Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E , Case MP, Shelf 55, Box A

Print

1965 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This image of an owl by French Realist artist and sculptor André Minaux (1923-1988) is an illustration to Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Beaudelaire (1821-1967). Printed by a friend of Beaudelaire’s, Auguste Poulet-Malassis (1825-1878), the first edition (1957) of this book of poems achieved notoriety through an obscenity trial and it sold out within a year. The second definitive edition of 1861 omitted six censored poems but included thirty-five new ones. Les Fleurs du Mal has been published in numerous different illustrated editions since then, and several owl images in Walter Strachan’s collection, including this one, are illustrations to the poem entitled ‘Le Hibou’ in this book.

Poet and scholar Walter Strachan (1903-1994) was fascinated by the art of the book. His interest was inspired by a visit to an exhibition of artists’ books at the National Gallery in London in May 1945. In due course he wrote many articles on the subject, as well as a major reference work, The Artist and the Book in France (published 1969); he also encouraged successive Keepers of the National Art Library at the V&A “to buy them for England.” To this end he visited France every year, to meet the artists, and acquired proof pages to illustrate his articles and to show to potential purchasers of the books, including the V&A. Over the years he amassed a collection of images of owls; some of these were illustrations from livres d’artistes, and others were designed especially for him as gifts or greetings. The collection of owls began with a visit to the artist Roger Chastel (1897-1981) in 1952, where he witnessed the printing of Le Bestiaire de Paul Eluard. In a subsequent article (“Genesis and Growth of a Collection”, for Connoisseur, 1972) he explained: “My article on Chastel’s Bestiaire had the happy result of bringing me a special print on Auvergne paper of the owl which I had admired in the book. Contacts in the art-world of Paris are close and friendly, and I was marked down as an owl-man, in consequence of which I have gradually been given dedicated owl prints and originals in every medium from pen and ink to enamel…” Strachan owned several artist books illustrated by Minaux.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Colour lithograph on paper
Brief description
Colour lithograph, owl, by André Minaux, 1965.
Physical description
Colour lithograph showing the head and shoulders of an owl in broad brush strokes of orange, blue-grey and black, against a black background.
Dimensions
  • Height: 32cm
  • Width: 24.6cm
Credit line
Bequeathed by Walter Strachan
Object history
This forms part of a collection of prints, drawings and paintings of owls bequeathed to the V&A by Walter Strachan (1903-1994). Strachan, a scholar and collector of Livres d'Artistes, became friendly with a large number of artists, who, on hearing that he had a fondness for owls, began sending him images to add to his collection.
Subject depicted
Summary
This image of an owl by French Realist artist and sculptor André Minaux (1923-1988) is an illustration to Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Beaudelaire (1821-1967). Printed by a friend of Beaudelaire’s, Auguste Poulet-Malassis (1825-1878), the first edition (1957) of this book of poems achieved notoriety through an obscenity trial and it sold out within a year. The second definitive edition of 1861 omitted six censored poems but included thirty-five new ones. Les Fleurs du Mal has been published in numerous different illustrated editions since then, and several owl images in Walter Strachan’s collection, including this one, are illustrations to the poem entitled ‘Le Hibou’ in this book.

Poet and scholar Walter Strachan (1903-1994) was fascinated by the art of the book. His interest was inspired by a visit to an exhibition of artists’ books at the National Gallery in London in May 1945. In due course he wrote many articles on the subject, as well as a major reference work, The Artist and the Book in France (published 1969); he also encouraged successive Keepers of the National Art Library at the V&A “to buy them for England.” To this end he visited France every year, to meet the artists, and acquired proof pages to illustrate his articles and to show to potential purchasers of the books, including the V&A. Over the years he amassed a collection of images of owls; some of these were illustrations from livres d’artistes, and others were designed especially for him as gifts or greetings. The collection of owls began with a visit to the artist Roger Chastel (1897-1981) in 1952, where he witnessed the printing of Le Bestiaire de Paul Eluard. In a subsequent article (“Genesis and Growth of a Collection”, for Connoisseur, 1972) he explained: “My article on Chastel’s Bestiaire had the happy result of bringing me a special print on Auvergne paper of the owl which I had admired in the book. Contacts in the art-world of Paris are close and friendly, and I was marked down as an owl-man, in consequence of which I have gradually been given dedicated owl prints and originals in every medium from pen and ink to enamel…” Strachan owned several artist books illustrated by Minaux.
Bibliographic references
  • Strachan, Walter J. Graphic owls from France: variations on a theme in an English private collection. Connoisseur. Aug. 1972. pp.240-247.
  • Beaudelaire, Charles. Les fleurs du mal. First published in Paris: 1857, 1861.
Collection
Accession number
E.247-1994

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Record createdOctober 4, 2005
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