Nov

18

Librissime DFG

Filed Under I'm a Bookie 

Librissime

Everybody was so Young by Amanda Vail is a great biography about American artist Gerald Murphy and his wife Sara; a wealthy couple ensconced in the height of visual and literary arts in 1920s Paris.

Gerald’s legacy and artistry, fascinates. Gerald’s father, Patrick Murphy bought Mark Cross company when harness-maker, Mark W. Cross, died without heirs. Also, Gerald’s foothold in the history of American Modern Art was achieved with only about a dozen canvasses throughout his artistic career.

During their lifetime, the Murphys’ were an axis to many rising stars; Hemingway, Picasso, and Fitzgerald, to name a few. Sara took on her hosting duties, assiduously. She designated social affairs as DFG, Dinner-Flowers-Gala, from a “notation made of a ship’s menu of a captain’s dinner.”

In reading Vail’s book, Sara’s nomenclature for her soirées affected me. There is an understood elevation of class inherent to a social occasion classified as “DFG.” A kind of distinction and luxury I couldn’t imagine the equivalent of in 2008 (short of an all-white party hosted by P. Diddy). That is, until I had the great pleasure of visiting librairie Librissime in Old Montreal.

Librissime is the Design-Fashion-Gallery complement to Sara’s Dinner-Flowers-Gala. An exceptional book shop, Librissime carries primarily titles from publisher Assouline; including thin artist biographies, special edition books, and limited edition catalogues.

One book shelf is stacked with white livres of the same size, on select Assouline picks of great designers in history. The monochromatic spines read Paul Poiret, Chanel, Christian Dior, Valentino, Cartier, Bauhaus, Guerlain, Eames, Jean Cocteau and many more. Hours can be spent researching the titles in this section alone.

Then there are the larger artist works with lush photography and incredible reproduction. Masks, from the Assouline catalogue, featuring works of artist Thierry Despont, is enthralling. Despont takes everyday objects to create extraordinary masks that to me, stand-in more as mythical characters, breathing and living, than lifeless disguises. Photographed in large-scale format, Masks is an artwork in its own right and a true prize to behold for the beginner, or accomplished, collector.

Special editions are elaborately over-the-top objets which happen to house books. The Coach carrier for Assouline mémoires is a portable library for anyone who can’t be away from one of their inspirational resources to and from destinations by car service. The singular Chanel library is enclosed in signature quilted leather the fashion house reserves for their bags and accessories. True extravagance however is in the form of Nancy Gonzalez’s custom, leather case for folio-format books. The case is made from crocodile, Gonzalez raises for the sole purpose of this keepsake housing.

Asides Assouline, Librissime also carries titles from publishers, FMR-Art`e, Hermès, Ertuğ & Kocabiyik and many more, as well as objets curieux–ostrich egg paper weights, book ends, throws, and candles that definitely aggrandize any ordinary space into something grandeur.

The staff at Librissime are knowledgeable and passionate about all items carried in the shop. On my visit, I felt like I was treated to my own private tour of all the exquisite works contained within. The experience was definitely akin to a musée, in a modern space designed to evoke a sense of posterity (without being formulaic) and progressiveness, combined.

Librissime is, necessarily, the DFG of the future. An axis where a rising star can shine among a host of exceptional people and places; much like the Murphy’s and their Villa America in France. How fortunate for the public, the Librairie extends a year-round, open-invitation.

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