Les Incohérants Monochrome Trunk Show

“Reproduction du célébre tableau”, Alphonse Allais in 1897 reworking Paul Bilhaud’s monochrome joke painting from 1882 Thanks, @voorwerk, @doncalmecito, and @juancrodelo. Little did I know that the last time I gave much thought to the history of the monochrome, that history would soon be blown wide open? In 2020 it was a reconsideration of the racist graffiti found on Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square (1915), which linked it to its supposed, satirical precursor, a portfolio of seven mdr titled monochrome artworks published by the famous Parisian funny guy Alphonse Allais on April Fool’s Day in 1897. Alphonse Allais, Des Souteneurs, &c., from Album primo-avrilesque, 1897 via wikipedia Album primo-avrilesque is the historical post hoc documentation of the lost monochrome artworks Allais and Bilhaud showed in the Salon des Arts Incohérents, a parody exhibition organized by journalist Jules Lévy beginning in 1882. That’s when Bilaud, then 28, showed a black monochrome painting titled,…