Between 1963 and 1972, Edward Ruscha, an American painter, photographer and film director, born in 1937, published 16 artist's books whose impact on the evolution of the artist's book was decisive. Whether it is Thirtyfour Parking Lots (1967), Nine Swimming Pools and a Broken Glass (1968), Real Estate Opportunities (1970) or A Few Palm Trees (1971), fifty years later, these works appear on the artist's book market at exorbitant prices. As for their conception and creation, it is striking to note that these books, mainly bringing together black and white photographs, lack care and, therefore, clarity.

Edward Ruscha himself described them as snapshots very uncertain in terms of their sharpness or even raw data. For artists who have been and are still influenced by this aspect of Edward Ruscha's work, his decision not to produce a work of art as a single piece but to use, instead, a common consumer product such as a book as a vehicle for a multiple work was a true liberation (or revolution).

It is certain that Edward Ruscha could not have foreseen the decisive influence that his publication of artist's books would have on generations of artists to come and on the artist's book genre itself. It must be emphasized, however, that the simple reproduction of uncommented photographs in books of simple design - small format, classic typography, affordable price - has led to a multitude of counterfeits and adaptations that far exceed Edouard Ruscha's book production.

It is on the initiative of the collector Michael Eckel, who has collected a considerable number of Pastis carafes, and thanks to the meticulous work of the photographer Rui Camilo, that we are participating with this new publication, Thirty-three Pastis pitchers, in the genre practiced by Edward Ruscha.

Our artist's book project around Pastis carafes was done in the style created by Edward Ruscha and in the veneration we have for him.

May our book enchant connoisseurs of Edward Ruscha's artist's books as well as lovers of the French art of living and Pastis!