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many old letters and envelopes on a white surfacean old piece of paper with writing on it sitting on top of a tablean open book with a piece of paper on top of it and a piece of paper on the bottom of it
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11 - Hans BELLMER & Unica ZÜRN. 12 signed autograph letters to He…
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Estimate €6,000 - €8,000
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Description
Hans BELLMER & Unica ZÜRN. 12 signed autograph letters to Henri Michaux. La Noue-en-Ré, Paris, Berlin; 14 October 1960 – 20 February 1964. 23½ pages, in-4 or in-8 format, in blue or red ink, 8 envelopes and 1 telegram. A deeply moving correspondence from Hans Bellmer to Henri Michaux concerning the mental health of his partner Unica Zürn, who was then hospitalised at Sainte-Anne for schizophrenia. It also includes two letters from Unica Zürn to Michaux. Hans Bellmer was one of the few contemporary painters whom Michaux knew and admired. He painted two portraits of the poet in the late 1950s. These letters describe the plight of Bellmer’s partner, who had been suffering from paranoid schizophrenia since 1960 – shortly after she met Henri Michaux at the surrealist exhibition EROS organised by Daniel Cordier in 1959. A first letter, sent by Unica to Michaux, dates from her first admission to the Wittenau Hospital in Berlin: I’m locked up in an asylum for mad people. […] Please send – if possible – ‘LM’ cigarettes and some of your books. It’s a bit like hell here – what is it – that view over there – Good heavens! She gives her address in Wittenau using her married name, Ruth Laupenmühlen, but signs as Unica. She had married Erich Laupenmühlen in 1942, with whom she had two children: Katrin, born in 1943, and Christian in 1945. She divorced in 1949. I’m not allowed to have visitors. Have a word with Horst Flinker about this ‘Wittenau house’. Like every German, he knows the name WITTENAU very well. I’ve had just one visitor – my daughter Katrin; she’s very beautiful and very, very kind to me. U. The following are letters from Bellmer, all written in the autumn of 1961 whilst Unica Zürn was hospitalised at Sainte-Anne Hospital. It was on 27 September 1961, via a telegram from his friend Vincent Bounoure—who was himself staying on the Île de Ré—that Bellmer learnt of Unica’s relapse and her admission: The fact is that for several years now, Unica (who no longer loves me) has incorporated into her ‘inner realm’ mythological gods – half-literary, half-personal […]. I finally realised (right up until the last week, here on the Île de Ré) that everything within her revolved around ‘HENRI MICHAUX’, the saviour-knight, through insights gained from the abysses. He therefore asked Michaux to help his partner by going to visit her, giving him the contact details of trustworthy friends who could tell him where Unica was being held. Back in Paris, Bellmer worked tirelessly to sort out administrative matters concerning the situation of Unica, a German citizen. If Unica were to be compulsorily committed in France, there was a risk that, once released, she would be deported to Germany. Bellmer therefore took steps to facilitate her repatriation to the Wittenau Hospital in Berlin – “where she would have a chance of one day returning to ‘normal’ life. Here: none at all!”, or else her internment would have to be declared “voluntary”. But his main aim is to restore Unica’s confidence in her work and in herself. Bellmer therefore organises an exhibition of her work at the Le Point Cardinal gallery, alongside Jean Hugues and Jacques Fouquet.
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About the sale Henri Michaux, the Sven Pitsey collection
Auction location
Auction time 10/29/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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