Louis Vuitton’s Newest Travel Book Offers An Artistic Perspective Of The Mediterranean Sea

Attention, collectors: Louis Vuitton’s Travel Book series is getting a new addition. On May 13, the iconic house is releasing its latest volume, Mediterranean Sea by Aurore de la Morinerie. The edition, which brings the series to 27 titles in total, offers a literal deep dive into the beautiful Mediterranean, from the surface to its deepest abysses.

“The source of the project comes from several journeys around the world and also around the Mediterranean Sea,” said the French artist and illustrator in a video on the creation. “The Greek Islands, Santorini, beaches... and light.” The resulting book is one that continues the common thread of de la Morinerie’s work — the outside world. “Drawing and nature are both places for silence and contemplation, where I’ve found refuge since my childhood,” she said in a press release.

The artist, who also likes to take black and white photographs (they serve as an important part of her drawing practice), honed her technique by pursuing her interest in Chinese painting and calligraphy and traveling throughout China, India, Japan, and the Mediterranean. With it, she now aims to “simplify the visible world, stripping it bare through her hand, down to its essentials,” says the press release. That’s evident in Mediterranean Sea, which offers a dreamlike, almost abstract take on the body of water’s elements.

The Louis Vuitton Travel Book series exists to invite readers on real and virtual voyages through illustrations by established artists and emerging talents. The goal is for each creator to use the pages to tell the stories of they places they visit, whether that’s through depictions of architecture, light, or daily life. Yet it goes even beyond that; according to the Maison, the books are also meant to highlight the “rich aesthetic horizons of art.” Thus, artists from all over the world are chosen and given the freedom to express their views of a place in their own way. Some of the works from these projects have even been acquired by Louis Vuitton and will join the collection of contemporary art being put together by the brand.

The Mediterranean Sea Travel Book will be released in a standard edition and a large-format collector’s edition, both in bilingual French-English editions. A biography of the artist and her travelogue will be included in each of the 160-page volumes, as well as 70 drawings by Aurore de la Morinerie herself. The hardcover books are made with silk-screen printed cloth bindings, elastic closures, and colored edges, and are printed using a six-color process. Travel Books are sold in Louis Vuitton stores, select bookstores, and on louisvuitton.com.