ARTAUD. Lot n° 16

Antonin Artaud as a monk with Cécile Brusson. No place or date [Paris, Studio Forest, 1930]. Original photograph, silver print (233 x 172 mm). Address in ink at the bottom left "10 rue Forest Paris"; annotations in pencil on the back by Artaud's hand. Famous photograph of Antonin Artaud as a monk, kneeling on the ground, that a woman - Cécile Brusson - seems to want to contain. The photograph was taken in Paris at the Studio Forest in Montmartre in 1930: it belongs to a series of shots, one of which was used as an illustration for the jacket of the French translation of Le Moine de Lewis by Antonin Artaud, published in March 1931. In addition to his work as a translator, Artaud had staged a series of paintings of the Monk, envisaging an illustrated edition of the noir novel as well as a film adaptation. The female model, Cécile Brusson, was the wife of the publisher Robert Denoël. Remarkable original silver print with autograph annotations on the back. On the back, Antonin Artaud wrote down in pencil his name, address and telephone number, a title - Dramatic Composition, Character Role - as well as a theatrical and cinematographic curriculum vitae listing ten titles of works including Joan of Arc and Brecht's Threepenny Opera. Provenance: Antonin Artaud, with autograph annotations on the back - Sale Binoche et Giquello, Drouot, 17 November 2008, no. 23.