Marc Pessin

Marc Pessin (1933–2022) was a French engraver, publisher, illustrator, and painter, born in Paris and passing away in Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, Isère. Trained in engraving from a young age, he settled in the Chartreuse mountains in 1965, where he founded Le Verbe et l’Empreinte, a publishing house blending poetry and the graphic arts. He collaborated with renowned poets such as Léopold Sédar Senghor, Louis Aragon, Andrée Chedid, and François Cheng, producing exceptional bibliophilic works. Mastering numerous techniques—intaglio, laser, stencils, inks, metallic reliefs—he described himself as a “sculptor on paper.” Guest of honor at the Paris Book Fair in 1981, he received several distinctions, including the “Most Beautiful Book of the Year” award and the Grand Gold Medal of Grenoble in 2011. Over more than fifty years, his work embodied contemporary engraving infused with a unique visual poetry.