This French occultist calendar illustrated in the Art Nouveau style by Italian artist and designer Manuel Orazi (1860 – 1934) was printed in an symbolic edition of 777 copies to commemorate magic for the coming year of 1896. Each double page uses the Christian calendar (name days, iconography), but this year of magic is rooted … Continue reading "Manuel Orazi’s Occultist Magic Calendar Mil DCCCXCVI, 1895" The post Manuel Orazi’s Occultist Magic Calendar Mil DCCCXCVI, 1895 appeared first on Flashbak.

“One discovers the light in darkness, that is what darkness is for; but everything in our lives depends on how we bear the light,” – James Baldwin, Nothing Personal      The Sun (1919) by Frans Masereel (1889–1972) opens with an artist resting his head on his desk beneath an open window beyond which we … Continue reading "The Sun by Frans Masereel, A Story Without Words – 1919" The post The Sun by Frans Masereel, A Story Without Words – 1919 appeared first on Flashbak.

“This is the longest diary I ever kept. Not a diary of course but an attempt to map the actual working days and hours of a novel. If a day is skipped it will show glaringly on this record and there will be some reason given for the slip.” – John Steinbeck, Working Days, The … Continue reading "How John Steinbeck Harnessed Desire and Self-Doubt To Write The Grapes of Wrath" The post How John Steinbeck Harnessed Desire and Self-Doubt To Write The Grapes of Wrath appeared first on Flashbak.

Kamisaka Sekka (Japanese 1866 – 1942) produced his woodblock print masterpiece Momoyogusa (A World of Things) between 1909 and 1910. The three-volume set of 60 images, commissioned by the publishing firm Unsōdō of Kyoto, borrows its name from the eighth-century poetic text Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves (Man’yōshū), which refers to a multi-leaved autumnal herb (momoyogusa), … Continue reading "Momoyogusa (A World of Things) by Kamisaka Sekka (1909-1910)" The post Momoyogusa (A World of Things) by Kamisaka Sekka (1909-1910) appeared first on Flashbak.