Grand Musical Staircase

Introduction

Extended accordion-like view of "Ode to a Grand Staircase (For Four Hands)" by Julie Chen and Barbara Tetenbaum

Julie Chen and Barbara Tetenbaum’s “Ode to a Grand Staircase (For Four Hands)” is an artist’s book inspired by the work of Erik Satie, a French composer whose work influenced early twentieth-century music. This artist’s book was published in 2001 by the Flying Fish Press (Berkeley, CA) via Julie Chen and the Triangular Press (Portland, Oregon) via Barbara Tetenbaum. The artists’ book is a multi-layered visual narrative inspired by Erik Satie’s music, specifically “Marche du Grand Escalier” (March of the Grand Staircase), composed in 1914. The book can be rearranged into an accordion-like shape representing a grand staircase. Colorful images and cut-outs comprise the book’s pages, as well as text taken from “Marche du Grand Escalier” that Satie included in his scores. Penn Libraries acquired copy number 69 of this artists’ book via the Amy Comegys Memorial Fund and the Ruth and Marvin Sackner Fund for the Arts of the Contemporary Book Collections. The book is located in the Kislak Center for Special Collections at the University of Pennsylvania.

About the Authors

Julie Chen

Julie Chen is a book artist and educator from California who established the Flying Fish Press to publish artist’s books in smaller editions, which are displayed in museums and libraries all around the world, including in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of Modern Art.