Venice (Louis Vuitton Travel Book) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1912097044 ISBN 13: 9781912097043

Publisher: Ponent Mon, 2017

Synopsis

BY INVITATION ONLY. When Louis Vuitton decided to produce a series of deluxe travel books for the new century they invited only hand picked artists from around the world and placed them in settings unfamiliar to the artists to bring this vision to life. For one of the world’s most visited and romantic cities, Venice, they chose Jiro Taniguchi to glorify this magnificent city with his beautifully painted scenes. Being Taniguchi he wove a storyline around the wide open vistas, narrow canals and crowded piazzas of ‘La Serenissima’. . .

After his mother’s death aged 78, the author discovers a beautifully lacquered box which contains what appear to be old photos and hand-drawn postcards of Venice. One photo of Piazza San Marco particularly catches his eye. It is of a Japanese couple feeding a multitude of pigeons in the square dressed in what looked like 1930’s styled clothes. Who were they? What relevance did they have for his mother?

Armed with the contents of the lacquered box he travels to Venice to track down the places and events displayed in the images and to discover the identity of the young couple in the old photographs.

With very few but well chosen words and his artist’s eye for detail, Taniguchi portrays the Venice of today in a most deserving light.

Louis Vuitton made a short to introduce the book in which the Taniguchi-san walks through the city sketching and photographing scenes for the book and explains his approach to creating this project.

(Jiro Taniguchi)

About this title

About the Author

Jiro Taniguchi August 14, 1947 - February 11, 2017. Born in Tottori, Japan he was heavily influenced by European comic book masters - Moebius, Schuiten, Crespin - he worked together with Sekikawa and Utsumi before creating many solo albums. His work has been much lauded in his native Japan and Europe including top honors for both script and art at the Angouleme Festival in France. He also garnered 5 Eisner Award nominations at San Diego Comic-Con in his lifetime.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Louis Vuitton "Travel Book" collection is an invitation to real and virtual voyages enriched by intellectual stimulation and poignant moments.

In its pages the illustrations of renowned artists or promising young talents tell the stories of the cities or countries they have visited, depicting the varied architecture, maybe the special light of their chosen topic whilst recording the passing days and lives of its people.

Heirs of the Louis Vuitton "Carnets de Voyage" collection which, for nearly twelve years, captured the urban adventures of a few illustrators and watercolorists, these "Travel Books" offer a new contemporary vision of travel, exploring from the remote wilderness to the cities that never sleep. This fresh approach dares to examine different cultures through the eyes of artists unfamiliar with them. Each artist confronts this unfamiliar place with a viewpoint sharpened by the surprise of the unknown or stimulated by the pleasure of discovery. This vision of a place as a blank, unlined page inspires incisive commentaries that may be narrative, affectionate, satirical or picturesque.

Going beyond the pictorial vocation of these travel journals, the collection highlights the rich aesthetic horizons of today's art. The creative worlds on show are highly diverse: during their travels these artists, from various corners of the world, were free to choose their mode of expression and communicate their views of other places through drawing, painting, collage, comtemporary art, illustration, cartoons or manga. Some of the original works born of these journeys, whether figurative or more allusive, have been acquired by Louis Vuitton and will join the collection of contemporsary art being put together by the company, enriching it with the diversity of the viewpoints represented.

(LOUIS VUITTON TRAVEL BOOK)

About this edition

• Publisher: Ponent Mon
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1912097044
• ISBN 13: 9781912097043
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128
• Illustrator: Taniguchi Jiro