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59
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Paul ÉLUARD. *La Vie immédiate*.
See original version (French)
59
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Paul ÉLUARD. *La Vie immédiate*.
See original version (French)
Estimate €1,500 - €2,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Paul ÉLUARD. *La Vie immédiate*. Paris, Éditions des Cahiers libres, 1932.
In-12, paperback, with a grey paper slipcase.
First edition.
An interesting autographed dedication on the half-title page:
To René Magritte
in memory of better times
when he was my friend,
Paul Éluard
The dedication page has been detached, folded into quarters, and then reinserted into the copy. Could Magritte have acted in a fit of anger? Or was it his wife, Georgette? The dedication certainly seems rather unkind, but nothing, on the face of it, justified this mutilation, except, perhaps, the crucifix affair… In 1929, in fact, during a dinner in Paris on Rue Fontaine, André Breton demanded that Georgette Magritte remove the gold cross she was wearing round her neck. She refused, backed by her husband: not only did the Magrittes leave the party, but they also left Paris to settle back in Brussels. Although they had fallen out, they nevertheless “both expressed their regrets at this rift, but it was Breton who took the first step by sending, in 1932, *Le Revolver à cheveux blancs*, dedicated ‘to René Magritte, his friend despite everything, André Breton’” (Dictionnaire André Breton, p. 624), the very year in which he received that copy of *La Vie immédiate*, bearing the curious inscription. One can imagine that Éluard had sided with Breton, taking up his cause, which was no doubt not quite over by the time his signed copy arrived at the Magrittes’ home.
Three years later, Éluard published the poem ‘René Magritte’ in the journal *Cahiers d’art*, and in 1936 the painter produced a portrait of him entitled *La Magie blanche*. Finally, Magritte illustrated the 1946 edition of the collection *Les Nécessités de la vie* (Brussels, Éditions Lumières) with twelve drawings.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
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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