Themerson Archive: Vol.1 Letters and documents, Vol.2 The Themersons, Vol.3 Gaberbocchus

Londres : Themerson Estate ; Cambridge : MIT Press, 2020, vol.1 470p., vol.2 370p., vol.3 258p. ill. en noir et en coul. 33 x 25cm, eng
Bibliogr. Biogr.
ISBN : 9781916247413. _ 181,00 €
Sous la dir. de Jasia Reichardt, Nick Wadley
Texte intégral
1The Themerson Archive Catalogue is a stunning box set of archival material relating to artists Stefan and Franciszka Themerson. Co-edited by Jasia Reichardt, whose guardians the Themersons’ became after she managed to flee Warsaw in 1946, the publication is a tribute to the remarkable achievements of the couple and a precious resource for scholars. The artists’ archive in London opened to researchers in 1990 and then migrated to the National Library of Poland in Warsaw in 2014. The activities it is devoted to include drawing, experimental film, poetry, theatre design and independent publishing—the Themersons founded the avant-garde small press Gaberbocchus Press in 1948. Volume 1 is devoted to correspondence and other documents and contains wonderful photographs and reproductions of drawings, postcards and letters. The materials are organised alphabetically, divided by pages with the letters of Stefan Themerson’s characteristically humorous “acrobatic alphabet” in which letters are composed of caricatural figures enacting strenuous-looking poses. Though a time-saver for the specialised researcher, the organisation of the documents is less helpful for the casual reader; being non-sequential, it conveys little sense of a continuous narrative. The majority of the letters are summarised rather than reproduced in full, thereby erasing the textual dynamics of the exchanges. Volume 2, though, is a real treasure trove of materials, listed thematically and chronologically, devoted to the artists’ collaborative as well as individual creative output. It is full of marvellous reproductions of artworks, documents and surprising ephemera. Volume 3 is devoted to the Gaberbocchus Press, whose main aim it was “to put before British readers important works by European writers that were as yet unpublished in Britain” as well as to support the work of British authors whose work, like that of the press, was characterised by a “refusal to conform” (vol. 3, p. 13)—including Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi and Anatol Stern’s Europa. The catalogue showcases many of the press’s unique designs and typesetting solutions by way of an extensive full-gloss colour insert. The value of the publication lies in its meticulous description of the materials in the archives. In the end, however, anyone wishing to work in detail on the Themersons will still need to visit the physical archives in Warsaw. The labour of love that resulted in this high-quality MIT production will help readers to identify exactly what to look for and how to locate it. As such the catalogue is an ideal taster: the hard work has been done, leaving only the pleasure of the personal encounter with the documents to the researcher.
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Référence électronique
Klara Kemp-Welch, « Themerson Archive: Vol.1 Letters and documents, Vol.2 The Themersons, Vol.3 Gaberbocchus », Critique d’art [En ligne], Toutes les notes de lecture en ligne, mis en ligne le 04 juin 2022, consulté le 12 février 2026. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/critiquedart/76178 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/critiquedart.76178
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