Overview

Erik Desmazières is considered one of the finest French printmakers of his generation. His etchings and drawings, rendered with masterly precision and attention to detail, range from intimate interiors to wild architectural fantasies, and recall Old Masters such as Bosch and Goya. A prolonging of childhood fairytales, the allure of Erik Desmazières's prints lies partly in their ambiguity and partly in the technical virtuosity, careful observation, and singularity of his inventions. The 80 prints and drawings in this volume are from the artist's production of the 1970s and 1980s, focusing on imaginary places. It includes the artist's masterpieces The Temptation of St Anthony, the prints used to illustrate Borges' Library of Babel, Imaginary Alphabets, and Rembrandt's Curiosity Cabinet, to name but a few. The Argentine writer, Alberto Manguel, author of the fascinating and erudite The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, contributes a critical essay on the fantastic nature of the artist's oeuvre. Text in English and French. 17 colour, 65 b/w images

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There are printmakers and printmakers, and then there is Erik Desmazieres, a French-man who stands in a class by himself. - The New York Times

""There are printmakers and printmakers, and then there is Erik Desmazières, a French-man who stands in a class by himself."" - The New York Times

"""There are printmakers and printmakers, and then there is Erik Desmazières, a French-man who stands in a class by himself."" - The New York Times"

Author Information

Maxime Preaud is head curator, responsible for the Holdings of the Prints Department in the Bibliotheque nationale de France. A painter and print-maker himself, he specialises in the history of prints of the 17th century, and is the author of the Inventory of the French bequest dedicated to Claude Mellan, Sebastien Leclerc and Jean Lepautre. He has organised a number of exhibitions, including 'Abraham Bosse savant graveur' (2004), 'Rodolphe Bresdin 1822-1885 Robinson graveur' (2000), 'Anatomie de la couleur' (1996) and 'Les effets du soleil' (1995).Alberto Manguel is an Argentine writer and critic. His most well-known works are 'The Dictionary of Imaginary Places' (1998), 'A Reading Diary' (2005), and most recently 'Magic Land of Toys' (2006) and 'The Library at Night' (2006). 'Lauren Laz' is a curator at the Cantonal prints cabinet at the Musee Jenisch, Vevey.

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