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471 - Wladimir Polissadiw (Franco-Ukrainian, 1883-1940) World news…
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Estimate €3,000 - €5,000
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Description
Wladimir Polissadiw (Franco-Ukrainian, 1883-1940) World news, 1929-1931 Original manuscript illustrated with 12 drawn and painted compositions, executed in Indian ink, watercolour, gouache highlights and protective varnish. 32 pp. on vellum paper folded, mounted and glued on mitre to form a leporello structure. Covered in soft full vellum. Height 18.5 Width 17 cm. Provenance : - Doctor Pierre-Raoul Germain collection (1885-1974), - Claude Bernès collection (1941-2025). Joint: 2 manuscripts by Cyrille Polissadiw (1912-1950) known as le Mineur, son of Wladimir Polissadiw: - The Life of Saint Paul Original manuscript illustrated with 24 miniatures on paper, pasted down, executed in ink, pencil, watercolour and gouache highlights. 25 pp. on Canson & Montgolfier les Annonay paper, folded, mounted and glued to form a leporello structure. Covered with black cloth (accidents). Height 18.5 Width 17 cm. - The Song of Roland Original manuscript illustrated with four original plates in watercolour, gouache and Indian ink. 8 pp. on strong paper, glued and tied with a cord. Cover on wove paper (detached and badly missing). Height 18.5 Width 13.5 cm. "Les actualités mondiales" is an exceptional original manuscript, executed between 25 June 1929 and 30 May 1931 in the artists' residence "La Ruche" in Montparnasse. It consists of a calligraphic introduction, a preface by André Dahl, director of artistic cabarets, and 12 original paintings, each accompanied by a literary and satirical text. Polissadiw uses a prophetic and mocking tone, even "Ubu-esque" humour, as André Dahl points out in the introduction, comparing the author to an "Ubu-director", following in the footsteps of Alfred Jarry. He uses the absurd to unmask universal 'stupidity'. A veritable work of pataphysics (the "science of imaginary solutions"), the artist has fun colliding holy history, medieval legends and industrial modernity. He claims arbitrariness and rejects "great" history (politics and wars) in favour of "miscellaneous facts" that he considers more revealing of the human soul. The book offers a parodic 'History of the World' summarised in a symbolic half-day, from 1am to midday. Polissadiw deconstructs the official chronology to retain only "miscellaneous facts" of universal significance, castigating the "exasperating monotony" of politics in favour of dreams and the absurd. He uses deliberate anachronism and the belittling of heroes (Socrates, Napoleon, Adam and Eve) and criticises modernity and industrialisation. List of the 12 tableaux (Synthèse de l'Histoire): 1h: Adam and Eve - 2h: Socrate - 3h: Lindbergh - 4h: Napoleon before Moscow - 5h: The Creation of Woman - 6h: The Mill in Danger - 7h: Saint Nicolas calms the sea - 8h: L'Abbé Charles - 9h: In the Alps - 10h: The Crossbow is Devoted to the Devil - 11h: New York - Noon: The London Eclipse (1927) The presence at the end of the book of a leaflet announcing that the 12 tableaux were part of the magic lantern programme shown at Ciné Latin suggests that this manuscript could have served as a model for the projected glass plates (Vitromagie) or as a script for the narrator during the projection. It is a singular and rare artistic testimony to the iconoclastic spirit of the inter-war years in Paris.
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About the sale MARIE VASSILIEFF - THE GOLDEN AGE OF MONTPARNASSE
Auction location
Auction time 06/08/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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