Ubu roi: Drame en cinq actes (King Ubu: A Play in Five Acts)
<p>This stunning display of artistic bookbinding is perhaps the best-known collaboration between Mary Reynolds and Marcel Duchamp. Drawing upon his fascination with puns, Duchamp designed and Reynolds executed a binding of Alfred Jarry’s experimental and vulgar Shakespearian parody <em>King Ubu: Drama in Five Acts</em>. The play centers around a blundering, headstrong character named Ubu and his unsuccessful attempt to obtain political power. Jarry’s language is obscene but also features extensive word play, hence Duchamp’s inspiration for the design.</p> <p>Both the front and back covers are cut into <em>U</em>’s that connect to a spine crafted with leather to form the letter <em>B</em>. When opened, the book’s cover and spine spell out <em>UBU</em>, with an imprinted gold crown visible through the front cover. The author’s name is debossed in gold on the back, visible through the space created by the letter <em>U</em>.</p> <p>Play and humor were integral to Surrealism. The Surrealists’ attention to wordplay and puns traces all the way back to Freud’s theories on jokes, they viewed them as clear representations of the unconscious associations that humans create without any substantial logic. These associations lead to laughter—something effervescent and collective, and foundational to Surrealist methodology.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1935
- Dimensions
- 16.8 × 13.5 × 2.8 cm (6 5/8 × 5 3/8 × 1 1/8 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
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
Rrose Sélavy
1939 · Full sienna, pink, and beige goatskin with cotton cord, grey-card onlays with trial stamps of a typographic plate made for Duchamp's Box in a Valise. Endpapers printed in pochoir with fern-leaf pattern and hand-drawn insects in black ink
Les Enfants du limon: Roman (Children of Clay: Novel)
1938 · Bound in combination full morocco leather with gold lettering, leather doublure margins; marbled paper end leaves; original covers bound in
Les Mains libres: Dessins de Man Ray, illustrés par les poèmes de Paul Éluard (Free Hands: Drawings illustrated by the poems of Paul Éluard)
1937 · Full tan morocco binding; leather gloves onlaid on front and back covers; author and title stamped in palladium on spine; doublures; silk endpapers; top edge gilt; original paper covers bound in
La machine infernale: pièce en 4 actes
1934 · Full vellum binding, wine-colored morocco label with gold lettering on spine; vellum end leaves; original paper covers bound in
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Mary Reynolds
- Year
- 1935
- Dimensions
- 16.8 × 13.5 × 2.8 cm (6 5/8 × 5 3/8 × 1 1/8 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1935-013457
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified