JSL writes:

I must admit I was a bit grumpy when Richard suggested that along with the afternoon book symposium Borderland: Visual Poetics in Artists’ Books that we see the Tissot, too. Tissot, who?

Although I do not particularly care for frou-frou (Rococo is not my fav- the exception being Fragonard’s The Swing) I was surprised at how Tissot’s flounce caught my eye. Fascinated by the swoosh of his brushwork I got caught in his virtuoso swirl. And who doesn’t love a fancy party?

After a quick dip into Fashion and Faith, we headed for the auditorium, where we met up with our colleagues and friends, many we had not seen since our retirement from our EW book publishing days. Book lovers really do come out for this event — so there were plenty of hugs and kisses all around. 

The program began with Steve Woodall making the introductions, giving props to the many contributors who made the day possible. So glad that Steve directed us to the Insights online post about artists books—and so glad he gave props to our friend Radek Skrivanek (Axis Point Studio) who, in a true techno-feat, animated the turning of pages of Dlia Golosa an illustrated book of revolutionary Russian  poetry. 

It was a chock-a-block afternoon of presentations by a group of distinguished artists and scholars. David Singer, SFMOMA librarian, brought to our attention an amazing mix of projects that we had never heard of. We have now spent many happy hours via Google ferreting out the links. As we proceed through the Now of Now Art, we will describe several in detail.  For Now, you can go the Lesson One, a revelation about 128 Details from a Picture a book by Gerhard Richter.

In a last minute sprint at 5:13 ( the museum closes at 5:15) I hot footed it to have a quick check in with my touchstone Van Gogh that I wrote about in our History of Drawing Lesson Nine  last year on our way to the book symposium. It’s still there and it’s still as T.S. Eliot wrote, “at the still turning point of the turning world.”

The elegant courtyard of the Legion of Honor is a popular place to stage wedding photographs. Often between the columns there are coy brides flirting with the camera. It was our good luck, just as we were leaving, to come full-circle with the theme of the flounce.