Page 51 - Making Books
P. 51
107.
Kozma Prutkov
На взморье
On the seashore
Moscow: Goppe, 2013
235 x 270 mm. 7 sheets
Unique copy
Kozma Prutkov is a fictional author invented by
Aleksei Tolstoi and his three cousins, who even
gave him biographical data: born in 1803 and died in
1863. The four satirical poets used this pseudonym
to publish a large collection of aphorisms, fables and
satiric stories. ‘On the seashore’ is a tale about a
garden near the shore that grows asparagus well, but
cabbage only modestly. The Gardener, his name is
Lazy, loves the cabbage and pulls out the asparagus.
The book including covers comprises a set of eight
original water colours by Goppe. On the second
water colour the Art Brut Exhibition in Moscow (2012)
and Arkhangelsk (2013) is mentioned. Here, maybe,
Goppe expresses his opinion that Art Brut is like
asparagus to the art gardeners in the province.
51
