Paul Valéry - Degas Danse Dessin [cartonnage Paul Bonet] - 1946

Paul Valéry. Degas Dance Drawing

Gallimard, Paris, 1946, (18 x 12 cm), 164 pages, publisher's decorated binding.

Edition printed in 1000 copies on fine watermarked alfa mousse paper, bound according to the model by Paul Bonet.

Beautiful copy in excellent condition.

Degas Danse Dessin (1936) is a major work by the French poet and philosopher Paul Valéry, the result of twenty years of friendship with the Impressionist painter Edgar Degas. Far from being a formal biography or an art critique, this book is a poetic and fragmented meditation on Degas's personality, his artistic approach, and his obsession with movement, particularly in dance and drawing.

Valéry depicts Degas as a complex figure: intellectually rigorous, emotionally contradictory, and deeply committed to the discipline of drawing. He explores themes of creativity, form, and movement, establishing a link between the dancer's body and the almost mathematical precision of Degas's artistic approach. The text also presents itself as a partial self-portrait, revealing Valéry's reflections on genius and artistic work.

Originally published by Ambroise Vollard in a luxurious limited edition, then reissued by Gallimard, the work remains a fundamental text for understanding Degas's legacy and Valéry's aesthetic philosophy.