La Grande Mannequin cherche et trouve sa peau (The Great Mannequin seeks and finds his skin)
1958
Etching, aquatint, sugar-lift aquatint and soft-ground etching
Image: 8 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.; paper: 8 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.
Page 73 from Accueil (The Welcome) by René Crevel, with 14 etchings by Dorothea Tanning, published by Jean Hugues, Paris, printed by Georges Visat, Paris
In her own words...
Paris editors liked to find unpublished texts by admired poets and bring them out with handsome illustrations, handsome typefaces, handsome paper. “Accueil” (The Welcome) is one of these. It was voted the plus beau livre (the most beautiful book) of the year by the bibliophiles' book club. But my work was only a part of this model of design, typeface, paper, presentation.....and the distinguished prose poetry of its author, a memorable surrealist. A reasonable fidelity to the poet's subject and to his persona has always been my goal in these collaborations.
–from Dorothea Tanning: Hail Delirium! A Catalogue Raisonné of the Artist’s Illustrated Books and Prints, 1942-1991, New York: The New York Public Library, 1992, p. 91.
