La Prose du Transsibérien et de la Petite Jehanne de France

Sonia Delaunay

1913

Pochoir (stencils) in gouache and watercolor, with color relief printing (letterpress) on four joined sheets of imitation Japanese paper, accordion-folded and bound with parchment covers hand-painted by the artist

Minneapolis Institute of Art

An abstract composition of colorful shapes and text arranged vertically. The left side features dynamic, overlapping forms in vibrant hues, while the right side displays columns of text interspersed with blocks of color. An abstract composition of colorful shapes and text arranged vertically. The left side features dynamic, overlapping forms in vibrant hues, while the right side displays columns of text interspersed with blocks of color. Considered one of the milestones of early modernism, this collaborative artist’s book features a prose-poem by Swiss-born Blaise Cendrars recalling a journey he made as a boy on the Trans-Siberian Express, which ran from St. Petersburg, Russia, to the Sea of Japan. His companion on the trip is Jehanne, a young French prostitute named after Joan of Arc, and as the barren landscape rushes by him on the train, he recou