Francesco Clemente
Departure of the Argonaut announcement poster 1986
Lithograph in colors on paper
25 5/8 × 39 13/40 in | 65.1 × 99.9 cm

Bi-fold poster commemorating the publication of Francesco Clemente’s The Departure of the Argonaut book and portfolio and the 1986 show at MoMa.

The Departure of the Argonaut (1918) is the travelogue and wartime diary of Alberto Savinio, one of the seminal figures in twentieth-century Italian arts and letters. Clemente's accompanying images transcend traditional illustration, providing a subtle balance between the fantasy of the artist and the visual ideas of the text. Each chapter is treated in a fresh and different style, and in each a unity of word and image is achieved that represents the art of the illustrated book at its most ambitious. Clemente has stated that during his work on this project he became fascinated, as never before in his career, with the technical aspects of printmaking. He has used a broad range of lithographic techniques and materials to produce a remarkable variety of visual effects. His illumination of the text is a richly personal work, inventive, witty, and elegant.

The Departure of the Argonaut consists of fifty sheets, with text by Alberto Savinio printed letterpress overlaid with 48 original lithographs by Francesco Clemente; printed on Okawara mould made paper. There is also a bound volume book edition of 200 with 32 proofs. Published as both a limited edition bound volume, and a portfolio edition of the 50 unbound, double paged spreads.