Rufino Tamayo’s Apocalypse

Apocalypse de Saint Jean.
Monaco: Club International de Bibliophilie, 1959.
(12138)

Original lithographs by Rufino Tamayo – Text printed by Jean Paul Vibert – Lithographs printed by Lucien Détruit

Rufino del Carmen Arellanes Tamayo (1899–1991) was a Mexican painter and printmaker who was deeply influenced by his Mexican heritage as well as art movements including Impressionism, Cubism, and Fauvism. He gained an international reputation, living and exhibiting his work in New York (1937–1949) and Paris (1949–1959).

This publication was the first of a series by the Club International de Bibliophile in Monaco, titled Livres de Peintres Contemporains. The work is illustrated throughout with fourteen-color lithographs, including four two-page images of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The French text was selected from the Sainte Bible printed in 1672 by Le Maistre de Sacy, Isaac-Louis (1613–1684). The lithographic stones were sanded down after printing was completed.

An edition of two hundred and fifty-five copies was printed on Velin de Rives. Another edition of fifteen copies was printed on Auvergne du Moulin Richard de Bas and included a signed original sketch. Thirty additional copies were printed hors commerce. This copy is number 207 and is in loose sheets, as issued, with a box designed by Tamayo.