Jean-Michel Othoniel & Jean-Claude Lebensztejn
Un fantôme dans votre bibliothèque

Renowned contemporary French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel is celebrated for his poetic work centered on transformation and illusion.

Titled “Un fantôme dans votre bibliothèque” [A Ghost in Your Library], this publication incorporates Jean-Claude Lebensztejn’s essay “Une rêverie émanée de mes loisirs.” Based on this essay, Othoniel composes the captions and notes for a nonexistent book he has imagined, borrowing the idea of a “ghost” from libraries: “De l’importance du mouchoir dans la peinture de Velásquez” [The significance of the handkerchief in Velázquez’s painting]. Conceived as a dictionary, the volume brings together twenty black-and-white photographs of Spanish masterworks taken by the artist at the Prado Museum (printed via collotype on 80 gsm Chromolux paper and laid out by Othoniel) along with sulfur and olive oil etching printed in yellow on 180 gsm Vélin Rives paper.

The text “De l’importance du mouchoir...” is set in italic Grandjean type (aka “Romains du Roi”, cut for Louis XIV 1693–1745), while the “Ghost” section is set in Roman Univers on 640 gsm Lanaquarelle paper, hand-finished by the artist.

Book IV.
Published in 1994
34.8 x 26 x 3.4 cm (case)
Limited edition of 150 copies, including 108 copies for sale, signed and numbered by the artist and the author

© Yvon Lambert Editions