BERNARD RANCILLAC — Les Américains, Annotated Exhibition Handout, Galerie Mommaton, Paris, 1968

Issued for Rancillac’s October 1968 exhibition Les Américains at Galerie B. Mommaton, Paris. Presented only months after the events of May 1968—during which Rancillac contributed to the Atelier Populaire—the exhibition turned toward an oppositional America represented through Gary Burton, Jack Kerouac, Malcolm X, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs. Rather than reproducing the dominant image of American power, Rancillac selected musicians, writers and political figures associated with protest, counterculture and the intellectual underground.

The interior functions as a compact exhibition checklist, recording dimensions, materials and edition sizes for the five works. Rancillac also names Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, Bob Dylan, LeRoi Jones, Andy Warhol, Bob Kaufman, Archie Shepp, Larry Coryell and Cecil Taylor as further figures he wished to honour. The reverse credits photographs by Jean-Pierre Leloir, Burt Glinn, Lebert Béthune, Richard Avedon and H. Crowther.

Across the checklist, an unidentified reader has added observations relating directly to colour, construction, installation and the appearance of individual works. Notes gather around the entries for Burton, Kerouac, Malcolm X, Ginsberg and Burroughs; combinations such as red, yellow, blue, green and white are recorded alongside remarks on panels, hanging and physical presentation. The authorship and date of these annotations cannot be established, and they should not be attributed to Rancillac or the gallery.

Their specificity nevertheless changes the status of this copy. The handout no longer survives only as publicity for an exhibition. It records someone examining, describing or possibly preparing information around the works themselves. Printed data and private observation occupy the same support.

Offset-printed folding handout in yellow and blue, printed by Imprimerie Mazarine, Paris. 13.5 × 21 cm folded; 27 × 21 cm unfolded. Condition: good vintage condition. General handling wear, surface marking, creasing and rubbing, with pronounced original folds, softened corners and minor edge wear. Extensively annotated by an unidentified previous owner.

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