Le calumet (Peace Pipe)

Le Calumet (Peace Pipe) is a collection of poetry by Andre Salmon in which each poem is accompanied by a woodcarving by artist Andre Derain. The book encapsulates the interconnectedness of the avant-garde artistic community in 1920s France. Salmon’s poems are image-laden, visceral, and psychologically heavy. Take, for example, the poem entitled “Le Mort” on page 56. The short, melancholy text describes the thoughts of a dead man who feels as if he wasn’t mourned properly. Derain’s prints present similar emotions. A woodcut is made by creates gouging a design into wood with a sharp tool in order to create recesses, which are then inked to produce the final image. By associating this act with Salmon’s poetry, the book defies the binary of picture and text.