DUCHAMP MARCEL (1887-1968). Lot n° 77

L.A.S. "Marcel Duchamp," [Paris] "11 rue Larrey" Oct. 30, 1934, to Valentine HUGO; half-page in-4, envelope. Letter referring to André Breton and La Mariée mise à nu par ses célibataires, even. "I apologize for being so late in sending you the two little sheets we had talked about. It was a great pleasure to see you again and to receive your impressions of the book. This morning André Breton read us the article for the Minotaur. I was struck by his precision and moved overall. I had the impression of looking at all these years in the mirror. Please tell him how delighted I am"... [André Breton was to publish the article "Phare de la Mariée" in the magazine Minotaure in December 1934, devoted to La Mariée mise à nu par ses célibataires (The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors), even by Marcel Duchamp, who devoted many years to this central work in his artistic career. He meditated on this painting on glass from 1912 to 1915, and worked on it in several stages from 1915 to 1923, leaving this "Large Glass" unfinished. After it was destroyed during transportation to an exhibition, Marcel Duchamp published a collection of over 90 documents - sometimes called "the green box" because of its appearance - in 1934, including photographs by Man Ray of his work]. The letter is addressed to Valentine Hugo "42 rue Fontaine" (André Breton's home). Attached is a facsimile of an autograph note (6 x 10 cm): "Classifying combs by the number of their teeth", from the "green box" documents of La Mariée mise à nue; plus Marcel Duchamp's publicity leaflet, Notes (1980).