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PAUL COLIN (1892-1986)
36
•
LE TUMULTE NOIR. Portfolio with 22 plates. 1927.
18
1
/
2
x12
1
/
2
inches, 47x29 cm.
Condition varies, generally A: minor soiling and abrasions on cover. Paper.
Le Tumulte Noir
is a portfolio consisting of 42 original lithographs by
Colin, all hand-colored in pochoir, an elaborate procedure involving
stencils for each different color. An advertisement in the rare program
from the
Bal Negre
announces that this album was designed for and
sold at this special one-night event, which was Colin’s brainchild and
tribute to the “black craze” of Paris. Only 500 copies were printed,
and each portfolio includes a facsimile of a letter of introduction written
by Josephine Baker, a preface by Rip (the satirist George Thenon), and
a sort of calligrame in the shape of a palm tree by Colin. The album is
divided into two parts, the first one is dedicated to Josephine Baker
and the black musicians and dancer. It is exquisitely stylized, drawn
with a free hand, full of wit, movement, and invention showing Paul
Colin at his very best. The second part is a satire of Paris under the
spell of the Charleston rage. Following in the steps, and very much in
the style, of Sem, Colin is cartooning in funny and sometimes cruel
satire, the Parisian music hall stars of the moment: Mistinguett, Maurice
Chevalier, Cecile Sorel, the Dolly Sisters, as well as the chansonniers
Rip and Saint-Granier, a cubist Jean Borlin of the Ballet Suedois and
even the tennis champion Suzanne Lenghen.
Le Tumulte Noir
is the
best album depicting Paris in the throes of the Charleston craze. It is
becoming harder and harder to find this portfolio complete (in addition
to the edition of 500, 10 copies were printed on Japan paper and 10 others
on Madagascar Vellum), as most existing copies have been broken up.
[20,000/30,000]