SCHMIED François-Louis (1873-1941)

Lot 164
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Estimation :
5000 - 7000 EUR
SCHMIED François-Louis (1873-1941)
Correspondence of twenty-eight signed autograph letters addressed to Paul de BORMANS. 1925-1933, 29 letters and piece in ink on paper including two beautiful manuscripts on the art of Schmied. About 40 pages of various formats, several envelopes preserved. (One letter with a margin cut out by Schmied and very little damage to the text). Correspondence addressed to his bibliophile friend and critic Paul de Bormans. These letters offer an irreplaceable testimony on the illustration of his books and on other areas of his work as an artist in his mature period. The illustrated books that "macerate under the tympanum of the presses" (January 26, 1925). François-Louis Schmied evokes his successful and unsuccessful projects, his achievements, his pains and successes, giving precious indications on The Climates, Daphne, The Song of Songs, Kim, Brown Skin, Mediterranean Landscapes, Faust... "The enamels magnify my poor watercolours..." (February 25, 1932). The present correspondence makes it possible to follow the work of Schmied for his monumental enamels, in particular The Way of the Cross and The Tree of Science of Eden, and to understand to what extent this other artistic technique was dear to his heart: "For 25 days and as many nights, I have been working in front of the furnaces of Baudin. Resistance has limits. I've gone beyond to try to awaken a spark in the dead souls of my contemporaries..." (April 29, 1932). Schmied was introduced to the technique of enamel at the end of 1931 in Laurent Monnier's Jura ironworks, where he accomplished several projects from 1932 to 1934, including a Norman Knight for the liner Normandie. "The book decorator... is just a decorator..." (March 20, 1933). Schmied also evokes his activity of interior decorator which he does not conceive as independent of his work on books: "One is a decorator or one is not, and, who decorates (this term not being able in my case to be replaced by: illustrates) a book can as well decorat
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