Magasin "Musée Hermès Voyage En Extrême-Orient Carnet De Croquis" 2014 DUMAS, Philippe

DUMAS, Philippe

[37] pp.

Actes Sud/ Hermès

2014

4 1/4" x 6 1/2"

On the occasion of the release of a ninth notebook inspired by "The Metamorphosis", the theme of the year 2014 at Hermès, Actes Sud and Hermès have decided to reissue all of Philippe Dumas sketchbooks, made between 1988 and 1995.

This intimate escape leads us into the secret garden of Hermès soul, at the crossroads of memories and wonders of the fervent collector that was Émile Hermès. Philippe Dumas lets his pencil and brush wander here, among the profusion of objects, paintings and books collected by his grandfather - all evocative of horses or travel. Nine annual themes of Hermès serve as an Ariadnes thread: Exoticism, Living France, Life in the Open Air, Journey to the Far East, The Sea, Long Live the Horse, The Sun, The Road and The Metamorphosis thus give their respective titles and pretexts to each of these nine delicately watercolored sketchbooks.

With his lively, light line, skillful in reproducing movement, his unequalled gift of observation to grasp the charm of such a delicious detail, his very personal sensitivity to the whispers of human voices rustling in these objects that are supposedly silent, Philippe Dumas brings to life the witnesses of the travels of yesteryear. No doubt this life draws on the freshness of his childhood impressions. The artist remembers the first wonderful escapes through space and time in his grandfathers office-museum. Following him, without leaving Paris except through the enchantment of the gaze, let us rediscover the change of scenery of the roads of the Far East, the stony paths of Sicily, the wooded paths of the Île-de-France inviting you to picnics or the cobbled roads of old Paris, tinkling with the bells of the horses... As the Latin philosopher saw a certain sweetness in the spectacle of the storm observed from the tranquility of the shore, perhaps we will reflect that it is sweet, in the age of the aeroplane, to shudder at the epics lived by the travelers of the age of the horse