Composition féérique. Photomontage original dédicacé au dos par Christian Boltanski

Composition féérique. Original photomontage inscribed on the back by Christian Boltanski
Original contemporary silver print framed under glass and a light frame by the artist.

Handwritten inscription signed by Christian Boltanski on the back of the frame.

Referenced in the annotated catalogue raisonné of the artist.
Rare photomontage signed by the artist who, after a working for a long time on pure photography, makes a radical transformation towards an aesthetic of shadow and fantasy.
Through double exposure and lighting, the photograph reveals, against a monochrome background, the silhouette of a dancer doll; the everyday object prized by the artist, seems to emerge from a double white and colored constellation. This imprecise but luminous figure evokes a Venus of Lespugue born from this foam of stars, which, in return, preserves the wake of its dance.
“In most of my photographic pieces, I used this proof property that is given to the photo to divert it or to try to show that the photo lies, that it does not speak the truth but instead cultural codes” (Boltanski Catalog, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges-Pompidou, Paris,1984.)

The series of Compositions, started in the early 1970s, however, is based on a new approach to photographic objects, notably through the photomontage technique which redefines the relationship between the work and its subject.
In 2020, during the second retrospective of his work, Bernard Blistène, director of the Musée National d'Art Moderne (MNAM), described the profound artistic transformation “of one of the greatest creative figures of our time: [...] Archaeologist of his own history as that of everyone, Boltanski has, over the course of half a century of creations, transformed into a “mythologist”. From the story of childhood to that of the tales and legends he discovers and reinvents today until the end of the world, Boltanski has sought to rid himself of himself to confuse himself with the history of men.” (B. Blistène, Commissaire de l'exposition, in Code couleur n°35, 2019)

Thus, in the Compositions féériques (Fairy tale Compositions) series, of which a polyptych is preserved at the Geneva Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain (MAMCO), the artist revives the pictorial gesture by diverting the objectivity of photography through photomontage, also adding a few blue and white paint drops, tiny planets and act of repossession of the support by the artist-painter, a designation still claimed by Boltanski despite the multiplicity of his artistic techniques.

From the first retrospective in 1984 at the MNAM, Chantal Boulanger, in Vie des Arts, highlighted that the current Compositions in progress, defined a pivotal period in Boltanski's career:

“Then begins the series of Compositions which present themselves as imposing color photos on black backgrounds. Out of context objects emerge from unknown places and float in infinite space. Paint, so compose. The Compositions structure real paintings whose elements, treats, toys, figurines, garlands, are organized like a fairy tale. Thus the Compositions murales, 1977, are directly inspired by the tradition of still life; others, like the Compositions classiques, 1982, are more of the theatre and its somewhat false magic. Here you can see the influence of painting and, above all, the painting effect: the lights commute the tiny cardboard puppets into giant figures. From now on, Boltanski will be interested only in shadows, as a consequence of his passion for fragile and tiny things, at the limit of insignificance and non-existence.”

Exceptional original work signed by Christian Boltanski, of which the artist will produce a reprint that was exhibited at the MOMA in New York.