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an open book with a picture of a man with a beard and a picture of a man with a mustachea picture of a book with a picture of a woman on ita picture of a painting of a man with a beardan open book with a handwritten title and signature on itan old piece of paper with a small hole in the middle of itan old book with a drawing of a man with a bearda painting of a man with a beard and a mustachethe front cover of a book with black writing on it
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15 - Victor BRAUNER (1903–1966)
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Estimate €8,000 - €12,000
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Description
Victor BRAUNER (1903–1966) Untitled (two-headed figure), 1941 Watercolour on paper. Signed, dated and inscribed on the left-hand margin: “As I receive this heart-rending letter from you, Sylvain – your sincere friend, Victor Brauner, 2 March 1941” 14 x 11 cm A book is included: Paul Eluard, *Les yeux fertiles*, published by G.L.M., Paris, 1936, copy numbered 1442. (18.8 × 12 cm) (The top edge of the book is dog-eared) The book is inscribed “To Sylvain Itkine, with warmest regards, Paul Eluard”. Sylvain Itkine (1908–1944) was an actor and director. A Jew and a Trotskyist, he led a resistance network in Lyon during the Second World War. Arrested by the Gestapo, he was shot in August 1944. Itkine, a friend of Paul Eluard and Victor Brauner, was associated with André Breton’s Surrealist movement. Between 1940 and 1942, Itkine founded the workers’ food co-operative ‘Les Croque-Fruits’ in Marseille. The co-operative employed and provided legal cover for Jewish artists and activists hunted down by the Vichy regime. Victor Brauner was among the refugees who worked there to survive. Paul Eluard wrote a poem entitled “Éternité de ceux que je n’ai pas revus” (“Eternity of Those I Have Not Seen Again”), in which he explicitly mentions Sylvain Itkine.
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About the sale Modern Collections
Auction location
Auction time 10/15/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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