[CÉLINE] MAHÉ, Henri (1907-1975)

[CÉLINE] MAHÉ, Henri (1907-1975)

Autograph card signed « Henri » to Louis-Ferdinand Céline
N.p.n.d. [Douarnenez, late Dec. 1940], 1 p. in-12°
Minor spotting; ink somewhat faded

A very rare card sent by the artist to his friend Céline

« Tu vois la vraie formule la tite ferme et le bateau. Je te fais expédier de Retiers [au sud-est de Rennes] camembert et gâteau. (Je sais bien que le bon maître est gourmand) et puis de Douarnenez une caisse de sardines. Ecris à Retiers, Route de Guerche, où je rentre début de la semaine. Plus je vais plus la vie à Paris me semble bien con.
A vous deux [Céline et son épouse Lucette] la bise. Henri.
Je te fais mettre demain deux gâteaux un pour Popaul [Gen Paul] »

Céline had just been appointed doctor at the dispensary in Bezons in December 1940, a position he held until June 1944. The difficulties related to food supplies during this period are frequently mentioned by the writer in his correspondence with Henri Mahé’s father, Henri-Albert Mahé, who was then living in Rétiers. Allusion is made to the present card in a letter addressed to him on 2 January 1941: Céline there warmly thanks Henri-Albert Mahé for the kilo of butter to come and takes the opportunity to “bless” him, while wishing him “all the happiness possible for 1941” (Lettres, éd. Henri Godard, Pléiade, n° 41-2).
Henri Mahé and Céline met in 1929, shortly after the latter’s move to rue Lepic. A Breton painter thirteen years younger than his elder, Mahé was then living on a barge moored at Croissy-sur-Seine. A prolific artist, he began his career as a decorator for cinemas and brothels, before collaborating on several occasions with Abel Gance during the 1930s and 1940s.