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Nativity
'A large Nativity on a single panel, the canon had said; narrative altarpieces are no longer in fashion. You'll need to come and measure the palace chapel. Or perhaps an Adoration, with shepherds and wise men, if you'd rather, added the canon, but for the same price. Your fee will not be based on the number of horses or camels, but on the way in which you make the incarnation of divinity visible. Christ and sex - right off, the two words seem mutually exclusive. The word sin separates them and keeps them forever at a distance. The former is exempt from it, and the latter is immersed in it. And for precisely that reason, bringing them together in an image would be the strongest and surest way to create surprise and strike the senses.'
The ambiguous figure of the baby Jesus and his representation in art run through the whole of this short narrative essay, by the author of Now Now, Louison (2018).
‘One day in 2007,’ recalls Jean Frémon about a visit to artist Louise Bourgeois’s studio, ‘I discovered an entirely new series of drawings…. silhouettes of women with embryos in their wombs, drawn with a brush full of water and red gouache. These drawings were, for me, the most poignant of her long career. Each time I visited, Louise would ask me about what I was writing. … I said: it’s the story of the first painter who had the idea of representing the baby Jesus completely naked rather than in swaddling clothes…. Louise asked me for the text, which I sent to her. When I next came to visit her, five drawings were awaiting me to illustrate the book. The French edition was published by Fata Morgana on 25 December 2009, the birthday not only of Jesus, but also of Louise Bourgeois. Several weeks later, Louise signed the fifteen books that made up the limited edition.’
The ambiguous figure of the baby Jesus and his representation in art run through the whole of this short narrative essay, by the author of Now Now, Louison (2018).
‘One day in 2007,’ recalls Jean Frémon about a visit to artist Louise Bourgeois’s studio, ‘I discovered an entirely new series of drawings…. silhouettes of women with embryos in their wombs, drawn with a brush full of water and red gouache. These drawings were, for me, the most poignant of her long career. Each time I visited, Louise would ask me about what I was writing. … I said: it’s the story of the first painter who had the idea of representing the baby Jesus completely naked rather than in swaddling clothes…. Louise asked me for the text, which I sent to her. When I next came to visit her, five drawings were awaiting me to illustrate the book. The French edition was published by Fata Morgana on 25 December 2009, the birthday not only of Jesus, but also of Louise Bourgeois. Several weeks later, Louise signed the fifteen books that made up the limited edition.’
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 4, 2023
The mystery is not that he’s God – no one disputes that – it’s that this god is a man. That’s what I have to show; that’s what the canon expects of me. And since the Word was made flesh in order to correct those who search for God in mere appearances, I have to paint this newly formed flesh in all of its attributes.
Complete in all his parts, the canon had said; remember Augustine’s words.
In 2018 I read and reviewed the excellent, Republic of Consciousness Prize longlisted, Now, Now Louison, published by Les Fugitives and translated by Cole Swanson from the French original Calme toi, Louison (2016) by Jean Fremon, a gallerist as well as a writer, known for his 'hybrid genre of art-historical fictional essays,' where he typically takes a real-life artist as a character in the novel.
Now, Now Louison was narrated by a fictional representation of the real-life French-American artist Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) in dialogue with herself.
Nativity is a translation of an earlier work, published in colloboration with the artist while she was still alive. In 2007, Fremon made one of his regular visits to Bourgeois' New York studio:
I discovered an entirely new series of drawings. They were silhouettes of women with embryos in their wombs, drawn with a brush full of water and red gouache. These drawings were, for me, the most poignant of her long career.
when Bourgeois asked, in turn, what he was working on, he told her:
it’s the story of the first painter who had the idea of representing the baby Jesus completely naked rather than in swaddling clothes.
The parallels between the story and her drawing of pregnancy and birth struck us both. Louise asked me for the text, which I sent to her. When I next came to visit her, five drawings were awaiting me to illustrate the book.
The original book, Naissance (avec Louise Bourgeois), was published, in a limited edition, in France on Christmas Day (also Bourgeois's birthday) 2009. Now we are priviliged to have this stunningly produced book in English translation, courtesy of Cole Swenson and the wonderful publisher Les Fugitives.
The short book (45 pages) consists of Fremon's art-historical fictional essay which, indeed, tells, respectfully, the story of the first painter who decided to represent the baby Jesus naked, inspired by Leo Steinberg's The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion, interspersed with reproductions of Bourgeois' moving drawings.
An extract from the book and one of the drawings can be found on The Arts Desk website.
Highly recommended, 4.5 stars, and a particularly wonderful Christmas read.
A word on the publisher. This is the 14th book from small independent Les Fugitives. I've read and reviewed them all - see my shelf.
Their own self-description:
A theological aside: I'm not sure of the origin of the 'complete in all his parts' Augustine reference. I tend to associate the phrase more with Calvin, and his comment, based on Ephesians 1:22-23 that:
This is the highest honor of the church that, unless He is united to us, the Son of God reckons Himself in some measure imperfect. What an encouragement it is for us to hear, that not until He has us as one with Himself is He complete in all His parts, or does He wish to be regarded as whole.
Complete in all his parts, the canon had said; remember Augustine’s words.
In 2018 I read and reviewed the excellent, Republic of Consciousness Prize longlisted, Now, Now Louison, published by Les Fugitives and translated by Cole Swanson from the French original Calme toi, Louison (2016) by Jean Fremon, a gallerist as well as a writer, known for his 'hybrid genre of art-historical fictional essays,' where he typically takes a real-life artist as a character in the novel.
Now, Now Louison was narrated by a fictional representation of the real-life French-American artist Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) in dialogue with herself.
Nativity is a translation of an earlier work, published in colloboration with the artist while she was still alive. In 2007, Fremon made one of his regular visits to Bourgeois' New York studio:
I discovered an entirely new series of drawings. They were silhouettes of women with embryos in their wombs, drawn with a brush full of water and red gouache. These drawings were, for me, the most poignant of her long career.
when Bourgeois asked, in turn, what he was working on, he told her:
it’s the story of the first painter who had the idea of representing the baby Jesus completely naked rather than in swaddling clothes.
The parallels between the story and her drawing of pregnancy and birth struck us both. Louise asked me for the text, which I sent to her. When I next came to visit her, five drawings were awaiting me to illustrate the book.
The original book, Naissance (avec Louise Bourgeois), was published, in a limited edition, in France on Christmas Day (also Bourgeois's birthday) 2009. Now we are priviliged to have this stunningly produced book in English translation, courtesy of Cole Swenson and the wonderful publisher Les Fugitives.
The short book (45 pages) consists of Fremon's art-historical fictional essay which, indeed, tells, respectfully, the story of the first painter who decided to represent the baby Jesus naked, inspired by Leo Steinberg's The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion, interspersed with reproductions of Bourgeois' moving drawings.
An extract from the book and one of the drawings can be found on The Arts Desk website.
Highly recommended, 4.5 stars, and a particularly wonderful Christmas read.
A word on the publisher. This is the 14th book from small independent Les Fugitives. I've read and reviewed them all - see my shelf.
Their own self-description:
In the belief that short works make for an ideal introduction to an author’s oeuvre we focus on short books. Our flexible approach gives translators and editors optimal conditions in which to perfect their work.
We favour storytelling that follows in the steps of the modernists’ efforts and their successors, and writing that sits comfortably between genres: non-linear narratives, sometimes better described as textes (in French). This said, the modernists did not invent ‘mongrel books’, and neither did we.
Cinema has long infiltrated the world of literature and, partly inspired by our first title, we endeavour to build a collection that has either a distinct cinematic feel in the writing itself, if not a direct link with film history. Other arts come into play in our books, including photography, painting and music.
A theological aside: I'm not sure of the origin of the 'complete in all his parts' Augustine reference. I tend to associate the phrase more with Calvin, and his comment, based on Ephesians 1:22-23 that:
This is the highest honor of the church that, unless He is united to us, the Son of God reckons Himself in some measure imperfect. What an encouragement it is for us to hear, that not until He has us as one with Himself is He complete in all His parts, or does He wish to be regarded as whole.
December 28, 2023
A short and really moving read. Maybe the book was sentimental, maybe I’m feeling sentimental at the moment, but it touched me in a deep, post religious place I haven’t been touched in a while. Will be trotting it out next Christmas Eve for sure.
December 16, 2020
I picked this little book up in the London Review Bookshop last week. I already have Fremon’s Now, Now, Louison (Les Fugutives, 2018) sitting on my TBR, and was drawn to this as an actual collaboration between Fremon and Louise Bourgeois.
His own summary, presented at the end, gives a good snapshot of the book: “I had just written a short piece that took almost all of its argumentation from Leo Steinberg’s seminal book The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion. I can sum it up easily, I said: it’s the story of the first painter who had the idea of representing the baby Jesus completely naked rather than in swaddling clothes. The parallels between the story and her drawings of pregnancy and birth struck us both. Louise asked me for the text, which I sent to her. When I next came to visit her, five drawings were awaiting me to illustrate the book.”
I love the suggestion hinted by the juxtaposition of Bourgeois’s images of foetuses in the womb with the text that the significance of divinity being “made flesh” did not begin at birth, but before then, in the amniotics. And, as always, I love the visceral nature of Bourgeois’s work. Now, I must track down a copy of the French book (Fata Morgana, 2009), of which this is a new English translation.
This book won’t be for everyone, but I enjoyed adding it to my advent contemplations.
His own summary, presented at the end, gives a good snapshot of the book: “I had just written a short piece that took almost all of its argumentation from Leo Steinberg’s seminal book The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion. I can sum it up easily, I said: it’s the story of the first painter who had the idea of representing the baby Jesus completely naked rather than in swaddling clothes. The parallels between the story and her drawings of pregnancy and birth struck us both. Louise asked me for the text, which I sent to her. When I next came to visit her, five drawings were awaiting me to illustrate the book.”
I love the suggestion hinted by the juxtaposition of Bourgeois’s images of foetuses in the womb with the text that the significance of divinity being “made flesh” did not begin at birth, but before then, in the amniotics. And, as always, I love the visceral nature of Bourgeois’s work. Now, I must track down a copy of the French book (Fata Morgana, 2009), of which this is a new English translation.
This book won’t be for everyone, but I enjoyed adding it to my advent contemplations.
August 19, 2022
a short and succinct read that describes the revelation of the first painter to depict baby Jesus with the sexes shown and in full nakedness. The train of thought that builds throughout the book reflects a sense of irony of how mankind in the end shuns themselves from the pure form of which we came into this world- naked and raw. The book also dipped into the concept of the Son of God came in the form of a human, and how we as mankind tend to shy away from what we truly are. Beings that die and reborn, for eternity, as if God can be reflected amongst ourselves. There is an explanation of how the author took inspiration from Steinberg's The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion. I hope to be able to have the time to read that as this is already quite interesting. Overall a very quick and enjoyable read to prod on my almost rotting brain.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews