Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas / Testimony Against Gertrude Stein

Using shades of red and pink ink, Diane Samuels hand-transcribed the entire volume of “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas” onto paper handmade in the United States and coated with hybrid rose petals. Interspersed in purple ink, she hand-transcribed a counter-text—the “Testimony against Gertrude Stein” written by Georges Braque, Eugene Jolas, Marie Jolas, Henri Matisse, André Salmon and Tristan Tzara—objecting to their portrayal by Gertrude Stein in “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas”.

Title: “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas” and “Testimony against Gertrude Stein”

Size: 46″ x 46″ x 3″
Materials: Ink on Twinrocker handmade paper coated with pulverized hybrid rose petals, Magnifiers, Audio recording, Book Box (Size: Open: 16-1/2″ x 10-1/4″ x 2″ Closed: 7” x 10” x 2-1/2”) containing the first edition of “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas” (John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd., 1933) and “Testimony against Gertrude Stein” published as a supplement to the magazine “Transition”, February, 1935.
Date: 2011
Photographed by: Thomas Little; working photo by: Laura Mustio