Hommage et profanations
*Hommage et profanations* belongs to the refined Parisian tradition of the artist’s book, in which poetry and original printmaking function as equal artistic partners. Octavio Paz, then closely connected with international avant-garde circles, is paired here with the graphic work of Chilean artist Enrique Zañartu. The book was published in Paris by Jean Hugues in 1963 in a limited edition of 300 numbered copies on vélin de Rives. Only the first 75 copies contained three original etchings by Zañartu, while the first 25 also received a separate colour suite. This copy, number 63, therefore belongs to the particularly desirable group of just fifty copies containing the three original etchings but no suite. The combination of Paz’s poetry, Zañartu’s forceful abstract imagery and the carefully conceived material presentation makes this a characteristic post-war livre de peintre. Its original chemise and slipcase further strengthen its bibliophile appeal.
Quantity
Octavio Paz
Enrique Zañartu
Hommage et profanations
1963 | Paris | Jean Hugues
*Hommage et profanations* brings together Octavio Paz’s poetry and Enrique Zañartu’s experimental printmaking with particular distinction. Number 63 is moreover one of only fifty copies in this issue tier containing the three original etchings. It is a materially and intellectually compelling livre de peintre with a direct connection to the post-war avant-garde.
*Hommage et profanations* belongs to the refined Parisian tradition of the artist’s book, in which poetry and original printmaking function as equal artistic partners. Octavio Paz, then closely connected with international avant-garde circles, is paired here with the graphic work of Chilean artist Enrique Zañartu. The book was published in Paris by Jean Hugues in 1963 in a limited edition of 300 numbered copies on vélin de Rives. Only the first 75 copies contained three original etchings by Zañartu, while the first 25 also received a separate colour suite. This copy, number 63, therefore belongs to the particularly desirable group of just fifty copies containing the three original etchings but no suite. The combination of Paz’s poetry, Zañartu’s forceful abstract imagery and the carefully conceived material presentation makes this a characteristic post-war livre de peintre. Its original chemise and slipcase further strengthen its bibliophile appeal.
€710
Condition Report:
In-Depth Study
References & Bibliography
Format
In-8 (Octavo) approx. 20 × 26 cm
Edition Particulars
Copy no. 63 of 300 on vélin de Rives; one of only 50 copies, nos. 26–75, containing three original etchings by Enrique Zañartu and without the additional colour suite reserved for the first 25 copies.
Print Run
300
Copy Number
No. 63
Paper
Vélin de Rives
Inscription
Signed by the Author,Signed by the Illustrator
Product DETAIL
The work is built around Octavio Paz’s poetry, in which homage and profanation are held in continual tension. Paz explores how language, memory, desire and cultural tradition may at once be honoured and undermined. References to the Spanish Baroque, particularly Francisco de Quevedo, play an important role. The poetic movement is not conventionally narrative but develops through associations, tensions and shifting images. Love, the body, time and death recur as central motifs. Zañartu’s three etchings are not literal illustrations but visual counterpoints that intensify the tension between order and disruption. The book thus forms part of Paz’s broader exploration of the relationship between modern poetry, tradition and the avant-garde.
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