Pissed off Paris: Whanganui artist translates and publishes book of Baudelaire’s poems

Whanganui artist David Cauchi's book Pissed off Paris is coming to stores in April. Photo / Supplied

Whanganui artist David Cauchi, who began learning French only a few years ago, has translated, illustrated and published Pissed off Paris, Charles Baudelaire’s book of poems.

The original text Le Spleen de Paris was a collection of 50 prose poems by Baudelaire published in 1869 on the subjects that obsessed him: the city, the crowd, the plight of the poor, the role of the poet, sex, and drugs.

Cauchi started learning French to understand passages in the art books he was reading but his interest in the language led to producing an entire text translation of Bauldelaire’s poems.

Pissed off Paris includes 70 drawings alongside Baudelaire’s poems but Cauchi said these were a “standalone element” rather than illustrations of the text.

“The style of the drawings informed the style of the translated text – their stripped-back style pulled me back when I was getting too flowery – and the text would prompt ideas for drawings.”

The introduction to Pissed off Paris was written by Chris Tse, New Zealand’s current poet laureate, and is in the form of a poem rather than an academic essay.

Cauchi also involved his partner Rose Miller in the process as she designed the book.

Translating Pissed off Paris began as a 2020 lockdown project for Cauchi as he wanted to create a book that explored “the interaction of image and text”.

Cauchi produced the drawings at the same time as doing the translation, alternating between the two mediums.

“I also thought Baudelaire would be a good subject for a book combining art and poetry because he embodied that combination in his own work.”

Cauchi’s drawings for the book were exhibited at the Robert Heald Gallery in Wellington in 2022.

“There’s a big difference between seeing them on the gallery wall and in the pages of a book, there are all sorts of unexpected interactions, not just in terms of meaning but also between the shape of the drawing and the shape of the text on the facing page.”

Cauchi said many of the themes explored by Baudelaire in Pissed off Paris remain relevant to readers today.

“He [Baudelaire] lived in another time of rapid technological, economic and social change that concentrated wealth in the hands of a tiny elite at everybody else’s expense.

“Most of the world’s population today lives crammed together in large industrialised cities mediated by capitalist relations.”

Cauchi’s exhibition The devil may care, but I don’t mind opens at the Ivan Anthony Gallery in Auckland on April 13.

Pissed off Paris will be available in bookstores in April.