Douglas Cooper (2) (1911–1984)

The book contains 84 pages of text with 44 drawings accompanying the text, 447 reproductions (plates), Letters and Documents often in facsimile, transcription and English translation and an extensive Selected Bibliography.

The book has grown out of the exhibition Picasso et le Théâtre at the Musée des Augustin, Toulouse in 1965, in the preparation of which Douglas Cooper, collector, art-lover and critic, at the request of Picasso himself, was personally involved. Picasso cooperated with C. in the preparation of this book in the selection of drawings and sketches, and through conversations and reminiscences. Hence his detailed account of Picasso’s involvement with the theatre in the years 1915 to 1925, his cooperation with Diaghilew, Cocteau, Massine, Satie …is a unique historical document and its publication valuable. However, I find the text going into greater detail than is of interest to me and possibly most readers, also at times verbose.

The design of the text-pages is exemplary: footnotes and references to plates are placed in the generous margins at the appropriate height; drawings accompanying the text are placed there or below the text and are labeled (in addition to being listed in the Appendix): all in all a pleasure to look at.
Plates are mostly - some exceptions - in chronological order and are only numbered, not labeled. To look up any information one has to refer to the numbered list in the Appendix. This is extremely inconvenient with a book of this size and weight. It is a major design-fault in an otherwise beautifully produced edition.
This 1987 edition is printed on glossy paper instead of the heavy matt paper used for the original 1968 edition. I would have preferred the latter as it is less vulnerable.

For me, the value of this expensive (!) book lies foremost in the drawings, probably the great majority, that I have never seen reproduced before. (I-14)

YouTube has a fascinating documentary about Picasso’s life: 13 journées dans la vie de Picasso. As one commentator says: “Extraordinaire, je n’arrive pas a croire que je suis reste 3 h scotché .. »… (more)