Baobab.

Baobab.

Paris:

Les Éditions de Minuit,

2022

This gemlike binding by Florent Rousseau (b. 1962) offers a glimpse of the contemporary scene in France. Rousseau serves as President of the Atelier d’Arts Appliqués du Vésinet, an institution in a leafy suburb of Paris devoted to the teaching of traditional crafts, with a focus on the book arts. His trademarks are meticulously crafted paper and metallic bindings, but he playfully experiments with a broad range of materials and methods – in this instance, grey leather that has been stamped under heat with swirling iridescent patterns that evoke mother-of-pearl, punctuated by irregular filets of silver leaf; in typically French fashion, there is a greater division of artistic labour, and the gilding has been handled by a separate workshop, the Paris-based Atelier La Feuille d’Or. Here, one senses a nod towards the ‘industrial’ modernity of Art Deco, but also a fresh artistic voice that testifies to Rousseau’s flair in bridging old and new.

From the Collection of Pat Snidvongs

Jean Echenoz.

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