Bond & Grace marries scholarly context and fine art.
Working in the staid corporate Northern Virginia world of consulting, Ayana Christie and Jacqueline Bond found each other thanks to a shared love of the literary and romantic. Between client conversations, the two dreamed of building a literary lifestyle brand bridging timeless narratives with art. It would feel innovative and fresh for a modern reader.
They wanted a tangible way for a new generation to reinterpret novels that are often forgotten after high school. These works of literature could be read with a new perspective—one that realizes the themes and subject matter still resonate, even if today’s societal values are different from those a century ago. Bond and Christie saw an opportunity to guide that experience.
“We wanted an edition of a classic novel—for example, Pride and Prejudice—that reflected our generation today,” explains Bond. “We wanted it to feel like a special edition in a coffee table book size with an elevated, luxury look. We didn’t want to change one word of the text, but wanted to provide context about why certain words were used and why the themes spoke to the time in which it was originally published and still speak to us today.”
Christie and Bond launched publishing and art house Bond & Grace in 2021 with a mission to renew and rediscover classic works for the modern reader. Imagining an artistic literary translation with a design presence, the co-founders found themselves going down a road that they hadn’t anticipated—merging novels with fine art interpretations of striking moments throughout the stories.
The Art Novel was the result, with 12 artists lending their talents and perception to each work of literature.
“We realized that we didn’t want to be a normal illustrated book,” explains Bond. “The fine art sets it a level above, and we knew different artists would read the book and respond through their art in different ways. It’s magical.”
Classic Themes and Current Conversations
Bond & Grace debuted the Art Novel concept with The Secret Garden and Frankenstein. With each novel, artists are selected to use the novels as a prompt and interpret literary moments through art. Working in tandem, literary scholars annotate each novel, giving it the feeling of a book club with an academic bend.
Selected works strike a chord between classic themes and the current conversations. Bond recognizes the disconnect that can happen between a centuries-old novel and a 21st-century reader, and she wants that to be part of the conversation—the scholarly and artistic interpretations are designed to facilitate that. “We do not judge the writers and their work, but we provide the information and let the readers form their feelings based on that.”
“We have artists like Julia Hacker, who dances while she paints,” says Bond. “One of her pieces for The Secret Garden, ‘Glimmer of Hope,’ portrays a dead garden. She created it while trying to get her mom out of Ukraine during the Russian invasion.” Hacker’s physical anxiety at the time is evident on the page, with the color blue woven into the work as a signal of hope to come.
Bond & Grace’s version of Frankenstein was released in late 2023 and highlighted other relevant topics of conversation: the exhilarating and sometimes jarring realities of nature and technology convening, the seemingly sudden takeover of AI, and the transformations we’re facing day-to-day.
Expanding the Collection
Bond’s Alexandria home has become a living art gallery with the original fine art pieces hung on her walls. They can be found in the Art Novels and are available for purchase. Other pieces are available at Nepenthe Gallery, also in Alexandria, and on the Bond & Grace website.
Christie’s background in product at companies including Google means they are poised to grow Bond & Grace. In addition to selling fine art originals, inspired home goods are in the works, including table settings, scarves, wallpaper, candles, journals, and other items that fit the theme of the novel. A chess set for the upcoming Alice in Wonderland release seems a likely fit. “We pull from the art and our designer interprets those pieces into items that can become part of a larger home collection,” says Bond. But at the root of their literary lifestyle brand is a story, whether it’s interpreted on the page, canvas, or on a plate. “Bond & Grace is meant to spark conversation. If you have a large-scale version of The Secret Garden sitting on your coffee table, clearly this is a novel that means a lot to you. People will want to know more,” explains Bond, while wearing, of course, a scarf adorned with a work from her Art Novel version of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 classic. BondAndGrace.com
This article originally appeared in the August 2024 issue.
