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10 - [SIGNOVERT Jean – BRAQUE Georges]
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Estimate €300 - €500
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Description
[SIGNOVERT Jean – BRAQUE Georges] Unpublished autograph manuscript by Jean Signovert intended for *Nouvelles de l’Estampe*, undated. A set of 4 pages handwritten in blue ink on squared paper, 2 sheets taken from an unmarked spiral-bound draft notebook (22 cm), preserved in its original folder bearing handwritten notes in the margins, probably in the hand of his wife Josie: “Published in *Nouvelles de l’Estampe* but revised with Cl. Villard”. An important reflective text devoted to Georges Braque and interpretative printmaking. Written in the form of a veritable professional manifesto, Signovert recounts his meeting with Braque, his role in transposing Braque’s drawings into engravings, and vigorously defends the creative role of the engraver within the printmaking process. Comparing his craft to that of a musician performing Bach, Beethoven or Mozart, he explicitly asserts his collaboration with Braque: “I have interpreted Braque; why should I be ashamed of that? No, absolutely not.” The text also provides a rare insight into the practices of the engraving workshop in the 20th century and the relationship between painter and engraver. In it, Signovert cites several major artists whose works he has engraved, including Hans Arp, Maurice Estève, Serge Poliakoff and Charles Lapicque. The conclusion, ‘Neither I nor Braque have lied’, lends the whole piece the weight of a genuine artistic manifesto. More than just an article on Braque, this manuscript constitutes a passionate defence of the engraver’s craft. Written in a direct, almost conversational style, it reveals an intimate side to Jean Signovert, passionately asserting the engraver’s place in the creative process and responding to the misunderstandings held by certain collectors regarding interpretative engraving. An unpublished manuscript of great interest for the history of modern printmaking, the Braque–Signovert collaboration and the study of post-war engraving workshops. Transcription: “On an Engraving (Shame on anyone who thinks ill of it) Is the meeting of a young man and a man of more mature years not interesting, and ought it not to bear fruit? Which should one prefer: the apple tree, the apple tree that bears the apple, or the apple itself? One admires the apple tree and bites into the apple. The sun that gilds the thing needs the thing. This magnificent encounter I had with one of the pioneers of Cubism, one of the greats of painting in our century, in this immense and colossal era, remains and will remain etched in my mind like certain bloody and indelible marks from my childhood. Like him, like them, I had made myself—I who was nothing, whom no one wanted because I was something. I was, and I shall remain—whatever anyone does—clinging to that prestigious name. It was the finest revenge I could ever have been granted. Would you have me now deny it, for his sake, for mine, for my art, for the art of engraving to which I have devoted my life, through which I have inscribed in metal all my finest pages of love and suffering? No, I do not deny it, nor will I ever deny anything. Yes, I worked alongside him, just as one works alongside a loved one. Yes, for him I engraved with all my heart, interpreting his drawings, bringing his design to life on the metal plate with my burin or my acid. What my father and mother had given me – a marvellous gift at my birth – I, Signovert, offered to him. I gave it to him. It was an exceptionally close encounter with one of those giants of Cubism, and I am proud of it. If I were a musician and had to perform Bach, Beethoven or Mozart, I’d be proud of it and wouldn’t want to betray them. I’ve interpreted Braque – why should I be ashamed of that? No, and no. You, the collector, are up in arms: why didn’t you find out more beforehand? Why didn’t you learn about our craft? Allow me to say that you strike me as slightly ridiculous. Go to an engraver’s workshop — not a printer’s — an engraver’s, I say, and watch the work; wait two days, three days, eight days, a year—the birth of an engraving—and once you’ve seen how it’s conceived and how it’s brought to life, then you’ll understand interpretative engraving, provided it’s done as it ought to be done. Without betraying the original, but let it be an interpretation. I have engraved Arp, I have engraved Estève, I have engraved Poliakoff and Lapicque too, and if my name is not inscribed there in letters of gold, that is your fault, and you are the one who loses out. But you have chosen this fate through your own laziness, and that is only fair. Now let us keep our share of justice and truth. Neither I nor Braque have lied. The flower must surely have its stem. And in serving one another, therein lies the whole art.” Signs of wear, pinholes, erasures, a few stains. Provenance: Jean SIGNOVERT’s studio collection.
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About the sale The Jean SIGNOVERT (1919–1981) Studio Collection: his prints, paintings, sculptures and friends
Auction location
Auction time 10/22/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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