1. Switzerland (1928–32)

2. Paris (1933–40)

3. Geneva (1941–73)

4. Skira after its founder's death

5. References

6. Further reading

7. External links

Switzerland (1928–32)

Originally located in Lausanne, Skira soon relocated to Geneva. Albert Skira wanted his firm to publish books in which "the greatest of artists illustrate the best in literature".^[1] For that reason Skira's first publications were a number of large scale artist's book editions: firstly, Ovid's Les Métamorphoses (1931) (with 30 etchings by Picasso), and Mallarmé's Poésies (1932) (with 29 etchings by Matisse).^[3][4] These were followed by further luxury editions of poetry: Lautréamont's Les Chants de Maldoror (1934) (with illustrations by Dalí) and Virgil's Les Bucoliques (1936) (illustrated by André Beaudin).^[5]

Paris (1933–40)

In 1933 Albert Skira moved to Paris and opened a branch of his firm there. At that time Paris was an artistic centre and many of the great modern movements, such as surrealism, were active there. To cater for this audience, Spira, in collaboration with the art critic, editor and publisher Tériade,^[6] launched a glossy avant-garde art magazine with the title of Minotaure and under the editorship of Breton and Eluard. Skira promoted the magazine as a "primary source of information about the arts" that would reproduce works of "universal interest" and supplement them with critical studies of current artistic trends.^[7] Pablo Picasso was commissioned to photograph a series of sculptures for the first number^[8] which also included reproductions of works by Matisse and Brassaï and contributions by Breton, Eluard and Reverdy.

In 1934 Skira launched a book series with the title Les trésors de la peinture française with each volume containing "large colour plates and a brief text".^[2]

Geneva (1941–73)

In 1941 Albert Skira returned to Geneva. In the years 1941–48 he devoted himself (with the assistance of Henri Matisse) to publishing Florilège des Amours de Ronsard (Anthology of the Amours of Ronsard), a luxury artist's book created at the "highest possible standards ... in design and typography".^[5]

Other major books published by Skira in the 1940s included Rabelais's Pantagruel (1943) (with "vibrantly-coloured woodcuts"^[7] by Derain) and Malraux's Les Conquérants (1949) (with etchings by André Masson).

Towards the end of the war he also published "a monthly review of art and literature"^[9] called Labyrinthe (1944–46) which contained essays on topics and by painters (Cingria, Auberjonois, Gruber) and thinkers (Sartre, Malraux, Eluard) similar to those appearing in Minotaure but whose newspaper format showed that he was attempting to reach a wider audience.^[5][10] The final number of Labyrinthe published the first chapter of the final draft of Malraux's La Psychologie de l'Art (The Psychology of Art).^[2]

In the 1950s and 1960s Skira became a multinational publisher of quality art books printed in colour with very high technical standards. The text of the books was in French, German, English, and other languages. Skira published in many areas of art, including histories of painting, contemporary painting, art from Asia and other non-European areas. Authors included important art historians and important intellectuals and poets.

Skira's art books were distributed in the United Kingdom in the 1950s by the art publishing firm and bookshop A. Zwemmer Ltd. At that time one of the Skira series, "Painting, Colour, History", was praised for the "notable achievement" of having all the illustrations in each volume being in colour and for the "quality of the colour and of the paper and typography".^[11] Skira was praised as a "distinguished" publisher with "long lists of reputable, scholarly publications" to its credit.^[12]

Skira after its founder's death

After the early death of firm's founder, Albert Skira, in 1973, the firm was sold to Flammarion and then to Edipresse before returning to the ownership of the Skira family.^[3]

In 1996 the firm was acquired by the Italian publishing group Einaudi and later by Mondadori and its head office was moved to the Palazzo Casati Stampa in Milan.

References

Further reading

• Albert Skira, Albert Skira: The Man and his Work, New York: Hallmark Gallery, 1966.
• Albert Skira, Éditions Albert Skira: Vingt ans d'activité, Geneva and Paris: Éditions Albert Skira, 1948. With cover design and frontispiece by Henri Matisse and introduction by Paul Éluard. Historical catalogue published to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the firm Éditions Albert Skira.
• Stefan Zweifel, Giacometti, Balthus, Skira: les années Labyrinthe, 1944-1946: [exposition, Musée Rath, Genève, 9 avril-5 juillet 2009], Geneva: Musées d'art et d'histoire, 2009.

External links

• Official website (in Italian)
• [https://www.rts.ch/archives/tv/culture/personnalites-suisses/3466486-albert-skira.html Albert Skira - Personnalités suisses] - video "Avec Skira: Les débuts d'un grand éditeur"

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