It’s Fine Press Friday!
This week we present Natura Morta a boxed set of poetry and photographs by Waswo X. Waswo that was released as a limited edition of three. The folio of hand-made Italian paper contains the poem Natura Morta, in eight sections. The poem was written by Waswo while he was visiting Florence during the winter of 2004. The illustrations were hand painted by Wawso’s friend and colleague, Arvind Sharma in Rajasthan, India.
The colophon notes:
“Natura Morta was first conceived by Mr. Wawso while he was living in Florence, Italy, over the winter of 1999-2000. The photographs contained in this boxed set were taken in Florence and Palermo, and are part of a larger body of still lifes created by Mr. Waswo during his six month stay in Italy. Each sepia-toned silver gelatin image has been printed by the artist’s own hand, and is signed in pencil on the reverse, as well as being embossed with the initials W.X.W. They are mounted in archival, acid-free mat.”
Waswo X. Waswo was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 13, 1953. He is known for his sepia-toned photographs of India, where he has lived and worked for over eighteen years. He collaborates with a variety of local artists in India, who do miniature painting and photo hand-coloring. Waswo has been particularly interested in Indian printmaking since 2002, and has collected a wide array of etchings, lithographs, linocuts and woodcuts that have been exhibited at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, and the National Gallery of Modern Art in both Bangalore and Mumbai. Find out more about the collection here.
Our copy of Natura Morta was a gift from Waswo X. Waswo and it is signed and numbered.
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–Sarah, Special Collections Graduate Intern
