OPUS INTERNATIONAL 1
Avril 1967
Jean-Clarence Lambert [Editor], Roman Cieslewicz [Designer]
Jean-Clarence Lambert [Editor], Roman Cieslewicz [Designer]: OPUS INTERNATIONAL 1. Paris: Editions Georges Fall, Avril 1967. Text in French. Quarto. Perfect bound thick printed wrappers. 101 pp. Illustrated articles and advertisements. Period correct graphic design, typography and cover design by Roman Cieslewicz and Roland Topor. Holographic plastic eye intact. Wrappers lightly shelfworn, but a very good or better copy.
7 x 10.5 softcover journal with 101 pages fully illustrated in black and white.
Opus International was conceived by a collective of art critics determined to open Paris and the French art world to a new era. Under the leadership of the publisher Georges Fall , founder of the collection “The Pocket Museum,” and served by the art direction of Roman Cieslewicz, this review assembled contributors from a variety of backgrounds including Jean-Clarence Lambert , who proposes the title of the journal, Anne Tronche , Pierre Gaudibert , Alain Jouffroy , Gérald Gassiot-Talabot , Jean-Louis Pradel , Raoul Jean Moulin , Jean-Jacques Lévêque and Denise Miège. “We wish, without any prejudice or prejudices, to invite to the confrontation all those for whom the present is a function of a future of which they do not want to be disappointed”wrote Publisher publisher Georges Fall in April 1967.
- Présentation
- Dossier du Siège de Paris
- I. Pourquoi Paris demain by Pierre Gaudibert
- II. Enquête by Denise Miège
- III. Politique des Arts by Gérard Gassiot-Talabot
- IV. L'Amérique, l'Europe, la bêtise et la peinture by Alain Jouffroy
- Le plan d'aménagement du territoire by Jean-Jacques Lévêque
- A la recherché d'un nouveau spectateur by Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel
- Technique de lecture by Alain Jouffroy
- Le principe d'incertitude by Jean-Clarence Lambert
- Souvenir de Cheval-Bertrand by Jean-Jacques Lévêque
- Un décalage imperceptible by Alain Jouffroy
- Kujawski: les Désespérides by Jean-Clarence Lambert
- Portrait de Samuel Buri by Gérald Gassiot-Talabot
- Lora et les réalités de notre temps by Raoul-Jan Moulin
- Avènement de la bande dessinée by Pierre Couperie and Maurice Horn
- Opus Actualités
Roman Cieslewicz is never neutral. His images, his typography, his layouts never convey indifference. They look out at the world, characterize the age, bear witness, speak of disquiet and shame and sometimes of horror. They carry extreme critical exaltation into the realms of terror itself. They cut the easy conscience to the heart.
Roman Cieslewicz is considered one of the twentieth century's most influential poster artists. In his interview with Margo Rouard-Snowman, he lamented that "Posters need powerful occasions and significant subjects, which they don't find at the moment. As a means of communication they belong to another age and have very little future."
In 1955 Roman Cieslewicz graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. He was predominantly a (politically conscious) poster designer. He and his colleagues Julian Palka, Waldemar Swierzy, Jan Lenica, Henryk Tomaszewski and others made more than 200 Polish film posters a year. He migrated to France in 1963 and was naturalized in 1971. As well as posters he designed books, magazines and displays. He was art director of Elle and Vogue and of the advertising agency Maffia. By using photography, collage, screen-printing, typography and other media, he created a new vocabulary of graphic expression.
He designed for the magazines Opus International (1967–69) and Kitsch (1970–71). The Musée des Art Décoratifs, Galeries Lafayette, Hachette, the Centre Pompidou, and the Musée Picasso were among his clients. His exhibitions were held in major cities all over the world. Throughout his career, Cieslewicz received many medals and honours. [via AGI by Ben and Elly Bos]