Techniques used include softground etching, hardground etching, whiteground aquatint, and sugar lift aquatint. The etchings were designed and printed in the studio of Henri Hemalsoet (Ghent).

Francis Ponge (1899-1988) is one of the most important poets of the twentieth century in France. His masterpiece Le parti pris des choses (1942) was a surprisingly new impulse for French poetry and many major literary figures were fascinated by it. His method was to observe things meticulously and describe them in rational, yet lyrical terms. A la rêveuse matière was first published in 1963. For this small volume Ponge selected four pieces (La robe des choses, Le paysage, Les ombelles and La Terre) and added a short introduction.
Anthony Rudolf, poet and translator, founder of The Menard Press, lives and works in London. Piet Meeuse, writer and translator, lives and works in Amsterdam.
When the Ghent Contemporary Art Museum S.M.A.K. was set up in 1975 it was the first Belgian museum devoted to contemporary art. It was housed in the Museum of Fine Arts. Jan Hoet was appointed as director of the new Museum in the very same year. He was instrumental in systematically extending the collection owned by the Museum and helping it to earn an enviable international reputation. In 1988 Jürgen Partenheimer was part of the group exhibition Signaturen.
The Museum moved into its own building in 1999. Located opposite the Museum of Fine Arts the Contemporary Arts Museum was given the new name of SMAK (Stedelijk Museum Actuele Junst). The two museums now form an artistic haven in a park located on the outskirts of Ghent.

Museum of Contemporary Art
Citadelpark Gent
www.smak.be