Louis Freeman, dit Scottie WILSON. Lot n° 282

Original drawings and documents from the art dealer and poet Victor Musgrave. Circa 1952-1986. An important collection of 6 original drawings and documents by Scottie Wilson, one of the leading figures in outsider art. They come from the poet and art dealer Victor Musgrave, founder of the Gallery One, who played a key role in the promotion of Outsider Art in England. Born in Glasgow, Scottie Wilson (1888-1972) came from an impoverished family of Russian Jewish immigrants. Self-taught and unable to read or write, he made his living selling bric-a-brac in London and then in Toronto, where he emigrated shortly before the war. He took up drawing at the age of 40 and spent the rest of his life creating. He organized his own travelling exhibitions, in which his works were not for sale. "For Scottie [...] the mechanics of raising an artist's stock were an operation in which he resolutely made sure that he was not involved, and which in fact he obstructed by everything he said and did. His drawings had been introduced into the modern museums of Paris and New York, and the Tate Gallery had condescended to accept two paintings from the "black" period, donated by a friend of Scottie's; but by then he was already over seventy years old" (Publications de l'Art Brut). Back in England after the war, he aroused the interest of the Surrealists. His work was included in the 1945 Surrealist Diversity exhibition at the Arcade Gallery, alongside Giorgio de Chirico and Paul Klee, and in the 1947 International Surrealist Exhibition at the Maeght Gallery. Introduced to Picasso by André Breton, the latter bought some of his works. In the early 1950s, Jean Dubuffet made him one of the major figures of art brut. The set includes: - 6 original compositions with decorative motifs. Drawings in Indian ink, colored with colored pencils or gouache, signed "Scottie". Remarkable Indian ink drawings, coloured by the artist, comprising five drawings numbered on the back SSWDES/ 1, SSW-DES/3, SSW-DES/14, SSW-DES/29, SSW-DES/31, on heavy paper, approx. 380 x 280 mm. The first one has been enhanced in gouache, the following ones in pencil. A composition on fine paper (298 x 224 mm): Indian ink, coloured pencils, not numbered. The motifs and the circular shape of the first three drawings suggest that they are decorative projects for plates or dishes, one of Scottie Wilson's favourite media from 1962. In 1963, he even designed a dinner service for the Royal Worcester factory. Traces of use and creasing; small angular loss to the first drawing, parts reinforced with kraft paper on the back on two others. - Letters addressed by the Compagnie de l'Art Brut to Victor Musgrave. February 11, 1963-April 24, 1964. Six typescript letters relating to the presentation of Scottie Wilson in issue no. 4 of Publications de l'Art Brut. With a fragment of one page of the presentation text by Victor Musgrave, referred to in the letter of April 10, 1964 (double carbon on salmon paper with a handwritten correction); Enclosed: reprint of the article devoted to Scottie Wilson in Publications de l'Art Brut no. 4 (1965). Stapled booklet in-4. Various documents about the artist from Victor Musgrave, founder of the art gallery Gallery One. - Three invoices from the gallery for plates by Scottie Wilson. December 1962-May 1963; - Note signed Bess Kage. Paris, August 25, 1952 giving instructions following the purchase of a work by Scottie Wilson. - Letter addressed to Galerie Charpentier. May 9, 1963. Request for a result in a public sale for a work of Scottie Wilson with answer from the Association des Amis de L'Aliah des Jeunes of May 21, 1963. - Letter from J.G. Harvey (Lagos, May 21, 1963), interested in Scottie Wilson's plates; with answer from Victor Musgrave indicating the prices of the artist's plates and paintings. - Letter from a journalist signed by Olivia, preparing an article about the artist. July 22, 1963. - Five cards and presentation cards about Scottie Wilson offering bibliographical information, list of works exhibited and collectors who have acquired drawings by the artist. - Article about the Outsider Art exhibition organized by Victor Musgrave and Roger Cardinal at the Hayward Gallery in the New Society magazine of February 22, 1979, pp. 428-429. - Original photograph of an exhibition wall showing two plates by Scottie Wilson. Black and white silver print, stamped Stereograms Ltd. London.