BALTHUS (Balthusz Klossowski, said) and Léna LECLERCQ. Corre - Lot 44

Lot n° 44
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Estimation :
1000 - 1500 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 2 470EUR
BALTHUS (Balthusz Klossowski, said) and Léna LECLERCQ. Corre - Lot 44
BALTHUS (Balthusz Klossowski, said) and Léna LECLERCQ. Correspondence addressed to the gallery owner Henriette Gomès, that is to say: 7 letters and autograph cards signed by BALTHUS (6 signed "B." one "Balthus", with 4 envelopes preserved of which 3 si_x0002_gnées on the backs) and about fifty letters and autograph cards signed by Léna LECLERCQ. Around 1952-around 1965. Balthus writes from his castle in Chassy (1953-1954), from the Villa Medici in Rome (1961), from Tokyo (1962), etc., short friendly messages evoking in passing a "small painting in the studio" for Henriette Gomès, the damage suffered by another painting, the collector Claude Hersent, his own mother Baladine Klossowska (a painter who was also Rilke's mistress at the beginning of the 1920s), etc. MODEL AND MASTER OF BALTHUS, THE POETESS LÉNA LECLERCQ was introduced to him by Alberto Giacometti in 1952. She was to take care of the upkeep of the Château de Chassy, but soon developed a romantic relationship with the painter, who moved away from her in 1954. The present correspondence deals extensively with material life at the château, while Henriette Gomès was by contract one of Balthus's financial providers and was also asked to provide all sorts of domestic supplies. Léna Leclercq evokes their penniless life, the painter's artistic work ("Balthus has started to draw for another painting, and he draws Colette when she comes to do her homework in the evening... "), his concern for the sale of his works, a "neurasthenia crisis" that he went through, a portrait he painted of Léna Leclercq, but also the disintegration of their relationship, his suicide attempt, the illustration of his collection of poems La Rose est nue by Max Ernst, or Laurence, daughter of Georges Bataille and one time mistress of Balthus. Henriette Lebusivich, was first a model then, after having collaborated for a while with Pierre Loeb, became an important gallery owner, helped by her husband André Gomès. Joined, 3 pieces including 2 invitation cards to exhibitions of Balthus at the Henriette Gomès gallery.
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