Cassigneul, Jean-Pierre, Frontispiece to Pièces condamnées, 1977

When we enter these “Condemned Rooms”, where dreamers succeed walkers, Baudelaire greets us. Naked, languid, solitary, the women of after love or of its expectation bathe in an air almost liquid and dark (..)” [1]

This frontispiece represents one of the original lithographs Jean-Pierre Cassigneul produced for Les Pièces Condamnées by Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) in 1977, with a foreword by Jean-Louis Bory. The book is printed in an edition of 305 copies, including 250 numbered copies, 20 artist’s copies and 35 hors commerce on Arches paper, with 30 lithographs: a frontispiece, 6 double-page color plates, 23 full-page or in-text single-color compositions. Jean-Pierre Cassigneul’s works evoke a sense of grace and harmony, capturing the essence of feminine beauty and celebrating it through elegant, timeless compositions. His ability to skilfully combine tradition and modernity makes him one of the most appreciated contemporary artists in the field of figurative painting.

[1] Jean François Josselin, Cassigneul Lithographe et Graveur, Paris, 1989