PICASSO, Pablo (1881-1973)

PICASSO, Pablo (1881-1973)

Autograph letter signed « Picasso » to Max Pellequer
Cannes, 30 Jan. 1957, 1 p. in-4° in multicolored oil pastel
Minimal losses at the lower corners, central crease from the original folding for mailing.
Housed in a modern half-vellum folder, with title in silver on the spine.

PICASSO, OR THE ART OF LETTER-WRITING

A spectacular letter from the master to his friend Max, calligraphed in multiple shades of color

« Mon cher Max
Comme vous êtes bon et quel mal je vous donne avec tous ces papiers de contributions
MERCI
Je vous envoie la feuille que vous m’avez dit de signer.
Merci merci et à vous
Picasso »

Installed at “La Californie,” in the hills above Cannes, Picasso relied on the good offices of his secretary Jaume Sabartés to draft the bulk of his correspondence. Max Pellequer, a close friend of the painter, was nonetheless among the rare privileged few to receive letters written entirely by Picasso’s own hand. Oil pastels in hand, the painter gives free rein to his nervous, sweeping handwriting, sending it swirling across the page in graphic nuances that echo and harmonize with one another with elegance across the space of the sheet.

A banker and discerning art collector, Max Pellequer assembled, from the 1920s onward, a considerable collection of modernist works. In 1920 he married Francine Level, niece of the dealer and businessman André Level. It was through the latter that he met Picasso in 1914, giving rise to an unfailing friendship. Pellequer became one of the artist’s closest intimates, but also his banker and financial adviser. Over more than thirty years, he acquired from the master a remarkable collection of paintings and sculptures.