André des Gachons - The Eve of Heaven

André des Gachons
The day before the sky

Published by Phénomène éditions, March 2025
Size: 30×23 cm
232 pages, 250 illustrations
1st edition

Every day, from 1912 to 1951, André des Gachons, symbolist illustrator and amateur meteorologist, reproduced the state of the sky, composing a unique work rich in more than 9,000 drawings and watercolors.

From his observatory in La Chaussée-sur-Marne, in Champagne, he sought a method to predict the weather for the next day, noting the shape of the clouds and the color of the sky before sending his illustrated bulletins to the Central Meteorological Office.

These meteorological watercolors, the majority of which have now disappeared, remained largely unknown. Collected for the first time, they offer a unique panorama of past atmospheric phenomena at a specific point on the globe.

La Veille du ciel pays homage to this unique and poetic work at the crossroads of science and art.