THE THEMERSON ARCHIVE CATALOGUE [THREE VOLUMES] by Jasia Reichardt, Nick Wadley
| Title | The Themerson Archive Catalogue [Three Volumes] |
| Author(s)/Editor(s) | Jasia Reichardt, Nick Wadley |
| Publisher | Themerson Estate |
| Pages | 1004 |
| Dimensions | 240 x 320mm |
| Format | Three softcover volumes housed in a slipcase |
| Year | 2021 |
Documents, photographs, and artwork from the archive of Stefan and Franciszka Themerson, including material from their small avant-garde press Gaberbocchus.
This monumental three-volume set documents the life and work of writer, publisher, and filmmaker Stefan Themerson (1910–1988) and his wife, painter, illustrator, and theater designer Franciszka Themerson (1907–1988). The Themersons, active members of the Polish avant-garde, lived in Paris beginning in 1938, and found their way to London during World War II. In London, they continued their artistic practice, individually and in collaboration, and founded the small avant-garde press Gaberbocchus. At Gaberbocchus (the press's name is a Latinized “Jabberwocky”), they published the first English editions of works by Alfred Jarry, Raymond Queneau, the Pataphysicians, and others, alongside work by young English writers outside the commercial mainstream.
Volume I collects the Themersons' correspondence, with recipients ranging from the philosopher Bertrand Russell to the Themersons' house cleaner. Volume II documents the Themersons' lives—successes and frustrations, work and travel, filmography and exhibitions. Volume III presents the history of the Gaberbocchus Press from 1942 to 1979, including all publications, details of work on the books, reviews, and day-to-day life at the Press. It also chronicles the Common Room (1957–1959), a London club located in the basement of Gaberbocchus Press, founded to bring together the arts and sciences. In words and images, poetry and doodles, satire and seriousness, these volumes evoke fifty years of independent creative enterprise in a cold climate.
…………..
Stefan Themerson (1910 – 1988) was a Polish-British filmmaker, novelist, publisher, philosopher, composer and poet.
Franciszka Themerson, his wife, (1907 – 1988) was a painter, illustrator, filmmaker, theatre designer and publisher.
Both the Themersons were born in Poland, lived in France and but spent most of their life in England. With their Gaberbochus Press, they published more than 60 titles, also featuring their increasingly multi-disciplinary work. After their deaths, their archive, detailed in these three volumes published by MIT Press, was transferred to the National Library in Warsaw.
Jasia Reichardt is a writer on art and exhibition organizer. She was assistant editor of the London-based Art News and Review; Assistant Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, and Director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London. Beginning in 1989, with the art historian and artist, Nick Wadley, she worked on this three-volume catalogue of the Themerson Archive.
Nick Wadley was the head of art history at Chelsea School of Art and was the author of numerous books on the nineteenth and twentieth century art, including the standard volume on the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist drawing. His last book, Franciszka Themerson, was published in 2019.
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Title
The Themerson Archive Catalogue [Three Volumes]
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Authors / Editors
Jasia Reichardt , Nick Wadley
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Publisher
Themerson Estate
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Pages
1004
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Dimensions
240 x 320mm
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Format
Softcover
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Year
2021
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