IDEA

The first of a series of twelve illustrations for Pascal’s Les Pensées (1971.)

I. THE MOUNTAIN AND THE RIVER
“A comic sort of justice that has a river for its boundary! Truth on this side of the Pyrenees, error on the other.” –Pensée 108

The illustrations were printed in offset with 7 specified colors. Ismar rendered the color separated artwork with black and white gouache or india ink. These originals as well as magnificent full color comps reside in the Cary Collection at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

II. FUTILITY AND DESPAIR
“The only thing that consoles us for our misery is distraction, and yet it is the greatest of our miseries. For it is mainly responsible for preventing us from thinking about ourselves and for our gradual ruin.” –Pensée 128

III. MAN: ANGEL OR BEAST
“Man is neither angel nor beast, and it is a misfortune that whoever tries to play the angel ends by playing the beast.” –Pensée 257