Insane Asylum (Asile de fous)

Louis Marcoussis’ poetic sensibility and literary interests led him to develop close relationships with writers including Max Jacob and Tristan Tzara, in addition to his close friendship with the poet and critic Guillaume Apollinaire. This cycle of ten etchings is based on the poem Aurélia by Gérard de Nerval, the tragic French Romantic poet who had committed suicide in 1855. Aurélia was one of Marcoussis’ favorite literary works. The tonal effects of this particular etched series evoke perfectly the dream-like quality of Nerval’s writing as the artist explored the lyrical world of Cubist lines and shapes in translating a literary image into visual poetry. (Translations of the stanzas from Nerval’s poem that inspired each print composition are provided under each image.) From an early stage Marcoussis’ work displays a brooding, mysterious quality and a penchant for personal Surrealist imagery, traits also in this print cycle.