Carabin , now largely known among cognoscenti, was a sculptor, engraver and photographer. His friends included Rodin, Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec. The walnut bookcase was commissioned by the wealthy engineer and amateur artist Henry Montandon. According to Fleur de Carvalho, the curator of the Amsterdam show, Montandon probably kept prized erotica in the lower print portfolio cabinet.
The front of the cabinet is carved with two nudes in relief, one energetically astride a printing press and the other leafing through a print collection. Leaning over the top of the bookcase are three carved allegorical nudes. The central one, peering into a mirror, represents Truth and those in the corners Reading and Intellect. On the left side of the bookcase is a pile of James Ensor-like masks, representing sins such as Vanity, Folly and Hypocrisy.
A snake is entwined in the ironwork foliage. It was complicated to transport the three-metre high bookcase to the Amsterdam exhibition. The bookcase is now on display along with Parisian prints. Amsterdam show on the artist's Martinique trip also reveals Tate watercolour as a genuine work by Gauguin. The playful creature—painted while the artists were living in the Yellow House—has crept out of hiding after more than years.
Art market. Adventures with Van Gogh. Erotic bookcase by Carabin goes on show outside Paris for first time. By Martin Bailey. Related content. Adventures with Van Gogh blog. Exhibitions blog. Martin Bailey. Vincent van Gogh blog.
