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Misia Sert's Bookplate by Pierre Bonnard

About the Item

Misia Sert, a musical prodigy who once played the piano on Franz List’s knee, grew up to be a beauty, and remained the apogee of chic until she died at seventy-eight. She had been a muse to such avatars of modernism as Cocteau, Stravinsky, Diaghilev, and Coco Chanel, whom she introduced to opium and, it was rumored, sapphism. As one might expect of a muse to the intelligentsia, she had a library. She commissioned Pierre Bonnard, who had painted her often, to create this bookplate. It depicts a potted, flowering plant on her dining room table, set for just one. Bonnard designed only one other bookplate, for another friend, the art historian Charles Terrasse, who wrote the introduction to Francis Bouvet’s 1983 book 'Bonnard: The Complete Graphic Work,' where an etched study for the bookplate is cataloged, but not the bookplate itself. That it was unknown to the author indicates its rarity. It is now matted and in a giltwood frame.
  • Creator:
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Width: 9.25 in (23.5 cm)Depth: 0.5 in (1.27 cm)
  • Style:
    Modern (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
    Paper,Etched
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
    1910-1919
  • Date of Manufacture:
    circa 1920
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use. The sheet is mounted to a back sheet with glue at each of the four corners. The frame is a bit loose at the corners.
  • Seller Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1061411668261

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