¤ VICTOR BRAUNER (1903-1966) SANS TITRE, 1953 Ink, colored pencil and paraffin on paper Signed with the monogram 'V.B,' and dated '25.6.1953' lower right Dedicated 'Pour Jean Ramier [sic]' lower left Ink, colored pencil and paraffin on paper; signed with the artist's monogram 'V.B,' and dated '25.6.1953' lower right; dedicated 'Pour Jean Ramier' lower left 21,4 X 17,4 CM - 8 3/8 X 6 7/8 IN. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Mr. Samy Kinge. "French painter of Romanian origin, Victor Brauner (1903-1966) became interested in ceramics at a late stage and in a fortuitous way. Indeed, it was only in 1955 that Victor Brauner, during a convalescence in Golfe-Juan, initiated himself to this art. Since the beginning of March 1955, he had been living at the Hôte du Golfe, and regularly went to Vallauris to meet the artists living in the town: Anton Prinner, whom he deeply admired, and Picasso, with whom he had not had a close relationship until then, but whom he then discovered as 'a great man'. Full of admiration, he feels 'a colossal sense that this character can touch anything and turn it into an unforgettable work'. It was precisely under Picasso's impulse, then at Madoura's, that on March 27, 1953 the artist made his first ceramics in this same studio, as he told his wife Jacqueline who had stayed in Paris: 'One morning I went up to Vallauris to Picasso's house and as usual there were many people there. After his studio he took us [sic] to the terracotta factory and introduced me to the owner, saying that I was one of the greatest painters and that what I do would be magnificent in ceramics. Afterwards there were as usual a lot of journalists and he had his picture taken with me and David Hare who was there saying they are two great artists and take the opportunity to photograph them. He insisted a lot that I decorate a dish in the collection of celebrities (Chagall, Braque, Cocteau, Éluard...), so I [sic] went up again in the afternoon and he worked in front of me, needless to say that in two hours he decorated 4 huge vases, while I tried to make a dish, but I must say that I don't know the technique. I'll go upstairs again this afternoon to finish". Dominique Forest, "Une originalité braunérienne", in Vallauris, Céramiques de peintres et de sculpteurs, cat. expo, Musée d'art moderne et de céramique de Vallauris, 2 June-10 September 1995, Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris: 1995, pp. 57-58.