DROP DEAD GORGEOUS: Fine Bindings of La Prose du Transsibérien Re-creation

Explore this traveling exhibition of fine bindings, including Kitty Maryatt’s re-creation of the groundbreaking book La Prose du Transsibérien, originally produced in 1913 by painter Sonia Delaunay and poet Blaise Cendrars.

La Prose du Transsibérien pushed boundaries of book structure, painted imagery, and poetic expression. Having researched the book’s production since 2012, Kitty debuted a new edition in 2018, which faithfully incorporates techniques used in the original. At the same time, she commissioned fine bindings by notable design binders from around the world.

This virtual exhibition features the work of 25 design binders, including Don Glaister, Monique Lallier, Midori Kunikata-Cockram, and Patricia Owen. Co-curated by Toby Schwartzburg and Simon Eccles, the exhibition debuted at the San Francisco Center for the Book and has since traveled from Los Angeles to Boston. It is slated to be on view next in London, England.

Click on the thumbnails below to see more images, video, and information! Purchase the Drop Dead Gorgeous exhibition catalog here.


Kathy Abbott, England

Servane Briand, United States

Hannah Brown, England

Coleen Curry, United States

Sue Doggett, England

Samuel Feinstein, United States

Erin Fletcher, United States

Don Glaister, United States

Derek Hood, England

Susan Hulme, United States

Lang Ingalls, United States

George Kirkpatrick, England

Midori Kunikata-Cockram, England

Monique Lallier, United States

Kitty Maryatt, United States (Regular Edition)

Kitty Maryatt, United States (Deluxe Edition)

Sabina Nies, United States

Patricia Owen, United States

Eleanore Ramsey, United States

James Reid-Cunningham, United States

Dominic Riley, England

Tracey Rowledge, England

Haein Song, England

Priscilla Spitler, United States

Julian Thomas, Wales

Jonathan Tremblay, Canada

Henri Matisse, France

Henri Toulouse Lautrec, France

Pablo Picasso, France

Arlette Le More, France

Maturin Méheut, France

Georges Lepape, France

Kitty Maryatt's Pochoir Process