PICABIA FRANCIS (1879-1953). - Lot 117

Lot 117
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Result : 2 636EUR
PICABIA FRANCIS (1879-1953). - Lot 117
PICABIA FRANCIS (1879-1953). MANUSCRIT autograph, [Ennazus], August 27, 1946; small in-4 notebook (22 x 17.5 cm) of 35 leaves sewn together with white threads. Working manuscript of the poem Ennazus. Written in black ink on the front (except for a crossed-out sketch on the back of the first leaf) of leaves torn from a small-square notebook (plus one ruled leaf and one without a line or grid), it bears at the end the date and signature (crossed out): "Finished in Rubingen / August 27, 1946 / Francis Picabia. Picabia composed this long unpublished collection of poems during a vacation in Rubingen, Switzerland, with his wife Olga's family; these texts reflect Picabia's tumultuous love affair with his mistress Suzanne Romain (Ennazus is the reversal of Suzanne) [on this affair, see Carole Boulbès, Picabia with Nietzsche. Love letters to Suzanne Romain (1944-1948), Les Presses du réel, 2010]. Picabia established on September 13, 1946, a dactylogram, entitled Ennazus, which was addressed to Christine Boumeester, and which was published in appendix of the Letters to Christine (Gérard Lebovici, 1988, p. 201-246), before being collected in the Critical Writings (Mémoire du Livre, 2005, p. 625-671). This working manuscript, which presents some erasures and corrections, gives an intermediate version, with important variants. The manuscript is presented in free verse, and is cut into short stanzas separated by a stroke of the pen, which will later be inserted into the final text, but can rather be read as a parallel text, Picabia having made, as it were, a collage of two texts. The beginning [1-3], without title, corresponds to the poem The Survivor (Critical Writings, p. 627-629): "Everything is haunted, like yourself as a ghost in a world of appearance" ... in 12 stanzas, of which we also quote the last: "For the love of a woman you thwart your desires is the way to get rid of you. [4-5] Poem entitled Last day, which will become in the final version the conclusion of The Survivor: "Yes, tomorrow, you will not see me anymore, I love you"... 17 lines, preceding the last three lines of the poem, and surrounded by a stroke of the pen, will be inserted in the beginning of the poem later entitled Last days: "In the middle of the night / I think it's a pity / to put her in a convent"... [6-30] Strophes and aphorisms that will be inserted in Derniers jours, with important variants, as well as unused verses and aphorisms that remain unpublished. Thus [f. 10], a stanza has remained unpublished (see Écrits critiques, p. 635): "without asking the slightest question. ______________ A confidence of you be quiet, what does it make you ? I won't go to Villars Palace, you have confidence in me, too bad. That's very kind, my dear Suzanne [Ennazus in the final version] "... Let's note again the verses not retained on painting and the art dealers [f. 20-21 (p. 642)], or [f. 30 (p. 651)] the different version of the end of the poem: "The pin of his hat whispered: I am like you the heat takes away my strength, the sun flows on his neck it disgusts me and with a kind of madness looked at me through a veil to fade on my mouth." The following stanza, of 5 lines, was not retained: " Madame la comtesse / s'élança dans l'escalier "... [31-35] Strophes and aphorisms that will be inserted in the beginning (p. 652-657) of the poem Farewell, with important variants, as well as verses and unused aphorisms remained unpublished, like these [f. 32]: "A cock-a-doodle-do never solved a problem"; "One dreams with the hope of separating from his life". Let us quote again the end of this notebook: "The history of this life is cruel, but my thought conquered a new power. You must respect these miserable poems which will be able to protect your heart, [...] all these things and innumerable others are independent of you they are intangible and inaccessible, woe to you if you put your hand on them. " Provenance: Francis Picabia. A collection (Ader, December 13, 2012, No. 66).
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