Lettre autographe signée enrichie d'une aquarelle originale de Mathurin Méheut adressée à sa femme Marguerite Rouja

Unpublished original signed autograph letter by Mathurin Méheut to his wife Marguerite Rouja, with watercolor and pen and ink drawing captioned ‘Le mannequin' (The Mannequin), depicting WW1 soldiers in a trench. Pen and ink monogram by the artist bottom left of illustration.
Four numbered pages written in black ink in fine calligraphy on a double sheet of exercise book paper. Several phrases ostentatiously crossed out, probably by military censors. The two sheets are held together by a hinge. Two minor restorations using strips of paper with no damage to the text or the illustration.
Beautiful autograph letter written when Mathurin Méheut, who had been mobilized since the beginning of the Great War, was preparing to attain the rank of second lieutenant in the thirteenth regiment of the Arras infantry. He tells his wife about living conditions in the trenches: “I made myself presentable today and the men were amazed. You get so filthy in the trenches that until now I've not felt the need (...) to show off (I tell you these little tales like it is, my darling, please don't think me pretentious; I've not changed, you know, my good little woman).” Conscious of the conditions back home, he makes a moving declaration: “I'm glad you're both in good health. What happiness to have you a bit more. Everything is yours, everything is for you. What I have is for you both. My happiness is yours. Use the money as you wish, my darling. Don't stint yourself and do me the honor of buying cakes from time to time; books for my little girl, fabrics for you, a dress for my sweetheart, all that your heart desires. Do not fear for the future should the grim reaper save me and leave me my right hand [the hand he painted with]. What bad luck then, and in whom can we trust.
At this point, although the Breton painter had produced little, he had enjoyed initial success: “We ran into the colonel on the way (…) He told me my name was in the Petit Parisien again. He asked me to do a watercolor for his wife, who knows my work, it would seem.” There was indeed an article about him titled “A Soldier-Artist from Lamballe” in an edition of the Petit Parisien the month before he wrote this letter. Nineteen fifteen was an important year in the biography of Méheut. It was during this year that he would be noticed by the army staff and removed from the front to join the mapping service.
War letters from soldiers to their wives are not rare, but Méheut's letters stand out for their superb watercolors since, he explains, “writing is a terrible thing, it's far too slow.” Paintings done in the trenches are rare and precious; those signed by great artists are exceptional.
Superb war letter with original watercolor by a simple soldier who would become one of the greatest Breton painters of the 20th century.