Pablo PICASSO

Rare first edition of the catalogue for Picasso’s final exhibition at the Galerie Paul Rosenberg in Paris, held from 17 January to 18 February 1939 at 21 rue La Boétie. The front wrapper is illustrated with a black-and-white photograph of the exhibition’s centrepiece: La sculpture nègre devant la fenêtre, now known as Buste de Minotaure devant une fenêtre (Private Collection; see Zervos, vol. VIII, p. 360). Painted on 19 April 1937, the work is widely regarded as a precursor to the bull of Guernica, executed only a few weeks later.

An excellent, well-preserved copy.

The plaquette lists the 33 works exhibited, arranged by year of execution- 1936, 1937, and 1938. The verso carries the notice of the next exhibition, “Centenary of Cézanne”, dated 20 February 1939. These two events were followed only by a final show devoted to Georges Braque, before the gallery closed and Paul Rosenberg left France for permanent exile in the United States.

First edition, one of 10 lettered copies on Holland paper, the only deluxe copies.

Illustrated on the cover with a portrait of Max Jacob by Pablo Picasso.

A rare and handsome copy.

Autograph letter by Pablo Picasso to Max Pellequer, vividly executed in multiple colours, signed and dated by the artist, 27 January 1956, addressed from his villa “La Californie”. Fourteen lines written in green, blue, pink, orange, red, violet and turquoise pencil on a watermarked “BFK Rives” sheet.
A few negligible transverse folds, as expected from mailing.

Picasso did not regularly employ colour in his correspondence. Here, however, he seems to have offered a gracious gesture to his friend and banker Max Pellequer, as the more visually striking his letters, the more sought-after they become. To speak of his work, Picasso turns to red pencil: “je continue mon travail avec ardeur” - a telling choice that conveys the fervour he wished to bring to his art.

Multi-coloured autograph letter from Pablo Picasso to Max Pellequer, signed and dated by the artist on June 5,  1956. The document includes the autograph address of his villa ‘La Californie’. Twelve lines in orange, pink, blue, yellow and purple pencil on one sheet. 
Minor folds. 

A very elegant letter written in pastel colours by Pablo Picasso.

Multi-coloured autograph letter from Pablo Picasso to Max Pellequer, signed and dated by the author on June 13, 1957. The document includes the autograph address of his villa ‘La Californie’. 2 pages on one sheet, 22 lines in green, blue and red pencils on a watermarked sheet.
Minor folds. 

An exceptional account of Pablo Picasso's passion for bullfighting, a recurring theme in his art since his very first works painted at the age of eight ("The Little Yellow Picador", 1899). 

Pablo Picasso gives Max Pellequer and his wife details regarding a trip to Arles on July 5, 6 and 7, 1957, to which the artist has invited them along with a handful of friends. With undisguised enthusiasm, he announces that he has booked their rooms at the "Norpinus" [Nord-Pinus] and their seats for the bullfight. Only after providing this essential information does the painter mention the opening of his exhibition at the Réatu Museum and the official dinner with Douglas Cooper, the great collector, and the mayor of Arles, Charles Privat: "Dinner with Cooper & the mayor". A performance of "Aïda at the bullring" is also scheduled during this Arlesian getaway, which ends on the 7th with an intriguing "bull run with the presence of a black king".

Autograph letter in blue and red pencil by Pablo Picasso to Max Pellequer, signed and dated by the author on June 7, 1956. The document includes the autograph address of his villa ‘La Californie’.  12 lines on the front of the letter and two lines on the back on a printed notice announcing the forthcoming publication of a book by Thérèse Leroy. 
Minor folds and a slight crease in the lower left corner. 

We have here a rare written account of Pablo Picasso engaging in self-deprecation. In his villa "Californie", the painter found a printed poster announcing the forthcoming publication of the book "La technique du classement" (The Technique of Classification). On this announcement, he humorously wrote the following words: "Je vais m'y mettre. Un peu sur le tard" (I'll get started on it, with slight delay), well aware that he preferred to devote his time to his art rather than to administrative tasks. Picasso refers here to the topic of his letter, the discovery of a new insurance document requested by its recipient. Max Pellequer, who managed his finances, knew only too well the disorderly nature of his friend, the artist with 50,000 works to his credit.

Picasso's true concerns however seem to reflect in the letter's graphic composition. He changed the colour and size of the characters to highlight what really mattered to him: beauty and friendship.

« Mistral et soleil. Allez bien et bonne poignée de main de votre Picasso » ! ("Mistral and sunshine, and a proper handshake to you from Picasso"!)

Multi-coloured autograph letter from Pablo Picasso to Max Pellequer, signed and dated by the artist on September 23,  1959. The document includes the autograph address of his villa ‘La Californie’. Ten lines in blue and green pencils on a watermarked “BFK Rives” sheet.
Minor folds and marks.

A very elegant letter written in pastel colours by Pablo Picasso.

Multi-coloured autograph letter from Pablo Picasso to Max Pellequer, signed and dated by the artist on September 23,  1958. The document includes the autograph address of his villa ‘La Californie’. 13 lines in a multi-coloured tip pen (orange, red, blue and green) on a sheet marked ‘VIA WESTERN UNION’.
Minor folds. Tear in the lower left corner. 

Colour is not systematically used in Pablo Picasso's letters. It would seem that the artist wanted to make a kind gesture towards his friend and banker Max Pellequer, because the more aesthetically pleasing his letters are, the more valuable they are.

The use of a multicoloured pen in letter writing was a practice shared by several artists, notably Paul Éluard.

Multi-colored autograph letter to Max Pellequer

Elegant multi-colored autograph letter by Pablo Picasso to Max Pellequer, signed and dated 'December 20, 1955'. A leaf in multi-color pencil (blue, green, orange and red).
Traces of transverse folds.
This "graphic" letter in the most literal sense constitutes a superb polychrome and artistic link in an epistolary chain that linked Picasso and his prominent patron for decades.

The first edition, first printing, numbered in the press, with only 23 large paper copies on Hollande paper.
With a frontispiece portrait of Apollinaire by Picasso.
Discreet restorations to spine.

With a chemise of half red morocco over paper boards by Boichot, spine in six compartments, date to foot of spine, identical paper slipcase with red morocco edging.

 
Rare autograph inscription signed by Guillaume Apollinaire: “for Henri Ghéon whose poetry I am fond of, Guillaume Apollinaire”.
This copy also with five manuscript corrections by Apollinaire on pages 71, 77, 92, 110 and 189.
A good copy with a rare autograph inscription by the poet.

An autograph quatrain in black ink has been mounted on the verso of the frontispiece.

First edition of this issue entirely devoted to Guillaume Apollinaire.
With numerous contributions including those by Guillaume Apollinaire, Tristan Tzara, Pierre Albert-Birot, Paul Dermée, André Salmon, and Roche Grey. Iconography, illustrations, facsimiles; a complete copy including the portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire by Marcoussis.
Two small tears at the head and foot of the spine, a well-preserved copy.

Front cover illustrated with a portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire by Pablo Picasso.

First edition on chestnut paper, complete with its wraparound band for booksellers.
Two small tears without loss to the spine. 

First edition, one of the review copies.

Spine faded with noticeable waterstaining at foot, a few small spots in the margins of the covers.

Illustrated with 53 photographs by Brassaï.

On a card mounted to the front endpaper, a moving presentation inscription, dated and signed in blue ballpoint pen by Brassaï: "Pour Francis Ponge amical hommage de Brassaï Eze-Village le 29 octobre 1964."

First edition, 15 issues in 15 separate installments, abundantly illustrated with black and white photographs. Complete with the special issue "Hommage à Picasso" (No. 3, 1930) and the index for the year 1929, published as a separate 8-page stapled booklet.

Some spines slightly faded not affecting the text, occasional minor foxing along the margins of certain covers.

Complete series of this legendary and non-conformist magazine founded by Georges Bataille, which gave voice to "fields of art and knowledge unrecognized by official culture or considered controversial: popular literature, jazz, cabaret, advertising, everyday life" (Annie Pirabot), along with so-called primitive art and objects.

First edition featuring the celebrated original color stencil "Aidez l'Espagne!", printed on Arches paper by Joan Miró.
With literary contributions by Christian Zervos on Pablo Picasso's "Guernica", as well as texts by Jean Cassou, Georges Duthuit, Pierre Mabille, Michel Leiris, Paul Éluard, René Char...
Illustrated with numerous reproductions of works by Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró’s "Le faucheur".
Some rubbing and small tears to the spine, as often, a vertical crease to the rear wrapper, otherwise a fresh and well-preserved copy.

Signed and inscribed newspaper clipping with Picasso's portrait.

Newspaper clipping from 'Le Patriote de Nice et du Sud-Est' (25 October 1959) signed and inscribed by Pablo Picasso. A folded leaf inscribed with a large red felt-tip pen.

A pictorial and unusual inscription signed by Picasso on the front page of a Nice newspaper celebrating his 78th birthday: “For Max Pellequer / his friend / Picasso”. A beautiful testimony of friendship in an important political newspaper which featured many of the artist's original creations.

First edition, a first impression copy numbered in the press.

Binding in half brown morocco, spine in five compartments, gilt date at the foot, geometric pattern paper boards and endpapers in the same paper, top edge gilt, wrappers and spine preserved in perfect condition, binding signed by T. Boichot.

Apollinaire's second major poetic work with bold graphic innovations and a portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire by Pablo Picasso as frontispiece.
“Some of the best war poems, all languages combined, are brought together in this collection, alongside experimental works such as Les Fenêtres (close to Cubism) and La Jolie Rousse, which were far ahead of their time” (Cyril Connolly, Cent livres-clés de la littérature moderne, n° 32).

A beautiful copy on non-brittle paper which is unusual, and a rare and surprising handwritten inscription signed by Guillaume Apollinaire: “à monsieur le critique littéraire de La Libre Parole, hommage de Guill. Apollinaire." (“To the literary critic of La Libre Parole, tribute by Guill. Apollinaire.”)

Who could be the recipient of this inscription, unnamed but addressed to a collaborator of the famous anti-Semitic newspaper founded by Édouard Drumont? The ostensibly philo-Semitic position of Guillaume Apollinaire is well-known. In an 1899 letter, he boasts to Toussaint Luca that he tried to provoke Henri Rochefort, who was reading La Libre Parole, by deploying L'Aurore in front of him but, as the young Dreyfusard regrets, without daring to engage the controversy. In 1902, he publicly marked his fraternity with the Jewish people with a new publication in La Revue blanche, “Le Passant de Prague": “I love Jews because all Jews suffer everywhere”. Then in Alcools, he will dedicate a poem to the Hebrew religion: "La Synagogue". But it is undoubtedly through his poem “Le Juif latin”, published in L'Hérésiarque et C^ie that Apollinaire poetically reveals the essence of his particular link with Judaism: that he shares the condition of eternal stranger, the feeling of uprooting and the search for identity.
It may, therefore, seem very surprising that this poet, whose only trace of political commitment was in favor of Dreyfus, dedicated his work to a La Libre Parole journalist, even if he is a literary critic.
And in fact, La Libre Parole does not contain literary columns!

A few months before the poet's death, this laconic inscription thus proves to be a formidable and final scoff of poetic impertinence
to political intolerance...

First edition, one of 50 copies on pure thread paper, part of the deluxe issue.

Half aubergine morocco binding, smooth spine, lacquered marbled paper boards, aubergine paper endpapers and doublures, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, slipcase edged with aubergine morocco, aubergine paper sides, aubergine felt lining. An elegant binding signed C. & J.P. Miguet, dated 1990.

First edition of this issue of La Revue musicale dated December 1, 1930, entirely devoted to Serge de Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.

With numerous contributions by Anna de Noailles, Gabriel Astruc, Maurice Brillant, Émile Henriot, Michel-Georges Michel, Mikhail Larionov, Auguste Gilbert de Voisins, André Warnod, among others.

Illustrated in black and in color with works by Jean Cocteau, Léon Bakst, Georges Braque, André Derain, André Dunoyer de Segonzac, Natalia Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov, Pablo Picasso, Maurice Utrillo, and others.

Two small light dampstains at the foot of the spine and rear cover, otherwise a pleasant copy.

Autograph letter signed by Pablo Picasso to Fernande Olivier. Two pages in black ink on a ruled sheet with the letterhead of the Hôtel du Canigou, Maison Armand, Céret. Autograph envelope addressed to 'Madame Picasso' at their address of 11 boulevard de Clichy, postmarked 8 August 1911. Folds from mailing, tiny marginal tears without affecting the text, front and back of the envelope detached.

A superb unpublished letter to "la belle Fernande" from Céret, the Mecca of Cubism. Having just arrived in this temple of modern art, where he would spend three summers with Braque, Picasso writes to his first muse in what may be his last love letter to her, already tinged with a sense of freedom and new desires.
 
This extremely rare early letter, written in hesitant French marked by Catalan influences, marked a turning point in Picasso's life and career.

A painter finally recognized, comfortably settled in a beautiful Parisian building with a housekeeper, pets, and "Madame Picasso", Pablo escaped for what he thought would be a short provincial jaunt to this Catalan village, at the invitation of Manolo Hugué.

What was meant to be a simple return to his roots, far from Parisian bourgeois life, becomes a tremendous source of inspiration. The creative power that this new life instilled in Picasso shines through in this passionate letter, in which love, friendship, space and desire are jostled together in a joyful collage of fragmented exchanges between a love letter and the birth of a new inspiration.
 
 « Je t'aime beaucoup [...] Je ne ai reçu encore que une lettre de toi tu me écriras tous les jours [...] je t'embrasse tout le temps.»
 
["I love you very much [...] I have only received one letter from you so far, and you will write to me every day [...] I kiss you all the time."]
 
Fernande Olivier, known as "La Belle Fernande" ["Beautiful Fernande"] in Montmartre, had enthralled the young Picasso when they met in 1904. He convinced her to move into his studio at Bateau-Lavoir, where he continued to paint, sculpt and draw his muse, who now posed exclusively for him. From his earliest sketches of their passionate embraces to the fragmented Demoiselles d'Avignon, her figure dominates his early works. This first great love played a decisive role in Pablo Picasso's artistic direction, who then experienced his first successes. However, after six bohemian years in her company, painting remained the most dangerous rival. Preoccupied with himself and his work, Picasso joined his friends Manolo and Franck Burty Haviland in Céret and left his muse alone in their new flat on the Boulevard de Clichy, surrounded by a veritable domestic menagerie: three Siamese cats, a bitch and a guenon who turned the place upside down: "Je pense que tu as raison de donner le chat de Siam il n'est pas rigolo et après dernièrement la maison sentait vraiment trop la pisse". ["I think you're right to give away Siam's cat, he's no fun and lately the house has smelt too much of piss."]
Worried by her lover's silence- « Ma chère Fernande tu me demandes si je pense à toi allors [sic] tu crois que je peux te oublier » [ 'My dear Fernande, you ask me if I'm thinking of you, so [sic] do you think I can forget you?'] - Fernande, who was already calling herself 'Madame Picasso', transformed their flat, much to the painter's dismay: « Je pense que tu vas me faire arranger l'atelier mais que on fasse etention [attention] et que on mete les livres avec les livres les penceaux avec les penceaux et les bouteilles avec les chopines » ["I think you are going to have the studio arranged for me, but make sure to be careful and put the books with the books, the brushes with the brushes, and the bottles with the jugs."] But although Picasso still pretended to believe in his return : « enfin que Louise se arrange de façon que je puisse trouver quelque chose quand je rentre »  ['Finally, Louise should arrange things so that I can find what I need when I return.'], his letter bore witness to an entirely different passion: « Je ai commencé à travailler chez Haviland ier je serais bien ».  ['I have started working at Haviland's studio yesterday, and I will be well.'] Their relationship was indeed experiencing its final moments and, in the autumn, Picasso succumbed to the charms of Eva Gouel, while Fernande found refuge in the arms and on the canvases of the futurist painter Ubaldo Oppi. Despite this break-up and the infidelities of each of them, Fernande did not hesitate to write in her memoirs:  « ces années vécues près de toi, ce fut la seule époque heureuse de ma vie »  ['those years spent close to you were the only happy time of my life'].
Written at the dawn of his Cubist adventure, the letter reveals the creative effervescence of the painter, who seemed incapable of moderating his excitement. Between each address to Fernande, the happiness of life in the Cévennes comes to the fore: « hier soir, j'ai diné chez Manolo » [Last night, I dined at Manolo's'], « Dede Denicker ne est pas encore arrivé » [Dede Denicker hasn't arrived yet], he wrote (referring to the young emulate baptised 'the youngest of the Cubists' by Apollinaire who that summer would become Manolo's pupil). And if Picasso was still thinking about the Bateau-Lavoir, it was almost more for his 'friends' than for his lover: « Je ne ai reçu encore que une lettre de toi tu me écriras tous les jours et tu dis aux copains de me ecrire aussi. (...) Je ai envoyé des cartes postalles à tout le monde. » ["I have only received one letter from you. You must write to me every day and tell the friends to write to me too. (...) I have sent postcards to everyone."] We know some of his famous cards scribbled with few words, notably to Apollinaire and his dealer Kahnweiler.

Beyond the intense pleasure Picasso finds in rediscovering his Catalan roots, this letter also reflects his attraction to a modest life: « Je pai 4 francs par jour à l'Hôtel. » ("I pay 4 francs a day at the hotel") and one that was conducive to creative profusion: « La maison est si grande je aurai plusieurs ateliers à ma dispocition ». This relationship with simplicity and space, which dominates the letter, was fundamental to the emergence of a new aesthetic, the 'discipline of the humble' of Cubist painting. The arrival a few days later of Braque and Max Jacob marked the start of a series of three summer seasons in Céret, of extraordinary artistic fertility.
It was precisely during this period that a fundamental innovation marked his works: words and letters entered his compositions as 'optical textures' (Michel Butor) and mischievous games of meaning.
Still brimming with love, this magnificent letter nonetheless foreshadows that the true break with Fernande would owe less to Eva Gouel than to Picasso's new artistic life. And when her biographer Sophie Chauveau recalls the days spent in the alcove of the studio, it is with Georges Braque: "To think they only spent two weeks together there! My God, how closely bound they were to one another! When you see the result, it's astonishing!" Among the masterpieces painted during this first stay are iconic works of Analytical Cubism, including Le Poète, L'Accordéoniste, L'Éventail (L'Indépendant), and famous oval-shaped object pictures (Man with a Pipe; Palette, pinceaux, livre de Victor Hugo).

This letter is characteristic of Picasso's early 20th-century correspondence, examples of which remain exceedingly rare in private hands. In his handwriting « frappée de la verdeur naïve de la jeunesse » (Laurence Madeline, Picasso épistolaire)  ('stamped with the naive verve of youth'], the painter pokes fun at the poxed face of his patron: 'Haviland and [is] full of nails' which reminds the reader of the famous African statuettes stolen from the Louvre that would do Picasso so much harm a few weeks later, when the Mona Lisa was stolen). The delightful spelling of the young Picasso still abounds in Spanish expressions - having only lived in France for a few years, his near-bilingual expressions mirror his return to Catalan soil, so close to his Barcelona youth. 'He lived like he was in Spain', Fernande remembers, and seems immensely happy about it: "They barely celebrate July 14th here; they only love Don Carlos", he writes here. He made the most of the conviviality of his Catalan friend and of the 'Grand Café de Céret, run by Michel Justafré', whose letterhead graces this missive, and whose marble tables were covered with Picasso's countless sketches. This establishment would go on to welcome the greatest figures of modern art, including Juan Gris, Matisse, Moïse Kisling, Marquet, and Soutine. Within its Moorish windows, Braque and Picasso would also obtain sheet music from their friend who had settled in the village, the composer Déodat de Séverac, for their Cubist paper collages. The memory of this café also lives on in the front pages of the local newspaper L'Indépendant, hastily read at the bar, which became an integral part of his paintings.
 
A magnificent and extremely rare pre-Cubist letter to his first muse and his first great love, who shared the bohemian life of the young Picasso in the 'Cubist Acropolis' of the Bateau-Lavoir. Here Fernande receives a precious account of the painter's early days in Céret, a milestone in the great epic of Cubism.