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an open book with a drawing of a castle on top of itthree old papers with writing on them sitting on top of each othera pile of old letters and papers sitting on top of each other
ROUILLAC

132 - Louis Icart (1888–1950), painter, engraver and illustrator
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Estimate €200 - €400
Sale commission
Description
Louis Icart (1888–1950), painter, engraver and illustrator Lot of 30 handwritten letters, 1942–1948, addressed to René Benjamin FIND THE FULL AND DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THIS LOT IN OUR ONLINE AUCTION CATALOGUE A fine collection of correspondence revealing a deep friendship born of mutual admiration. In them, Louis Icart reveals his feelings as an artist and a man of deep concern, seeking spiritual guidance in René Benjamin’s books. He opens up about his creative process, refuting the notion that his work came ‘easily’, and instead describes his anxieties and his quest for perfection. The letters detail Icart’s intense activity during the war years, as he illustrated great classics (Don Quixote, Faust, Les Fleurs du Mal) and worked on a titanic project: to synthesise Beethoven’s nine symphonies in paint. He also mentions moving to Montmartre, on Place du Calvaire, from where he dreams of one day seeing “Paris light up again”. Itteville, 14 October 1942 Dear Great Friend, Well! this time, I think I’ve ‘given you time to recover…’? I feel rather remorseful about it, actually, for what must you have thought of me?… To have remained silent for three weeks after your letter—so gentle, so trusting, so ‘honourable’ (in the noble, medieval sense of the word.) Oh! When I received it, my first instinct was to reply to you at that very moment, to shout out to you straight away my ‘thank you’! my redoubled affection, my faith in you...!.. But my wife, ever watchful and intuitive (and who admires you as much as I do!), whispered to me: ‘… You’re going to become a nuisance… Don’t wear Mr Benjamin out… You’ll force him to reply to you again… You’re taking time away from his work… etc., etc.!” And so, indeed, I thought about that… I heeded that sense of respect I feel for the writer’s creative process… I wanted to wait… I punished myself. Oh! But I haven’t forgotten you, and I can assure you that not a day goes by without my thinking of you, of the things you tell me that are so true, so moving, in your letters (for I, too, reread yours…) in which I have not spoken of you… ‘One cannot live without love!’ says a popular song. I believe one cannot live without friendship. And since our wretched and perilous age condemns us to estrangement, to being trampled upon, to isolation, we must resign ourselves to corresponding… ‘Correspond’… ‘Correspondence’… Don’t you think that word captures its meaning perfectly?.. In a friendship like ours—which is new, fresh and will last!—our letters can truly only serve to nurture this ‘correspondence’ between our souls, both equally enamoured of Beauty, Purity, Poetry and Art... And, ultimately, perhaps – despite the hours they will have cost us, seemingly a pure waste of time – for the sake of charm, perhaps, as I say, will they have helped us ‘to find one another…’? That is to say, to give us an… extra opportunity to pour out our hearts even more. I am, of course, speaking mainly for myself. For you, in your books, you give so much… that ‘boundless heart’… And so, as you’ve been kind enough to confide in me, I understand that you, too, are a happy man. I was afraid, you see… Forgive me for having doubted… You’ve reassured me, and, in doing so, made my own happiness complete… I understand you so well, finding myself, just like you, in all the fulfilment one finds in the practice of one’s craft. As thrilling as yours. As all-consuming as yours. For, despite your attraction to painting, just as I am drawn to literature, our need to express states of mind converges. I have always believed that the pen and the brush strive towards a single, identical goal: to illuminate! That is why, as a painter, I am mad about light. And my current style of painting (which took me fifteen years to ‘perfect’) speaks volumes, as I confine myself to the most nuanced harmonies of whites and greys. Yes… I’d like you to get to know my paintings… oh! Not out of vanity, of course! but so that you might get to know me better! Every artist is so utterly exposed in their work… FIND THE FULL AND DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THIS LOT IN OUR ONLINE SALES CATALOGUE
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About the sale René Benjamin, the 20th-century Balzac scholar
Auction location
Auction time 10/06/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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