Braccelli: Bizzarie di Varie Figure
The Bizzarie (Livorno, 1624) can rightly lay claim to being a prime exemplar of the artistic enigma � a work truly without precedent or explanation beside itself. Its sensuous imagery, occupying a dreamlike space between thought and form, made it an underground sensation amongst twentieth-century artists and connoisseurs. The art historian Sir Kenneth Clark (1903�83) was instrumental in the rediscovery of Braccelli, and the poet Tristan Tzara (1896-1963) drew parallels between these etchings and the revolutionary artistic agendas of Dada and Surrealism.
[This is a very nice book of illustrations, about 50, which, while probably not quite nonsensical, have a lot in common with later nonsense illustration. While the reproduction is good, it is hard to appreciate the small pictures.]
Octavo Edition