MOLINIER (Pierre). - Lot 217

MOLINIER (Pierre). The Shaman and His Creatures. Introductory text by Roland Villeneuve. Bordeaux: William Blake & Co., Publisher, 1990. Large quarto, illustrated publisher’s cardboard binding. First edition of one of the major works devoted to Pierre Molinier (1900–1976), a singular figure in 20th-century art—a painter, photographer, and creator of an unparalleled erotic and surrealist universe. The book brings together a substantial selection of color and black-and-white photographs taken by Molinier, accompanied by a text by Roland Villeneuve, a specialist in surrealism and the arts of the uncanny. It traces the development of this imaginative world, where cross-dressing, fetishism, self-portraiture, photomontage, and bodily metamorphosis intertwine—themes that made Molinier a major influence on André Breton and, later, on numerous contemporary artists, from Pierre and Gilles to Cindy Sherman. Published with the support of the National Commission for Photography, this volume remains one of the most beautiful illustrated monographs dedicated to the artist. Condition: good copy. Small, discreet mark on the front cover, not serious.