Talking about Aldo

Jim Dine's vivid, candid and detailed reminiscences about his friendship and working relationship with Aldo Crommelynck, the printer of Matisse and Picasso, over a period now of more than 30 years are full of affection, humor and layer upon layer of information. In conversations with the art historian Marco Livingstone, Dine, one of the greatest post-war American artists, charts the extent to which his experience of working with a man who was not only a great printer, but also a skilled draughtsman, an aesthete, dandy and bon viveur, coloured and enriched his experience of France on every level, from an appreciation of its art and culture, its city life and countryside, to its food and its specialist shops - especially those in which to find the best tools and musical instruments. Dine's ruminations take some unexpected but illuminating detours, even into the making of bespoke bicycles, that prove deeply revealing of the specific nature of his love for France and of his many debts to an esteemed colleague, fellow traveller and much-loved friend.