La Vache au Pré Noir
A scarce textual piece by Jean Dubuffet, printed in 1962 at Imprimerie Union. *La Vache au Pré Noir* is playful and caustic at once: a brief suite where language lows, sniffs and scrapes. The very plain wrappers foreground the typography; nothing distracts from the beat of Dubuffet’s voice. It embodies his anti-rhetorical poetics and his claim for an immediate, “brut” art. This copy bears a handwritten New Year greeting, attesting to private circulation. From the library of Jacques Dauchez.
Quantity
Dubuffet, Jean
La Vache au Pré Noir
1962 | Paris | Union Imprimerie
A concise, unvarnished Dubuffet document—language as “raw matter.”
A scarce textual piece by Jean Dubuffet, printed in 1962 at Imprimerie Union. *La Vache au Pré Noir* is playful and caustic at once: a brief suite where language lows, sniffs and scrapes. The very plain wrappers foreground the typography; nothing distracts from the beat of Dubuffet’s voice. It embodies his anti-rhetorical poetics and his claim for an immediate, “brut” art. This copy bears a handwritten New Year greeting, attesting to private circulation. From the library of Jacques Dauchez.
€475
Condition Report:
In-Depth Study
References & Bibliography
Format
In-4 (Quarto) approx. 25 × 32 cm
Edition Particulars
Copy with autograph New Year greeting; Dauchez provenance.
Print Run
300
Copy Number
2
Paper
vélin;papier couché
Inscription
No inscription
Product DETAIL
Dubuffet sends a cow—a figure of earth and obstinacy—across a black meadow: images rub against sounds. Short, percussive lines swing between the absurd and the demotic. Humor and drabness alternate; the tone is spare and oral. A miniature reducing language to matter.
Char, Rene · Stael, Nicolas de
Arrière-histoire du poème pulvérisé
*Arrière-histoire du poème pulvérisé* is a later illustrated edition of a key text in which René Char looks back on the genesis and inner background of *Le Poème pulvérisé*. Published in 1972 by Imprimerie Union, it opens with a colour frontispiece by Nicolas de Staël. The pairing of Char and de Staël is especially charged: two post-war voices, each seeking concentration, clarity, and rupture in his own medium. This copy is one of only six hors commerce copies on Arches and is signed. The autograph presentation inscription to Doctor Marcel Zara, with poetic quotation and October 1972 dating, makes it a deeply personal copy.
Illustrated Book
€920
Derain, André
Amis & Amille. Mystère du XIVe siècle.
This sumptuously bound book brings a medieval mystery to life through a rare collaboration between ancient literature and modern illustration. The geometric box design on garnet morocco provides striking contrast. André Derain’s 22 color lithographs – including one double and three full-page – enhance the narrative with expressive visual force. Printed on Rives vellum in an edition of 180 numbered copies, this copy (No. 72) was made for Baroness Vaxelaire and includes a suite on fine Japanese paper. The binding by Lucie Weill exemplifies artisanal excellence. A harmonious blend of narrative tradition and graphic daring.
Illustrated Book
€1,460
Michaux, Henri · Bettencourt, Pierre
Arriver à se réveiller
A rare first edition of Arriver à se réveiller, written by Henri Michaux in the tremulous post-war years. The text unfolds as an inward journey toward lucidity, where sleep and waking mirror each other. Printed and published by Pierre Bettencourt in his own workshop, the edition’s small run preserves the work’s intimacy. The title-page vignette, a linocut by Bettencourt, sets a spare, rhythmic visual key that amplifies Michaux’s vigilant, vulnerable tone. This copy is handsomely bound in brown morocco with balsa boards by Miguet, a tactile nod to lightness under tension. For bibliophiles, it is an exemplary union of poetry, craft, and experiment. The volume embodies the independence of the post-war small press and Michaux’s radical sensitivity.
