harriet Hanley Estate, the Print and Drawing Council, and John E. Andrus IIIexpand_more 2001.249.1
Not on Viewexpand_more
Considered one of the milestones of early modernism, this collaborative artist’s book features a prose-poem by Swiss-born Blaise Cendrars recalling a journey he made as a boy on the Trans-Siberian Express, which ran from St. Petersburg, Russia, to the Sea of Japan. His companion on the trip is Jehanne, a young French prostitute named after Joan of Arc, and as the barren landscape rushes by him on the train, he recounts his childhood in Paris and imagines traveling to tropical paradises. Abstract designs in watercolor pochoir (stenciling) by Sonia Delaunay-Terk guide the reader though the stream-of-consciousness narrative, the colors reflecting the mood and content of the poem. Together, the images and text achieve simultaneism, or a “simultaneous book” that stresses the equivalence between Delaunay-Terk's colorful abstractions and Cendrars' unconventional prose.
Intended as an edition of 150, fewer were printed and only about 30 copies are thought to have survived. Made from four sheets of folded paper and bound accordion-style, the book measures 6 feet, 6-1/2 inches when extended. Placed end to end, the collective height of the sheets in the edition was calculated to equal the height of the Eiffel Tower, Paris’s commanding symbol of modernity.
Details
- Title
- La Prose du Transsibérien et de la petite Jehanne de France
- Artist Life
- French (born Ukraine), 1885–1979
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2001.249.1
- Provenance
- [Ursus Rare Books, New York]; sold to MIA, 2001.
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Andel 95; Le Trésors de la BnF, no. 67; En Français dans le texte 344; Bonet, Carnets, 1446, pl. 139
- Curator Approved
This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
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