Leymarie 1949
Jérôme Bosch (Jean Leymarie) 1949
[Aimery Somogy, Paris, 1949, 120 pages]
[Dutch translation: Jean Leymarie, Jheronimus Bosch. Van Holkema & Warendorf, Amsterdam, 1949, 102 pages]
[Also mentioned in Gibson 1983: 8 (A35)]
A short introduction to Bosch and a large number of colour and black and white photos of mediocre quality. We know very little about the life of the painter. His being familiar with theatrical performances explains the well-captured dramatic perspective in his works. Unlike the followers of van Eyck with their artificial and formal banality, Bosch’s view of the world is clear and satirical. Typical of Bosch is his deep pessimism regarding the earthly vanities.
Surrealism and psychoanalysis show that Bosch’s dream images are modern in a surprising way. Some call him a heretic, others call him a moralist: ‘Probably it is best not to reveal the secrets, but to let the visonary – perhaps more unwary than is often claimed – have free play in his simple, interestingly tragicomical phantasmagories…’ [p. X].
A quote like this clearly shows that Leymarie’s text is not breaking new ground. His introduction is very superficial and limits itself to repeating what former authors have written.
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