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Autograph letter signed
Two and half pages written in black ink. Excellent condition.
Signed letter, dated 29.03.1935, in which Valéry expresses his admiration for the series of portraits Charles Leirens took of him. He also thanks Leirens for the sense of calm he felt in his presence during his visit to Brussels. Valéry replies to Leirens?s question about which photographs he would like additional proofs of, and adds in a postscript that the book he has sent is rather ?vilain,? but his disorder prevented him from finding a better one. We include the book in which the letter was found, and possibly the one to which Valéry is referring: FONTAINE, Jean de La. Adonis. Introduction by Paul Valéry. Paris, Devambez, 1921. In-12, broché, xxxii-29 pp., frontispiece, 1/1000 numbered copies on vélin de Rives.
Charles Leirens (1888?1963) was a Belgian art administrator, photographer, and musician. In 1928 he became the first director of the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, organizing acclaimed but costly exhibitions and events. He left when the Palais consigned its activities to auxiliary companies and founded La Maison d?Art in 1933 to counter the risk-averse and populist programming of other arts institutions. During this time Leirens began photographing artists and writers, publishing his first photobook, 20 Portraits d?Artistes, in 1936. In 1941 he emigrated to New York, where he taught music and photography at the New School for Social Research until his return to Europe in 1951. A beautiful letter in which we read how Valéry speaks highly of one of his most famous series of portraits and of the man who took them.
Signed letter, dated 29.03.1935, in which Valéry expresses his admiration for the series of portraits Charles Leirens took of him. He also thanks Leirens for the sense of calm he felt in his presence during his visit to Brussels. Valéry replies to Leirens?s question about which photographs he would like additional proofs of, and adds in a postscript that the book he has sent is rather ?vilain,? but his disorder prevented him from finding a better one. We include the book in which the letter was found, and possibly the one to which Valéry is referring: FONTAINE, Jean de La. Adonis. Introduction by Paul Valéry. Paris, Devambez, 1921. In-12, broché, xxxii-29 pp., frontispiece, 1/1000 numbered copies on vélin de Rives.
Charles Leirens (1888?1963) was a Belgian art administrator, photographer, and musician. In 1928 he became the first director of the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, organizing acclaimed but costly exhibitions and events. He left when the Palais consigned its activities to auxiliary companies and founded La Maison d?Art in 1933 to counter the risk-averse and populist programming of other arts institutions. During this time Leirens began photographing artists and writers, publishing his first photobook, 20 Portraits d?Artistes, in 1936. In 1941 he emigrated to New York, where he taught music and photography at the New School for Social Research until his return to Europe in 1951. A beautiful letter in which we read how Valéry speaks highly of one of his most famous series of portraits and of the man who took them.