Dimensions: 32.5 x 40.5 cm (frame dimensions)
signed: 'Marcoussis'
Préface de Tristan Tzara. Paris (Paris) 1931. Éditions Jeanne Bucher, k. [21],
Published in an edition of 77 numbered pieces, rebound on Arches paper). Portfolio containing 10 engravings inspired by literary quotations, including: from Baudelaire, Dostoevsky, Rimbaud, Apollinaire, Shakespeare, being a
The artist's tribute to his favorite poets and writers
Origins
From the collection of editor Pierre Cailler (1901-1971)
Literature
Solange Milet 78
Jean Lafranchis G. 77
Biography
Louis Marcoussis (until 1912 Ludwik Kazimierz Markus) is one of the most interesting and original Polish artists of the early 20th century; he owes the nickname Marcoussis to Apollinaire. He abandoned his law studies in Warsaw in 1901 and took up painting at the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts under Jan Stanislawski and Jozef Mehoffer. In 1903 he went to Paris, where he continued his studies at the Académie Julian under Jules Lefebvre. He was associated with the École de Paris milieu, primarily with its avant-garde faction represented by Apollinaire, Picasso, Gris, Jacob and Metzinger. In 1913, he married a painter who came from Cracow to study in Paris - Alicja Halicka. He participated in the Paris Salons: Autumn (1905, 1907, 1912), Independent (1906, 1907, 1913-14, 1920-21, 1923, 1925) and Tuileries (1923-29); in 1912 he took part in the Section d'Or salon at Galerie La Boëtie. He also presented his work in Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, Amsterdam, Düsseldorf, Vienna, New York, Chicago, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Stockholm and Milan. In 1920 Markus collaborated with the Cracow-based magazine "Formists" presenting the concepts of the first Polish avant-garde - the Formists grouping. Through the a.r. group, he donated several of his works to the Collection of International Modern Art established in 1931 at the City Museum in Lodz. Marcoussis' early work was influenced primarily by the paintings of Stanislavsky, later he was influenced by the innovative currents of the avant-gardes forming in Paris in the early years of the 20th century. From 1931 to 37, Marcoussis mainly practiced printmaking, honing his skills in etching, aquatint and dry needlework; he taught printmaking techniques at the Académie Schläepfer in Paris. Among his most important achievements in the field of printmaking are his series of illustrations to the poems of T. Tzara (1926, 1928), G. de Nerval's "Aurélie" and Apollinaire's "Alcools" (1934). Markus was also involved in carpet design. The artist's individual exhibitions were held at the Paris galleries Pierre Chareau (1925), Bernheim (1929) and Jeanne Bucher (1929). Monographic shows of the artist also took place in New York at the Knoedler Gallery (1933, 1935) and in Brussels at the Palais des Beaux-Arts (1936, 1937). Markus took part in expositions of Polish art in Paris arranged at Galerie du Musée Crillon (1922) and Galerie Bonaparte (1935). A posthumous presentation of the artist's work was organized in 1964 at the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris. In 1985, Markus' work was included in the exhibition "The Circle of Jewish Montparnasse Artists in Paris" in New York.