LEPORELLO IS CHARACTER in Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni. He keeps a long list of his master’s romantic conquests in a special, accordion-style, concertina book. His book is designed so the list can be unfurled at a moment’s notice to huge comic effect!
I’ve always loved this style of book, known today simply as a leporello. They work really well as artist’s sketchbooks, since they can either opened out – to be viewed as a single image – or else read page by page like any other book. This adds an interesting narrative layer to a series of drawings, paintings, or in my case paper cuttings. For the last few months I’ve been working to convert one such sketchbook into a short-run, limited-edition artist’s book, and I’m very excited to be finally launching it! I hope it may be of interest to some of those who like my work.
The book is Railway Silhouettes from Switzerland, which I introduced in a previous newsletter. I chose this book because it seemed to me a formative work, helping me explore the art of silhouettes in a whole new light. It contains a series of experimental silhouettes, which I created during a trip to Switzerland in 2023 and pasted into a sketchbook to document the journey. There are many silhouettes of buildings, and other sights seen on the way, as well as a few really odd artistic explorations. These include cutting a silhouette of a mountain (in this case, the Matterhorn) and a paper cutting of the sky over another mountain. Such subjects are not usually listed in the repertoire of a silhouettist!
Railway Silhouettes from Switzerland
I’m offering a reproduction of this sketchbook as a limited edition of 50 (or possibly 52 – I didn’t quite decide yet) artist’s books. The book is a leporello, following the style of my original sketchbook, bookended with a pair of printed end covers. I’ve also created a unique, blue sleeve, which slides over the book to hold it all together when not being read. This printed sleeve helps to give the book a spine, with a title to identify it when placed in a book shelf. (Leporellos don’t usually have spines at all.)
Each book is signed and numbered by me on the title page and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. As is customary with such books, once the edition is sold out I guarantee not make a second edition or any further copies. There will only ever be 50 (or possibly 52) numbered copies of the book + three “artist’s proofs” (ie: the ones that went wrong during production… ) Currently about half the edition has been assembled and is available for sale. Once these are gone, further buyers will be asked to remain on a waiting list until the remainder are available, probably early in the new year.
Assembling an artist’s book
To design the book I first weeded out a number of less successful, or repetitive paper cuttings. The finished book contains around 25 silhouettes from 33 or so in the original sketchbook. I say “about 25” since some are cut in two parts, or pasted across two pages, so it isn’t immediately apparent whether they count as one cutting or two! A few of those weeded out were later printed onto the end covers and blue paper sleeve.
The long paper of the leporello was printed, with all the drawn elements and my hand-written captions, before being folded by hand and sandwiched between the end covers. This work was carefully carried out by Your Print Solution, who also create custom silhouette wallets for various events I get booked for. I then asked the designer Niki Wrigg to create 55 faithful copies of each silhouette using a laser cutter. The manual task left for me is to glue each silhouette in place, carefully lining them up with the various drawn elements printed into the book.
I’ve mounted most silhouettes deliberately loose: glued either at one edge or sometimes just one corner. This allows them to be lifted away from the paper giving a better idea of how they were cut. Laser can actually cut far smaller holes in the paper than would ever be possible with scissors, so many of the small details which I to my sketchbook added in pen could have been laser cut in the limited edition. However, I chose not to do this, but rather to make all the images as similar as possible to the originals.
Technical stuff
The book measures 182 x 121 mm when folded. If opened out flat the total length is 3.5 metres (you need a large room to do this). The concertina pages were printed onto 150gsm silk paper, while the cream-coloured end covers were printed onto GF Smith paper, wrapped over two boards, as well as the blue sleeve. The silhouettes were laser from 120gsm solid black paper (no white edges) which is slightly heavier than the 80gsm paper I use when working with scissors.
Artist’s Books
Artist’s books occupy a fascinating corner of the art world in which the book itself is considered the work of art. They from other art books you may have come across in that the book is the art, rather than being about the art. Many artists have made such books and it has long been ambition of mine to do the same. I’m very happy to be adding my name to the long list of artists who make them.
Owing such a book feels like a private pleasure, a small act of indulgence. They represent unique objects in a world in which we’re surrounded by the mass produced. For those whose walls are already full, they’re also a great way to expand your art collection without wondering where on Earth to put it!
If you’re an artist (or aspire to be) you’ll find an interesting introduction to the concept of artist’s books on the Jackson’s Art blog. Such books can be made as limited editions or even as one-off objects. They are often self-published (as mine is), self-financed by artist, and therefore have a uniquely hand-printed or hand-assembled appearance.
As always I’d love to see your public feedback about this project below. I do always reply to such comments although it can take a day or two for them to appear!
