[CLAES, EDGAR]. Vlaminck, Maurice de. Communications: Poèmes & Bois Gravès. Paris, Editions de la Galerie Simon, (1921).

Quarto. (13) ff. One of 100 copies. Signed by the author-artist and the binder. Ten poems by the French painter Vlaminck, illustrated with wood engravings by him printed in black.

Along with Matisse and Derain, Vlaminck was a key member of the French Fauvist movement that flourished at the beginning of the twentieth century, emphasizing a bold use of color in their paintings. Vlaminck in particular was known for sometimes applying paint to his canvases in thick gobs. This aesthetic can be seen somewhat in the thirteen woodcuts in Communications, which although printed in black, are characterized by thick, informal lines.

The artwork contrasts wonderfully with the book's ultra-modern kinetic binding, executed in 2007 by Brother Edgar Claes of Belgium. After studying in art, design, and layout, Claes went on to study binding with Ren, de Cock, and August Kulche at the Rijksinstitut in Malines, where he was later appointed professor. His original intent was to do restoration work in the monastery library, but his creativity and zeal led him to the use of innovative materials, such as automobile paint, and cutting-edge abstract designs that emphasize the structure of the book. He won the Prix International de Reliure d'Art in 1986, and was given a one-man show in Paris in 1993.

This binding, apparently made of a polycarbonate, features a kinetic design, both covers consisting of eleven interlocking gear wheels, variously colored with auto paint, housed within a multi-colored frame which has been fashioned into an intrictate pattern of grids and circles. At either fore-edge is a small notch exposing the edge of one of the gears. A turn of this wheel sets all the gears turning in unison, their various colors in motion behind the complicated pattern of the frame, for an almost dizzying effect. The boards are fastened to the spine with metal hinges so that the covers move freely and the gears are easy to manipulate.

The endpapers are made of red micro-fiber similar to suede, and the book is housed in a hinged case of the same material as the binding, the covers of the case stamped with a grid and circle pattern generally matching the one on the binding. Master binder August Kulche once said of Claes, "He is one of the few whose hands obey his brain to perfection," and this ingenious piece of workmanship is proof of that statement. Extremely fine, housed in a protective chemise of gray micro-fiber. (22243) $20,000

[Click here to order online]