Loin de Rueil (Skin of Dreams)
<p>This book binding by Mary Reynolds, with design contributions by Marcel Duchamp, houses Raymond Queneau’s <em>Loin de Rueil</em>, a story about a constantly daydreaming young man. She repurposed test prints of one of Duchamp’s <a href= "https://www.artic.edu/artworks/248695/12-rotoreliefs">rotoreliefs</a>—decorated discs meant to be spun on a turntable to create optical illusions—on each end page. This rotorelief design, entitled <em>Corollles</em>, was originally produced for the sixth edition of the Surrealist magazine <a href="https://artic.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01ARTIC_INST/1ag4830/alma991003418879703801"><em>Minotaure.</em></a> Although this particular rotorelief is static, its graphics nonetheless evoke a sense of movement, spiraling like a daydreaming mind set adrift. The Surrealists placed great value in the creativity that can emerge from this dream-like state. Reynolds’s binding for Queneau’s novel reflects this mood as well as her response to it.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1944
- Dimensions
- H.: 19 cm (7 1/2 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
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
Ubu roi: Drame en cinq actes (King Ubu: A Play in Five Acts)
1935 · Full tan morocco binding; boards die cut in the shape of U; onlays on spine in shape of B; black silk endleaves; crown stamped in gold on front endleaf; author stamped in gold on back endleaf; gilt edges; 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
- 1944
- Dimensions
- H.: 19 cm (7 1/2 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1944-013458
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified