“Wrapped in Color: Lithographic Book Covers and Jackets, 1890-1970”
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, offers a display of magazine covers and book jackets (also called “wrappers”) that were designed by painters that used Lithography as another outlet for their art – Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, and Marc Chagall.
“In the 21st century, the idea of using original works of art to ´protect´ books seems paradoxical. But more than 100 years ago, lithography offered a new arena for artistic experimentation as demonstrated by the examples from the museum’s collection…”
BTW- Lithography: “printing method in which the design is drawn on a slab of fine-grained stone with a greasy crayon, rather than cut or etched into a metal plate or wood block. The process is based upon the principle that the greasy areas will accept ink while the non-greasy areas will not.”
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) until May 25, 2009
Images:
Marc Chagall, Russian, Editions de la Revue Verve: nos. 33 &34, © Paris:, 1956
Pablo Picasso, Spanish, Picasso Lithographe (Volume 2), 1950