231 - Pablo Picasso - Aimé Césaire. *Corps Perdu*. Engravings by Pablo Picasso. Paris, Éditions Fragrance, 1950. With 32 etchings, one of which is on the cover. Loose double sheets in the original cover and original half-parchment slipcase with a slipcase.

Pablo Picasso - Aimé Césaire. *Corps Perdu*. Engravings by Pablo Picasso. Paris, Éditions Fragrance, 1950. With 32 etchings, one of which is on the cover. Loose double sheets in the original cover and original half-parchment slipcase with a slipcase. Auction start time: approx. 3:04 p.m. (schedule subject to change) One of 177 copies (total print run 219). - Edition note signed by the artist and author. - Printed on Montval handmade paper. - In 1941, André Breton traveled to the Antilles accompanied by the Cuban painter Wifredo Lam. In Fort-de-France, while leafing through an issue of the Martinican magazine *Tropiques*, they discovered the Black poet Aimé Césaire, who would later become one of the great poets of the “Négritude” movement. It may well have been Breton who suggested to Picasso that he illustrate “Corps perdu.” If one takes a closer look at Picasso’s drypoint etchings for *Corps perdu*, one discovers clear allusions to Wifredo Lam’s magical surrealism, particularly in the ambiguous figures that are at once human, animal, and plant-like, as well as in the head shaped like a crescent moon [...] In total, *Corps perdu* contains ten poems; the fifth gave the anthology its name. The central theme is the search for identity, as the title suggests: “Nègre nègre nègre / depuis le fond du ciel immémorial...” - Picasso created a drypoint etching of a black man’s profile as a frontispiece: this is the “Poeta laureatus” of “Négritude.” The etching on the cover is repeated in the watermark of the paper used for the majority of the book’s print run. (after Herma Goeppert-Frank, in: Goeppert/Cramer). Goeppert/Cramer 56. - Bloch 632–663 and livres 55. - Monod 2461. - Rauch 75. - A&B 233 40.0 × 29.0 cm. 123, [1] pages. - The parchment spine of the chemise is severely damaged due to “drying out.” - Throughout, there are foxing spots, some more severe than others. English description: Includes 32 etchings, one of which is on the cover. Loose double sheets in their original wrapper. All together in a half-parchment chemise and slipcase. One of 177 copies (total print run: 219). - Edition note signed by the artist and author. - Printed on Montval handmade paper. - 22 drypoint etchings and 10 aquatint etchings based on poems by Aimé Césaire. - “In 1941, André Breton traveled to the West Indies accompanied by the Cuban painter Wifredo Lam. In Fort-de-France, while leafing through an issue of the Martinique magazine *Tropiques*, they discovered the Black poet Aimé Césaire, who would go on to become one of the great poets of *negritude*. It may well have been Breton who suggested to Picasso that he illustrate *Corps perdu*. ... If we look closely at Picasso’s burin engravings for *Corps perdu*, we discover clear allusions to Wifredo Lam’s magical Surrealism, particularly in the ambiguous figures—at once human, animal, and vegetal—and also in the head shaped like a crescent moon (see the second poem, 8th engraving, p. 21). This crescent appears frequently in Lam’s work (cf., for example, *La jungle* from 1943). ... The search for identity is also the theme of this collection of poetry, as its epigraph indicates: “Nègre nègre nègre / depuis le fond du ciel immémorial...” There are ten poems in all in *Corps perdu*; the fifth has lent its name to the anthology. Finally, the artist added—as a frontispiece—a superb etching and drypoint of a black man’s head in profile: this is the poet laureate of Negritude. The cover etching (the title, *Corps perdu*, surrounded by vegetation arranged in the shape of a heart) is repeated in the watermark of the paper used for most of the book’s print run. An aquatint created by Picasso in June 1949 surrounds the title of each poem.« (Cramer, p. 156). The parchment spine of the slipcase is severely damaged due to “drying out.”—Water stains throughout, some more severe than others.