L’Amour et la peinture. by (BONA). MANDIARGUES, André Pieyre de.

4to (216 × 160 mm), pp. 124, numerous plates and illustrations, some in colour. Original red roan, gilt, slipcase. An excellent copy. Half-title with Mandiargues’ 1974 inscription to Jean van Hinsberg, together with an original drawing by Bona and her inscription ‘et mon affectueuese pensée. Bona’

First edition, inscribed by both author and artist, with a drawing by the latter, of this comprehensive illustrated account of Bona’s artistic career. It describes her earliest inspiration in Italy (notably Giotto, De Chirico and her uncle, Filippo de Pisis), her surrealist influenced canvases of postwar Paris and the fabric collages for which she has become best known for. Mandiargues engages with the artist’s iconography, notably the motif of the snail which became a touchstone after Bona’s pregnancy for the rest of her career.