Fore edge painting, a refined expression of book art, involves the meticulous application of intricate designs onto the outer edge of a book, specifically the side opposite the spine. It’s awe-inspiring to see one of these works of art in person – there’s the element of surprise and wonder that something so lovely could be hidden so well. ...
A fore-edge painting is a decorative artwork painted on the edges of a book's pages. There are two basic forms: paintings on fanned edges, which are hidden when the book is closed but visible when the pages are spread out, and paintings on closed edges, which are visible only when the book is closed.
A visible fore-edge painting is the simplest and most basic. When an artist paints an illustration directly onto the fore-edge, top, and/or bottom edges of the pages, it is visible to the naked eye when the book is closed. This style is currently in vogue on social media, with videos showing content creators painting their books and publishers ...
Fore edge painting is the craft of applying an image to the pages of a book. The page block is fanned and an image is applied to the stepped surface. If the page edges are gilded or marbled, the applied image disappears when the book is relaxed. When refanned, the painting reappears.
Fore-edge painting or fore-edge illustrating is exactly what you would expect—it refers to artwork painted or drawn on the closed pages of a book. This practice has been around for a long time, and there are a few different types of fore-edge painting. Sometimes, artists will simply gild pages, covering the edges in gold or silver leaf.
Single fore-edge paintings, whether hidden under gilt or not, provide, as their name suggests, only one image. A double fore-edge painting delights the viewer with two: one image which appears when the pages are fanned in one direction, and a second image when the fanning is reversed. The triple fore-edge painting adds a third image which takes ...
Fore-edge Painting - Definition, Usage & Quiz. Art Book Collecting History. Explore the fascinating world of fore-edge painting, an ancient and intricate art form where miniature paintings are hidden on the edges of book pages. Delve into its history, techniques, and examples.
What are Fore-edge Paintings? Fore-edge paintings are scenes, portraits, or designs that are painted onto the edge of a book. Although some of these paintings are visible when the book is closed, such as is the case in the photo above, much of the time these paintings are covered over by gilded edges, so that the paintings only become visible when you fan the pages in the manner illustrated below.
Define fore-edge painting. fore-edge painting synonyms, fore-edge painting pronunciation, fore-edge painting translation, English dictionary definition of fore-edge painting. n. A technique of painting a picture on the front outer edges of the leaves of a book, so that the picture is visible only when the leaves are fanned open....
Based on its style, this fore-edge painting was probably made not long after 1677, when the book was published. When most people talk about fore-edge paintings, though, they mean the nineteenth- and twentieth-century scenes, views, and portraits like last week’s Edwards of Halifax view of Wilton House, and the work of John T. Beer (ca. 1826-1903), and Miss C.B. Currie (1849-1940).
Fore-edge painting gained in popularity from the time of Vecellio in the 1500s and had its heyday in the early 1800s. The trend waxed and waned, but never died out completely, blossoming even in Asia for a short time when an American educator teaching in Beijing brought it to China in 1936.
The first disappearing fore-edge designs date from 1649. The earliest signed and dated fore-edge painting, a family coat of arms on a 1651 Bible, was done in 1653. The practice of fore-edge painting was in vogue by the 15th and 16th century, especially in Italy. The technique spread to Edinburgh and London in the second half of the 17th century.
The earliest secret fore-edge paintings were floral designs and biblical scenes. However, This popularity of this technique gained in currency in the late 18th century, in a shop owned by Edwards of Halifax. Fore-edge painting by ‘Edwards of Halifax’ of Wilton House, ca. 1812, on one volume of a 1797 edition of Shakespeare’s plays.
A few fore-edge painting artists are active today and by seeing what fore-edges are on the market one can get an idea of the latest in fore-edge decorations. The first history of fore-edge paintings was Carl J. Weber’s, A Thousand and One Fore-edge Paintings, Waterville: Colby College Press, 1949.
The oldest marking of the edge we can encounter goes back as the own creation of books themselves. Fore-edge painting originates from the most simplest act: writing your name to show ownership, or even the title of the book itself, since books or rather manuscripts were laid flat on their sides, and it was a logical move from librarians at the time, since manuscripts were too heavy and large ...
