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Leducq Maison de Ventes aux enchères

49 - Jean DUBUFFET. Letter to the Service for Artistic Exchanges …
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Estimate €200 - €300
Sale commission
Description
Jean DUBUFFET. Letter to the Service for Artistic Exchanges Abroad. Paris, 26 August 1945. Signed typewritten letter, 1 page, in-8. Stamp: “Service d’Action Artistique à l’Étranger. 28 August 1945”. Approached by the Ministry of Fine Arts to take part in a national propaganda project in Scotland, Dubuffet clearly expresses an unconventional artistic vision, proposing not to exhibit paintings but simply to go and have a bit of fun at the Edinburgh Fair. “If our shepherds become terrorists, then that is frightening; it is like a regime in which a colonel would award medals to deserters. If it is too late – if nothing can stop this tide any longer – if this Edinburgh event can no longer be prevented, then so be it! Let us see this upheaval through to the end; let us restore art to its true domain, which is that of entertainment and celebration; so then, no art fairs, since nothing is more pretentious and boring than art fairs, but let’s instead hang suitable paintings in a venue where we can have a proper party – or at the very least, where we can dance and eat chips. And as for these paintings, let’s have the local villagers themselves produce them (they’ll do it far better) without all the hassle of framing and transporting them. If we’re so determined to transport something, let them transport me, as I’d love to go to the fair with those Scots.” A pencil annotation requests that a copy of this letter be made to present to Mr Erlanger (Philippe Erlanger, then director of the AFAA and the artistic exchanges department).
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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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