Gorgeous, Creepy Pages From a Late 19th-Century Art Nouveau Occult Calendar

[icymist]

These calendar pages come from the rare book Calendrier Magique, which was printed in France in 1895 in a small run of 777 copies. The book blends Art Nouveau imagery with references to occult ceremonies, horoscopes, and tarot.

The larger images in the calendar are by Manuel Orazi, an Italian lithographer working in Paris who produced art for stage posters, books, and theatre sets. (His portrait of the actress Sarah Bernhardt, viewable here on the Art Appreciation Blog, is a thing of beauty.) The calendar is marked by the Art Nouveau illustrator’s love for the flowing, abundant, tangled look of natural objects.



Check out the entire calendar here:
http://fantastic.library.cornell.edu/bookrecord.php?record=F051

[munseepine]

1. Creepy?

The original artwork was/is beautiful. The later artwork/graffiti looks to me like someone was fascinated by evocation, or perhaps invocation, the Key of Solomon and A.O. Spare's sigil design work. Perhaps you could explain why you thought any of that was "creepy"?

[icymist]

2. Hi munseepine. That was the title to this piece.

I think this artwork is, not only beautiful, but covertly informative. I thank you for this post and welcome you to the DU.