Hans BELLMER. HUGO Gallery presents for the first... Lot 25

[Hans BELLMER]. HUGO Gallery presents for the first time in America the Paintings and Drawings by Hans Bellmer. New York, undated [circa 1948]. Large folded sheet forming 2 leaves, in-8 oblong, with artist's name printed in pink and drawing reproduced full-page on the first page. Rare illustrated catalogue of Bellmer's first exhibition in the USA which finally did not take place. The Hugo Gallery in New York was directed by the former dancer Alexandre Jolas (1907-1987). Several major exhibitions were organized there, including surrealist artists. Since the retrospective devoted to Bellmer did not take place, the catalogue published on this occasion was not distributed, hence its rarity. A drawing dated 1940 is reproduced on the first page that serves as the cover: it is called The Worm and the Fold (or The Cathedral and Death). It is reproduced with a bowl, giving the illusion of an engraving (André Pieyre de Mandiargues in the catalogue of Bellmer's engraved work, p. 37, describes it as an engraving and indicates an edition of 180 copies). In the left corner, an autograph signed in pencil: For my friend Jean Brun H.B. Inside, text by Joë Bousquet translated into English by W. Hansen and N.A. Schlenov: it is partly based on the one in the catalogue of the exhibition at the Galerie du Luxembourg in 1947 (On the preparation of this translation, see the sale Geneviève and Jean-Paul Kahn I, 2019, no. 243). Joint: - an essay engraving on a piece of pink blotting paper (107 x 135 mm): these are two details from the first illustration in Histoire de l'oeil (1947), the girl's upturned face and her foot wearing a boot. Autograph text signed in pencil, addressed to Jean Brun: I found a very simple way to make control proofs, without having to go to Toulouse. You see: I take dry blotting paper and rub it with a polisher. I'm only sending you these detailed proofs because of the format of the letter. Bellmer - another essay of a d