Trembling Woods

George Auriol's organic, stylized typefaces brought the look of Art Nouveau to sheet music, book covers, corporate logos, and more. His love of hand-lettering, literature, and Japanese motifs came together in this print, his first color lithograph ever editioned. He probably met the poet Charles Cros (1842-1888) at the Parisian cabaret Chat Noir, where Auriol edited the Chat Noir journal. The verse, from Cros's Nocturne, begins: Trembling woods, starry sky, My beloved has gone away Taking with him my desolated heart! Auriol was also in demand as a monogram designer. His own mark is at lower right, a longhorn beetle that encloses the artist's initials in its curved antennae.