Maison de santé
<p>Avant-garde playwright and poet Jean Cocteau created this book of stylized self-portraits while undergoing treatment for opium addiction. The drawings within it recount the ups and downs of withdrawal, recovery and hope, expressed with the expert simplicity of paper and ink. Mary Reynolds’s binding perfectly encapsulates Cocteau’s unyielding spirit. Using a technique called “split binding,” she created the front and back cover from two book boards, as opposed to one continuous piece. Each white vellum wrapped board features a cut-out of a star, a symbol Cocteau returned to repeatedly, so much so that it became an element of his signature. The threading is another creative element of this binding. Starting at the fore edge, 25 continuous threads travel from one side of the book to the other, showing themselves through the cut-out stars and along the spine. Reynolds sealed the threads within the two layers of the cover, and any trace of their start or end lies hidden within.</p> <p>A short epithet in Cocteau’s handwriting describes his drawing practice as a way to cope with not only the physical discomfort of withdrawal but also the boredom of hospitalization. With this in mind, we might read Reynolds’s use of thread as a metaphor for how art can keep us from falling apart.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1926
- Dimensions
- 28.8 × 22.1 × 1.5 cm (11 3/8 × 8 3/4 × 5/8 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Mary Reynolds
Artist
Textile
Mary Reynolds was an American artist and bookbinder active in Paris during the mid-twentieth century. Working primarily in hand-bound volumes and paper arts, she developed a distinctive practice that merged fine art with the craft tradition of bookbinding. Her work bridged Surrealist circles and the material culture of the book object itself. This profile will be expanded as more verified source material becomes available.
Full artist profile →More
More by Mary Reynolds
Saint Glinglin: précédé d'une nouvelle version de Gueule de Pierre et des Temps mêlés: Roman (Saint Glinglin: Preceded by a New Version of Stone Mouth and Mingled Time)
1949 · Full green morocco binding; horizontal onlay across covers and spine; broken china teacup handle attached by onlay to spine; title stamped in gold on front cover; author stamped in gold on back cover; marbled endpapers; original paper covers bound in
Exercices de style
1947 · Quarter black calfskin binding with marbled paper; calfskin label on cover with title stamped in gold; author stamped in gold on spine; top edge colored; marbled endpapers; original paper covers bound in
Le Diable au corps: Roman
1947 · Chêneuarter vellum binding with green paper; morocco spine label with author and title stamped in gold; decorated endpapers; original paper covers bound in
Le Foyer des artistes
1947 · One-quarter vellum binding, sides covered with red paper speckled with gold stars; original paper covers bound in
Le surmâle: Roman moderne (Superman: A Modern Novel)
1945 · Full black morocco binding with onlay; metal corset stay attached to spine; title stamped in gold on spine; mauve endpapers printed with wire-mesh pattern; original paper covers bound in
Loin de Rueil (Skin of Dreams)
1944 · Full red morocco binding with raised bands; author and title stamped in gold on spine; endpapers of trial proofs for Marcel Duchamp's 1935 cover of Minotaure; original paper covers bound in
Record
Verified by Watts Index- Artist
- Mary Reynolds
- Year
- 1926
- Dimensions
- 28.8 × 22.1 × 1.5 cm (11 3/8 × 8 3/4 × 5/8 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1926-047772
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified