Adventures in the Print Trade: A new book on Chas Laborde

I have already posted here about the great between-the-wars etcher and illustrator Chas Laborde. Now Emmanuel Pollaud-Dulian, the man behind the excellent Chas Laborde and Gus Bofa websites, has kindly sent me a copy of his new book, which is a survey and celebration of Chas Laborde's art. The title is Chas Laborde: Un homme dans la foule (Chas Laborde: A man in the crowd), referring to Laborde's keenly observational account of street life not just in Paris but also in London, New York, Moscow, Madrid, and Berlin. Chas Laborde's most important works were the series of etched livres d'artiste he created under the generic title Rues et visages, beginning with Rues et visages de Paris in 1926.

Emmanuel Pollaud-Dulian, Chas Laborde: Un homme dans la foule

Paris: Michel Lagarde, ISBN 978-2-916421-22-3, €19

Chas Laborde, Rue Ménilmontant

Etching reproduced on p.15, I believe this comes from Rues et visages de Paris

The book is a very handsome production, well illustrated and researched, and modestly priced. It's so easy for an artist such as Chas Laborde to fall from view, and anything that keeps his name alive is very worthwhile. In many ways he was like a French version of George Grosz, if you can imagine a Grosz who observed his subjects with a tender and sympathetic humour, rather than savagery and scorn. There is an exhibition to coincide with the publication of the book, at l'Atelier An. Girard, Paris, from 20 May to 17 July.