Hans Bellmer

Marcel Zerbib, Paris (acquis avant 1957)
William N. Copley, New York (vente : The William N. Copley Collection, Sotheby's, New York, 5 & 6 novembre 1979, lot 269)
Acquis lors de cette vente par le propriétaire actuel

The canvas is not lined. The are several tiny flyspots near the upper-right corner. A vertical stretche ris visible. Under ultraviolet light, there is no sign of retouching. This work is in good original condition.
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signed 'Bellmer' (lower right), oil on canvas. Executed circa 1950.  

 

Cette image, de provenance particulièrement prestigieuse, est l'une des plus emblématiques de toute l'œuvre graphique d'Hans Bellmer. Conçu vers 1948 pour illustrer L'Anatomie de l'image, le grand traité d'esthétique que Bellmer ne publiera qu'en 1957, ce motif remonterait à 1943. On le retrouve sur un dessin qu'offre Bellmer à Max Ernst, son ancien compagnon du Camp des Mille où les deux artistes allemands furent retenus prisonniers au début de la seconde guerre mondiale (dessin reproduit dans Alain Jouffroy, Bellmer, Chicago, William and Noma Copley Foudnation, 1960, fig. 10).

Ce même motif est développé dans une série d'études en 1948 puis sur une gouache, titrée "Corselet-Bastille" (Hans Bellmer, Anatomie du désir (catalogue d'exposition), Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2006, no. 147). Bellmer découvre l'œuvre de Sade à cette même époque : il réalise 47 dessins pour illustrer La Philosophie dans le boudoir mais le projet reste sans suite. En 1949, il fait la connaissance du galeriste-éditeur d'art Marcel Zerbib qui publie l'année suivante Justine ou les Infortunes de la vertu de Sade avec une préface de Bataille et un frontispice de Bellmer.

A notre connaissance, Corselet de Sade est la seule huile sur toile reprenant ce motif central dans l'œuvre d'Hans Bellmer. Cette huile a appartenu à deux grands défenseurs de l'artiste allemand, le galeriste Marcel Zerbib et William Copley, l'artiste, collectionneur et marchand américain proche des surréalistes.

 

This image is one of the most iconic in the whole of Hans Bellmer's graphic oeuvre.  Conceived around 1948 to illustrate the The Anatomy of Image, the great aesthetic treaty that Bellmer would only publish in 1957, the motif in fact dates back to1943.  We find it in a drawing Bellmer presented to Max Ernst, his old friend from the Camp des Mille where the two German artists were held prisoner at the beginning of the Second World War (drawing reproduced in Alain Jouffroy, Bellmer, Chicago, William and Noma Copley Foundation, 1960, fig. 10).

The same motif was developed in a series of studies in 1948 and then in a gouache entitled "Corselet-Bastille" (Hans Bellmer, Anatomie du désir (exhibition catalogue), Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2006, no. 147).  Bellmer discovered the work of Sade around the same period: he created 47 drawings to illustrate the The Philosopher in the Boudoir but the project never saw the light of day. In 1949, he met the gallery owner and art publisher Marcel Zerbib who the following year published Justine or The Disadvantages of Virtue by Sade with a preface by Bataille and a frontispiece by Bellmer.

To our knowledge, Corselet de Sade is the only oil on canvas that takes up this central motif in Hans Bellmer's oeuvre.  This oil previously belonged to two of the German artist's great defenders, the gallery owner Marcel Zerbib and William Copley, the American artist, collector and dealer who was close to the Surrealists.