Michael Kenna
Michael Kenna, Huangshan: Poems from the T'ang Dynasty, 2010
17 x 15 1/4 x 2 in.
Limited edition printed book with 12 platinum photographs tipped in and 1 loose platinum photograph in a portfolio; woven silk covered clam shell box
Featuring Michael Kenna’s haunting photographs of Huangshan, a mountain range in the east of China, this book presents over forty poems from the eighth century Tang Dynasty, an era regarded as the Golden Age of Chinese poetry. The mountain range has inspired artists and poets throughout Chinese history.
Translated by Stanton Hager, the poems in this book describe life in the mountains – traveling on mountain roads, the changing of the seasons, and the natural environment. Kenna’s evocative black and white photographs capture the elusive beauty of both the mountains and these poems. The text includes an introduction by John Wood and an afterword by the translator.
Kenna’s twelve platinum prints are tipped in the bound book hors texte. An additional platinum print is tipped onto a loose sheet of paper housed in a paper portfolio that is blind embossed. The platinum prints were printed by John Marcy, and each of the prints is signed by Kenna. The book and the portfolio are housed in a decorative silk-covered clamshell box with the artist’s name and the book’s title stamped in black on the spine.
This copy is number 18 out of 60 numbered copies and 15 lettered copies hors commerce. It is signed by Stanton Hager, John Wood, Michael Kenna, and publisher Steven Albahari.
Michael Kenna, Mont-Saint-Michel, 2008
16 3/4 x 14 3/4 in.
Limited edition printed book with 14 platinum photographs tipped in and 1 loose platinum photograph in a portfolio; woven silk covered clamshell box
Mont-Saint-Michel is a French islet on which stands an immense Benedictine abbey built, slowly, between the 11th and 16th centuries. This book portrays the Gothic beauty of Mont-Saint-Michel through Michael Kenna’s ethereal contemporary photography and Henry Adams’ stately turn-of-the-last-century prose. Adams, an historian and writer, originally printed Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres privately in 1904 and it was first published commercially in 1913. His essay discusses how cathedrals and abbeys such as Mont-Saint-Michel reflect the Medieval worldview. An abridged version is reprinted here.
Fourteen photographic platinum prints of Kenna’s work are tipped in to the book hors texte with an additional platinum print loose in a paper portfolio printed with the title and the artist’s name. The prints were made by John Marcy and are all signed by Michael Kenna. The book features an introduction by John Wood and a critical essay by Lance Speer.
This book is number 53 out of an edition of 60 numbered copies and 15 lettered copies hors commerce. It is signed by Michael Kenna, John Wood, Lance Speer, and publisher Steven Albahari.
