- -Commentary by Sue Welsh Reed, Curator of Prints and Drawings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
-Supplementary essay on engraving and etching techniques
-Magnify up to 400%
- -Digital images of every page of this rare book, cover to cover, in full color, presented as uncropped spreads
-Print and Thumbnails files for creating printed references
-Adobe Reader 4.0 with Search software
-Autostart PDF file on CD-ROM with all of Adobe Reader’s viewing, navigation, and search features
-Octavo Digital Guide and Help files
-
- Adobe Reader 5.0 or later (available free from Adobe)
- Windows PC with Pentium processor running Windows 95 or later
- Macintosh Power Mac running OS 9.2, or OS X 10.1 or later. Linux 2.2 kernel on X86 computer
- Color Monitor (15" or larger, capable of displaying millions of colors recommended)
- CD-ROM drive
This vellum-bound curiosity is one of the rarest and
most mysterious etching suites of the late Renaissance. The
creation of an almost unknown Florentine painter and engraver, it
languished in near-total obscurity until it was rediscovered in modern times.
A remarkable precursor of the radical artistic movements of the twentieth
century, this rare show of visual oddities is filled with fabulous
and jocund variations on the human form, constructed from a hallucinatory
variety of animate and inanimate components.
The Bizzarie can rightly lay claim to being a prime exemplar of the artistic enigma – a work truly without precedent or explanation beside itself. Its sensuous imagery, occupying a dreamlike space between thought and form, made it an underground sensation amongst twentieth-century artists and connoisseurs. The art historian Sir Kenneth Clark (1903-83) was instrumental in the rediscovery of Braccelli, and the poet Tristan Tzara (1896-1963) drew parallels between these etchings and the revolutionary artistic agendas of Dada and Surrealism.
The original book imaged for this digital edition:
7 1/8 x 9 7/8 inches (181 x 251 mm)
The Bizzarie can rightly lay claim to being a prime exemplar of the artistic enigma – a work truly without precedent or explanation beside itself. Its sensuous imagery, occupying a dreamlike space between thought and form, made it an underground sensation amongst twentieth-century artists and connoisseurs. The art historian Sir Kenneth Clark (1903-83) was instrumental in the rediscovery of Braccelli, and the poet Tristan Tzara (1896-1963) drew parallels between these etchings and the revolutionary artistic agendas of Dada and Surrealism.
The original book imaged for this digital edition:
7 1/8 x 9 7/8 inches (181 x 251 mm)
Ragamuffin Rarity
Little-known books, often passed over by the bookstore browser, can turn out to be astonishingly rare. Parisian antiquarian bookseller Alain Brieux wrote in 1961 about his brief ownership of an edition of the very rare Bizzarie di Varie Figure (Oddities of various figures) by Giovanni Battista Braccelli. Ten years earlier, while browsing in a bookstore, he had found a seventeenth-century book in a nineteenth-century Russian leather binding. He recognized neither the images nor the artist, but mesmerized by Braccelli’s capricious and strangely Surrealist figures in the Bizzarie, he bought the book on the spot for six thousand francs. Learning that his copy was incomplete, he was ready to sell it until he heard that of the seven other copies known to exist, none were complete. He showed off this rare addition to his library to an English friend, who announced that he himself had owned the book in the 1920s, and wanted now to buy it back. Brieux said no, and so began a cat-and-mouse game between them that stretched over several years. The friend was persistent and, finally, Brieux weakened and sold the book. Writing later of his regret he asked: “What gas or electric bill did I pay? What suit did I have made, now worn out and discarded?”
– from the article in Atlas Magazine, 1961
Little-known books, often passed over by the bookstore browser, can turn out to be astonishingly rare. Parisian antiquarian bookseller Alain Brieux wrote in 1961 about his brief ownership of an edition of the very rare Bizzarie di Varie Figure (Oddities of various figures) by Giovanni Battista Braccelli. Ten years earlier, while browsing in a bookstore, he had found a seventeenth-century book in a nineteenth-century Russian leather binding. He recognized neither the images nor the artist, but mesmerized by Braccelli’s capricious and strangely Surrealist figures in the Bizzarie, he bought the book on the spot for six thousand francs. Learning that his copy was incomplete, he was ready to sell it until he heard that of the seven other copies known to exist, none were complete. He showed off this rare addition to his library to an English friend, who announced that he himself had owned the book in the 1920s, and wanted now to buy it back. Brieux said no, and so began a cat-and-mouse game between them that stretched over several years. The friend was persistent and, finally, Brieux weakened and sold the book. Writing later of his regret he asked: “What gas or electric bill did I pay? What suit did I have made, now worn out and discarded?”
– from the article in Atlas Magazine, 1961
Surprising Surrealism
Most of the etchings in Giovanni Battista Braccelli’s Bizzarie di Varie Figure (1624) depict couples engaged in various acrobatic poses. Of of the “bizarre” aspects of Braccelli’s figures is that they appear to be composed of fabricated objects, such as metal links, plates, and screws. Some are even made from fully developed products, such as tennis rackets, concertinas, and shoe racks. In what became an inspiration to twentieth-century Surrealists, Braccelli employed a mannerist style that had virtually given way to the Baroque. The twisted imagination he exhibits in these 47 etchings often parodies the naturalistic works of his peers, notably Jacques Callot. Have a look at some of these strange “oddities,” in the Octavo Edition of the Bizzarie.
Most of the etchings in Giovanni Battista Braccelli’s Bizzarie di Varie Figure (1624) depict couples engaged in various acrobatic poses. Of of the “bizarre” aspects of Braccelli’s figures is that they appear to be composed of fabricated objects, such as metal links, plates, and screws. Some are even made from fully developed products, such as tennis rackets, concertinas, and shoe racks. In what became an inspiration to twentieth-century Surrealists, Braccelli employed a mannerist style that had virtually given way to the Baroque. The twisted imagination he exhibits in these 47 etchings often parodies the naturalistic works of his peers, notably Jacques Callot. Have a look at some of these strange “oddities,” in the Octavo Edition of the Bizzarie.
Early Etcher
The etching process used by Giovanni Battista Braccelli in his 1624 Bizzarie di Varie Figure was later used by much more famous artists such as Rembrandt, Goya, and Whistler. But the acceptance of acid-based etching was not immediate: it was initially regarded as a counterfeit form of engraving, in which the cuts into the metal place are made with tools, not acid. Once this bias passed, however, the subtleties afforded by the etching process made it the more appealing choice for fine art prints. Learn more about this process and have a look at the Octavo Edition of the Bizzarie.
The etching process used by Giovanni Battista Braccelli in his 1624 Bizzarie di Varie Figure was later used by much more famous artists such as Rembrandt, Goya, and Whistler. But the acceptance of acid-based etching was not immediate: it was initially regarded as a counterfeit form of engraving, in which the cuts into the metal place are made with tools, not acid. Once this bias passed, however, the subtleties afforded by the etching process made it the more appealing choice for fine art prints. Learn more about this process and have a look at the Octavo Edition of the Bizzarie.
Copyright © 1998-2005 Octavo. All rights reserved.
Send us your comments and questions.
Send us your comments and questions.
