Bellmer

1950 · 84621 — Paris 1950. Fine. ""Bref je suis terrifié ne sachant pas que faire pour survivre"" ""In short I am terrified not knowing what to do to survive"" Paris 31 décembre 1950 20.80 x 27 cm deux pages sur deux feuillets enveloppe jointe Autograph letter by Hans Bellmer signed ""H.B"" addressed to Claude Richard dated by the author December 31 1950. Two pages in black ink on two sheets of fine pink paper with autograph envelope enclosed. Discrete fold marks inherent to the sending of the letter. Exceptional lament of a cursed artist sacrificing his life to his art. Endangering his health Bellmer carefully supervises the printing of the first retrospective catalogue of his works Vingt-cinq reproductions of which he had received the first copies ""le soir de la Noël"" ""on Christmas evening"". He addresses his Bordeaux collector-patron Claude Richard from his modest Latin Quarter studio which had seen the birth a year earlier of his masterpiece Les Jeux de la Poupée. Bellmer takes up his pen and transcribes his malaise onto these two old rose pages similar to the color covering some of his Doll photographs as well as to that of the band surrounding the collection of this famous suite of photographs. The words themselves finely chiseled with pen strokes disarticulate in the image of his works; the letters come undone and reveal the extreme distress of the artist at the end of his strength and resources: ""Excusez je vous prie cette lettre décousue mais je ne vais pas très bien"" ""Please excuse this rambling letter but I am not very well"" . ""ma vie est redevenue très très dure"" ""my life has become very very hard again"" . ""vous ai-je remercié des 16000 que vous avez eu l'amitié de m'envoyer il y a deux semaines environ - Cela m'a permis d'activer la fabrication du recueil une fois de plus"" ""did I thank you for the 16000 that you were kind enough to send me about two weeks ago - This allowed me to accelerate the production of the collection once again"" This concerns a work laid out by his own hand bringing together twenty-five of his works accompanied by texts by Nora Mitrani Gisèle Prassinos Jehan Mayoux Jean Brun André Pieyre de Mandiargues Jacques de Caso and Yves Bonnefoy. Bellmer had received the first copies a few days earlier: ""J'y avais mis un effort affreux ; depuis trois semaines je traîne une grippe qui par le froid glacial de la rue Mouffetard et de l'atelier d'impression chez Larrive a pris depuis 10 jours un tour dangereux. Pour l'instant je ne tiens plus debout mais pour ne pas me déclarer vaincu je suis obligé de courrir sans cesse pour trouver le minimum d'argent nécessaire pour ne pas mourir de faim"" ""I had put a terrible effort into it; for three weeks I have been dragging around the flu which due to the freezing cold of rue Mouffetard and the printing workshop at Larrive's has taken a dangerous turn for the past 10 days. At the moment I can no longer stand up but so as not to declare myself defeated I am obliged to run constantly to find the minimum amount of money necessary so as not to die of hunger"". The manuscript also contains a beautiful passage on the artist's relationship with his patron and also mentions Cocteau as well as his partnership with the Hugo Gallery in New York directed since 1944 by former dancer Alexandre Jolas: 1907-1987: ""Quant à l'encadrement de mon tableau c.à.d le vôtre je m'en occuperai avec plaisir car c'est très important pour la mise en valeur de la chose. Je connais bien un des meilleurs encadreurs il a encadré les choses que Cocteau et Morihien m'avaient achetées il y a quelques années que la Hugo-gallery m'a pris cette année. Il ne doit peut-être trop bien marché sic. Dès que je trouverai deux tickets de métro je vous dirai le prix qu'il demanderait. Ces jours-ci j'ai pu récupérer un expl. de tête de mon Album de Revel sous emboîtage avec un dessin original. Le prix est de 6000. Si vous le voulez je peux vous l'envoyer de unknown