Thursday, April 21, 2016

Vivant Denon, word and deed


In 2009 New York Review Books Classics published No Tomorrow in a bilingual edition with English translation by Lydia Davis. This short novel of thrilling and elegant dalliance was written in the 1770s, probably by Vivant Denon (1747-1825). He was primarily known not as a writer but as a graphic artist and ultimately the chief arts administrator under Napoleon. To this day, the Denon wing of the Louvre is named for him.

Vivant Denon
Self-portrait
ca. 1780
etching
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Vivant Denon
Self-portrait in Studio
18th century
drawing
Morgan Library

"She had taken my arm again and we resumed our walk without my noticing the path we were following. What she had just hinted at about the lover I knew she had, what she was telling me about the mistress she knew I had, this whole trip, the scene in the carriage, the scene on the grassy bank, the time of night  all of it disturbed me: I was by turns overcome with vanity or desire, and then returned to myself by reflection."  No Tomorrow

Vivant Denon
Young author
18th century
etching
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vivant Denon
Satire of Episode in the French Revolution
18th century
drawing
Morgan Library

Vivant Denon
Severed Head (said to be Robespierre's)
1794
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vivant Denon
Lady Hamilton as Innocence, or Vestal
18th century
etching
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Vivant Denon
Lady Hamilton as Hagar in the Desert
18th century
etching
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Vivant Denon
Lady Hamilton in Two Attitudes
18th century
etching
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Vivant Denon
Portrait of Annetta Coltellini
18th century
etching
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Vivant Denon
Self-portrait with Plumed Hat
18th century
etching
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Joseph Charles Marin
Bust of Vivant Denon
1827
marble
Louvre