143 - Henri MICHAUX. Untitled [self-portrait?]. Undated [1944]. Original frottage (approx. 6 x 7 cm) on a sheet of chamois paper (26 x 14), framed.

Henri MICHAUX. Untitled [self-portrait?]. Undated [1944]. Original frottage (approx. 6 x 7 cm) on a sheet of chamois paper (26 x 14), framed. A beautiful original frottage depicting a figure with tentacles. It was reproduced in the 1969 edition of the volume dedicated to Henri Michaux in the *Poètes d’aujourd’hui* collection by René Bertelé, on page 13. (The first edition was published in 1946.) Autograph inscription signed at the top: To René Bertelé With my thanks and best regards, this other sign of Who I once was H Michaux The date “1962” written by the recipient at the bottom is the date of the mailing. Several elements suggest that the drawing should be considered a self-portrait. Indeed, note the phrase “this other sign of who I was,” the tentacles referring to a being in perpetual motion, the profile of the skull… The drawing was featured in the “Face à Face” exhibition at the Bibliotheca Wittockiana in Brussels in 2016 (with a reproduction on page 97 of the catalog) and at the Wallonia-Brussels Center in Paris in 2017. Two vertical crease marks.