John Derian--Found Art

It is color that drew American artist John Derian to an old box of decrepit 19^th century books at a New York flea market.  He marveled at the clarity and vibrancy, the steadiness of the artist’s loving hand.  He knew these illustrations were key to something of grace and simple beauty.  From there, he made the leap to decoupage, the art of cutting and gluing images under glass.  He found his medium of expression.  Now he is one of the most eclectic and interesting artists and interior designers working in America.

His coffee table tome, John Derian Picture Book (Artisan, 2016), gathers many of his found images and presents them to the world.  They are graceful in their simplicity and profound in color and detail.  The book contains a good cross-section of Derian’s centuries of color prints of flowers, fruit, animals, and calligraphy.  The animals are reminiscent of Audubon’s birds of North America, sketched in color with exacting attention to capture the plumage and intricate markings.

John Derian was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, the youngest of six children.  Early on, he realized he liked being alone and collecting found objects both natural and human-made.  As he came into his teen years, he realized he lived so much in his own head that he lacked friends or relationships.  Later, as a young adult, he studied painted finishes and antiques while working as a waiter in a restaurant.  His formal education did not include college.  He instead opted for the college of life.  In 1992, he moved to New York where he encountered that box of color at the flea market.  He now owns the interior design store that bears his name on East 2^nd Street.

Image 1

“Clipper Ship Great Republic,” Currier & Ives, 19^th century

“Central Park Essay by a Child” 1869

In the book, Derian combines these two images back-to-back on successive pages.  The ship is a marvel, depicted in full regalia.  The essay is written in a child’s script and includes a word count at the bottom of the page. The refreshing thing about Derian’s work is that each piece must be taken on its own.  This is a scrap book of life, visual reportage of what he sees in old books and prints that can be utilized as fresh art here in the 21^st century.

Image 2

“Black Skull” 1892

“Picture of Perfect Health” 1892

Here, Derian places two images side by side on facing pages.  We see an anatomical diagram of a human skull with the major bone plates labeled.  The other print is a man’s head, roughly the same shape, but in the blush of health.  The images contrast each other as well as stand as separate images on their own merit.

 

Image 3

“Blue Butterfly” 1820

“#11—Good Hope Blue Jay” 1738

Created almost a century apart, the intense cerulean blue catches the eye.  Both drawings contain anatomical features of the insect and the bird, but it is the blue that stops the eye.

Image 4

“Look-alikes” 19^th century

“Peas in a Pod” 1885

Many of the drawings Derian utilizes have an Alice-in-Wonderland quality.  Here is a perfect example.  The boy and the dog have the same expression, and an old man’s expression at that.  Then there are the two figures, man and woman, who are, quite literally, two peas in a pod.

John Derian utilizes found objects to create beautiful art from old images and prints.  His work compiles the intriguing sketches and colors of the 19^th century as an expression of 21^st century sensibilities. His company turns these collections into beautiful fabrics and furnishings that give a vibrant and distinctive interior of color and intensity.  This book brings together Derian’s raw materials and inspires modern designers to look at the past to create the present and the future.