The eluvise Alastair

Alastair - artist name mentioned for the first time in 1907 - is the pseudonym of Baron Hans Henning von Voigt (1887-1969), son of a Prussian lieutenant general. Elusive figure, Alastair spent his youth travelling to major European capitals and New York. Self-taught, he earned his living as a dancer, pianist and draughtsman. This last talent gave him notoriety. He exhibited his first works in 1910, in Cologne and Düsseldolf. During World War I, he took refuge in Switzerland and, once the conflict ended, resumed his frantic pace of life. The inter war period is his most productive. He illustrated Wilde, Barbey d'Aurevilly. His style is marked by a predilection for eroticism and baroque and influenced by Aubrey Beardsley. In 1928, when he works on Manon Lescaut for the English publisher John Lane (who has collaborated with Bearsdley), Alastair gives a supernatural and quite surprising tone to the story.

Currently, the librairie loliée offers :

• Alastair – Prévost (l’abbé). Manon Lescaut. Translated from the french the abbé Prévost by D.C. Moylan with eleven illustrations by Alastair and an introduction by Arthur Symons. London, John Lane the Bodley Head ltd, 1928, in-4, publisher binding. 11 original full-page compositions by Alastair. Tirage Deluxe edition limited to 1850 copies.

André Pieyre de Mandiargues

André Pieyre de Mandiargues left a rich and varied work : poems, short stories, novels, plays, essays, interviews, but also prefaces and translations of his friends works. After the publication of his novel La Motyclette and the Prix Goncourt for La Marge in 1967, Mandiargues reached at last notoriety. His fictional universe combines a discrete lyricism with an erotic and baroque imagination, particularly influenced by the reading of German romantics and Elizabethan poetry. Close to surrealists, Mandiargues joined the group after his encounter with André Breton in 1947. However, he maintained a distance with the movement, and always kept a precious and sometimes affected writing which defines his distinguished style.



Currently, the librairie Loliée offers as first editions of André Pieyre de Mandiargues :

• Les Incongruités Monumentales. Paris, Robert Laffont, 1948, in-4. Copie on Alfa paper.
• Soleil des Loups. Paris, Robert Laffont, 1951, in-12. One of the 30 copies on Corvol paper.
• Le Lis de Mer. Paris, Laffont, 1956, in-12, box binding by Honnelaitre. One of the 30 copies on Corvol paper.
• Feu de Braise. Paris, Bernard Grasset, 1959, large in-12. One of the 52 first copies on Montval paper.
• La Marge. Paris, N.R.F., 1967, in-8, binding by M. de Bellefroid. One of the first 40 copies on Holland paper . Prix Goncourt 1967.
• Mascarets. Paris, Gallimard, 1971, in-8. One of the first 42 copies on Holland paper.

Lucien Clergue - New York stripes

Lucien Clergue - Zébrées
5 original photographs taken in New York in 1998

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Clergue (Lucien). Zébrées. Poèmes et photographies par Lucien Clergue. S.l., Le Renard Pâle, collection « Art en Mécénie », 2006, plexiglas case. First edition with 5 original photographs Limited to 28 copies on Rives paper numebred and signed by the artist.
  

Primitive Art according to Wifredo Lam

Cuban painter, born of a Chinese father and a mulatto mother, Wifredo Lam went to Fine Arts School in Havana and then moved to Barcelona to continue his studies. Running away from the Spanish Civil War, he sought refuge in Paris in 1937. Picasso took him under his wing and had him meet with the Surrealists. Lam joined the movement and André Breton offered him to illustrate his poetic collection Fata Morgana. In 1940, Lam went to Marseille where he obtained a visa to leave for Cuba. He took the plane with a few friends, including Breton and Ernst, and eventually landed in his native land. In 1942, the Matisse Gallery in New York organized the first exhibition of his works. Where Picasso and his contemporaries promote African Art as a new approach to European pictorial tradition, Wifredo Lam, in the other way, influenced by great masters - including Bosch and Goya, uses his mixed race heritage to create a primitive word more universal.

Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :

• Lam (Wifredo) - Jouffroy (Alain). L’Antichambre de la nature. Eaux-fortes originales de Wifredo Lam. Paris, Collection Paroles Peintes, Odette Lazar-Vernet, 1966, folio, loose as issued in the original wrappers. First edition with 9 original etchings by Wifredo Lam. Limited to 85 copies. One of the 50 copies on B.F.K Rives paper, signed by the author and the artist.