This Anguished World of Shadows: George Rouault's Miserere et Guerre

Holly Flora and Soo Yun Kang

ISBN 10: 1904832253 / ISBN 13: 9781904832256

Published by GILES & the Museum of Biblical Art, 2006

About this Item

Hardcover catalog from the show at the Museum of Biblical Art March - May 2006. Includes laid-in ephemera from the show. This copy is SIGNED by Soo Yun Kang on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1631580507017

Bibliographic Details

• Title: This Anguished World of Shadows: George Rouault's Miserere et Guerre
• Publisher: GILES & the Museum of Biblical Art
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1904832253
• ISBN 13: 9781904832256
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Art

About this title

Synopsis

A dying, shipwrecked man utters his last sentence, declaring that tomorrow will be beautiful. A poor woman struggles down the road carrying a heavy load on her back. A barren suburban street is outlined in shadows. These are among the haunting impressions in Georges Rouault’s Miserere print series, originally titled Miserere et Guerre (“Have mercy,” a quotation from Psalm 51, and “War”). This portfolio was initially commissioned in 1914, but remained unpublished until 1948, by which time Rouault had witnessed the immense destruction of World Wars I and II, and with them, the complete transformation of the European landscape. This Anguished World of Shadows: Georges Rouault’s Miserere et Guerre presents all fifty-eight prints from the series, offering a close look at this artist’s poignant commentary on the hardships of war and the promise of redemption. Rendered with thick black outlines and diffused gray tonalities that evoke the smoke and darkness of a world destroyed, the Miserere prints simultaneously have the luminescence of stained glass, hinting of light breaking through darkness. While sombre, the prints also carry the message of hope for renewal and rebirth, for as Rouault knew well, behind every shadow is a source of light.

Of the 450 editions of the Miserere originally printed, only a limited number remain intact; the series featured in this volume, is a generous loan from a private collector. This new colour catalogue features over seventy images, including all fifty-eight plates from the Miserere. The catalogue features contributions from MOBIA’s curatorial staff, including an essay on Rouault’s printmaking techniques by Dolores DeStefano and a bibliography

About the Author

Dolores DeStefano is Curator of Education at MOBIA.