Joseph Sima (Prague, 1891 - Paris, 1971) Composition,... Lot 822

Joseph Sima (Prague, 1891 - Paris, 1971) Composition, 1959 Oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right 24 x 35 cm Provenance: André Droulez collection, gallery owner in Reims and friend of the painter Biography: In Prague, Joseph Sima was a member of the avant-garde art group Devetsil, founded in 1920. He moved to Paris the following year as a correspondent for the group, where he met Dada painter and poet Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, painters Amédée Ozenfant and Albert Gleizes, and Pierre Jeanneret, who were also contributors to the magazine L'Esprit Nouveau. In 1926, Josef Sima becomes a French citizen. In 1928, he was one of the founders of Le Grand Jeu and artistic director of the magazine of the same name. Around Roger Gilbert-Lecomte, René Daumal and Roger Vailland, this group of Surrealists refused Breton's tutelage.