The Marriage of Heaven and Earth – November 1971
Cover by Alexandre Iolas, “The Marriage of Heaven and Earth” painting by Max Ernst
Art director: Pierre Boutillier
Styles of Living and Trends in Decoration – October 1969
Photographer: René Descharnes / Art director: Pierre Boutillier
The Pulsating Picture of Marrakesh – March 1969
Photographer: Jean-Philippe Charbonnier / Art director: Nicolas Fassbind
Man’s Insatiable Desire for Discovery – May 1968
German and Italian armillary spheres from the collection of art dealer Nicolas Landau
Art director: Nicolas Fassbind
Summer Idyll in Scandinavia – June 1969
Photographer: Michel Desjardins / Art director: Nicolas Fassbind
The Great Growth in Wine Sales – March 1968
Art director & photographer: Nicolas Fassbind
The Science of Forecasting Fashion – October 1966
Photographer: Hervé Gloaguen / Art director: Nicolas Fassbind
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Last weekend I made an expedition to my local used magazine store. It’s housed in the basement of a thrift shop, offering periodicals stacked precariously high and so tightly that reading titles is difficult. Kissing the ceiling in the arts section was this gem, the English language version of Réalités. Réalités was a French monthly published from 1946 until 1979, when it merged with Le Spectacle du Monde. I was immediately taken with the minimal text, all about the image covers and, upon cracking open the pages, charmed by the commentary. Erudite and sophisticated, the articles are not the usual lifestyle magazine fare. A cursory glance through the table of contents yields stories on Richard Neutra, Russia’s underground art movement, political commentaries, poetry and philosophical musings. Paired with the highbrow writings are snazzy advertisements for the cosmopolitan jet set. The issues that I snagged date from the late 1960s to early 1970s and hold the promise of captivating trips back in time.
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Editor’s note:
According to a rough French-English translation of Wikipedia, Réalités is described as being founded by photographer Jean-Philippe Charbonnier along with editor Alfred Max and first artistic director Albert Gilou. (However, in separate Wikipedia entries, Jean-Philippe Charbonnier is described as coming to work for Réalités as a reporter in 1950.) Réalités has been identified as the most influential illustrated magazine in France from the 1950s to 1970s; its journalistic model later replaced by television.
The pages of Réalités included the work of legendary French photographers Edward Boubat, Jean-Philippe Charbonnier, Jean-Louis Swiners and Gilles Ehrmann.
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>> Réalités flickr set
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Sandi Vincent grew up in the bay area of California surrounded by mid-century modern architecture and other influences responsible for her affinity for the period and its pop style, including her early exposure to The Monkees, The Avengers and Gerald McBoing-Boing. Sandi now resides in Portland and is a board member of a local nonprofit preservation group, the Mid-Century Modern League. In her day job at a community foundation, she sports the web/social media/print materials coordinator title.
Follow Sandi on Twitter > @SandiV
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