Portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire

Currently not on view

Portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire

c. 1920

Louis Marcoussis (Louis Casimir Ladislas Markus) (French (born Poland), 1878–1941) Dedication proof inscribed to Raoul Dufy (French, 1877–1953)

The Polish-born artist Louis Marcoussis was born Louis Casimir Ladislas Markus, but changed his surname at the suggestion of his friend, the poet and art critic Guillaume Apollinaire, whom he met in the French village of Marcoussis. Both Apollinaire and Marcoussis served in World War I, and the poet is shown wearing a bandage to cover a serious head wound, which he suffered after shrapnel from an exploding shell pierced his helmet. This bandage adds a disquieting note to an otherwise jubilant image of the half-Polish poet (whose real surname, Kostrowicki, is shown in this print), who is presented against a backdrop of overlapping planes, redolent of the spines of books and bearing the titles of his poetry.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Titles:

Portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire
Apollinaire

Date:

c. 1920

Artists:

Louis Marcoussis (Louis Casimir Ladislas Markus) (French (born Poland), 1878–1941) Dedication proof inscribed to Raoul Dufy (French, 1877–1953)

Medium:

Etching and aquatint with drypoint

Dimensions:

Plate: 19 9/16 x 11 inches (49.7 x 27.9 cm) Sheet: 24 9/16 x 17 3/8 inches (62.4 x 44.1 cm)

Classification:

Prints

Credit Line:

Gift of The Judith Rothschild Foundation, 2007

Accession Number:

2007-113-2

Geography:

Made in Paris, France, Europe

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Currently not on view