Chapter 75 Buffon's Natural History and Picasso

Buffon's Natural History and Picasso Last fall, Beijing People's Literature Publishing House published a thin anthology of foreign writers: "Cloth-covered Banknotes".Not only the author's name is unfamiliar to us, but the content is also unfamiliar, because Because we have never seen anyone mention this man and his writings. Buffon was a French naturalist in the 18th century, and his biological insights can be said to be Darwin's progress. Pioneer of chemical theory.He was born in 1708, and last year was the 250th anniversary of his birth, The publication of "Bu Feng Wen Chao" is to take this opportunity to give a brief introduction to his works.

Buffon's "Natural History" with complex content is highly respected by his contemporaries and later generations. This huge book with thirty-six volumes includes the history of the evolution of the earth itself and human beings and other creatures. History, although it is a classic work of enlightenment academically, I am afraid that not many people read it today. Even the face of this book has never been seen before.I have a chance to know Buffon's name and his This "Natural History" is all due to the illustrations made by Picasso for this book. In 1935, Picasso accepted the commission of the publisher Vollar for this great work of Buffon.

A batch of illustrations.He went to Paris from other provinces in May and started working. He made thirty-one engravings in total. They are all bronze carvings, according to the description of animals and insects in Buffon's "Natural History", such as wasps, ostriches, fire Chicken and so on, each drew a picture. This batch of prints is a masterpiece of Picasso's animal paintings.Without seeking realism, he succinctly Grasping the characteristics of the animals he described is imaginary and realistic at the same time.one was A friend of Picasso who saw him create these prints wrote: He worked as if what he was going to paint

As if these animals were standing in front of him, he meticulously and meticulously brought the required images to life drawn out. According to the poet Sabatis, this series of prints by Picasso was painted very quickly, and he could at least complete them every day. into a picture. The publisher Vollar, who commissioned him to illustrate Buffon's "Natural History", was a famous French scholar at that time. Publisher of this book, who had previously commissioned Picasso for Balzac's novel Unfinished Masterpiece I did illustrations.This kind of hard-printed limited-edition book with illustrations by famous artists is very expensive, but by

Due to the limited print run, supply is often in short supply. When Picasso's "Natural History" illustration was completed, Vollar had died, so his illustration is attached. When the anthology of "Natural History" with thirty-one paintings was published in 1942, it had been changed to Ma Published by Din Fabiani.Only two hundred and twenty-six copies of this book were printed, and now it is not only surprisingly expensive, but also Even if you have money, you may not be able to buy it.