Bonet, Paul (1889-1971)

Paul Bonet was one of the most important French art bookbinders of the twentieth century. Initially trained in decoration and drawing, he turned very early to bookbinding, which he profoundly renewed through a resolutely modern approach. Initially influenced by Pierre Legrain, he developed from the 1920s onward a highly personal style, close to Surrealism, based on geometric compositions, the use of new materials, and an architectural conception of decoration, breaking decisively with historicist traditions. He also played a significant role in the development of the Nouvelle Revue Française (NRF) paperboard bindings, for which he designed a series of influential models that helped define the modern visual identity of these emblematic publisher’s bindings. Among his most celebrated adaptations are the Irradiantes, derived from a seventeenth-century technique transposed into a modern rhythm. In all circumstances, Bonet sought to bind the decoration intimately to the text itself and to inscribe his own personality within it, stating: “The binding of our time can be an original creation that reflects the personality of its author. It is never a gratuitous creation; it must first be subject to the book.” Active among the leading bibliophiles and collectors of his time, he produced numerous bindings for contemporary fine press editions. His work, extensively documented and exhibited, exerted a decisive influence on the development of modern French bookbinding.