BLANCHE JACQUES-ÉMILE: (1861-1942)
BLANCHE JACQUES-ÉMILE: (1861-1942) French artist, a successful portrait painter whose subjects included his close friend Marcel Proust, as well as James Joyce, Aubrey Beardsley, Claude Debussy and Edgar Degas. A good A.L.S., J. E. Blanche, two pages, slim 4to, Offranville (-en-Caux, Normandy), 15th November 1929, to [Jacques] Guenne. Blanche commences his letter stating ´J´ai lu avec beaucoup d´attention votre philippique sur le Salon d´Automne. Il me semble que vous êtes seul dans votre entourage (ne le répétez pas!) à aimer le travail auquel vous êtes attelé, et la peinture....par surcroît´ (Translation: ´I read your tirade about the Salon d'Automne very carefully. It seems to me that you are the only one in your circle (don't repeat this!) who loves the work you do, and painting... on top of that´) and continues ´Vous savez, par Pierhal, le gros ouvrage d´histoire contemporaine dont j´ai assumé la tâche; souhaitant être aussi détaché que possible - "objectif" comme l´on parle, et d´intentions "éducatoires" . Je m´appuis sur quantité de textes d´époque; et, autant que possible, je consulte des peintres. Plus j´approche de nos jours, plus j´ai recours à ce système´ (Translation: ´You know, through Pierhal, the big work on contemporary history that I have taken on; wishing to be as detached as possible – ‘objective’ as they say, and with ‘educational’ intentions – I draw on a wealth of contemporary texts and, as far as possible, I consult painters. The closer I get to the present day, the more I resort to this system´). The artist further reflects ´Mais où devrais-je arrêter mon histoire? Au Salon d´automne de 1829? Je voudrais que, pour la partie qui concerne tous les pouilleux presque ex aequo dans l´adresse et la tricherie, que l´Intransigeant (Reynol) nous invite à raciner dans le plan d´une "constante révolutionnaire"...´ (Translation: ´But where should I end my story? At the 1829 Autumn Salon? I would like the part concerning all those wretches who were almost equal in skill and deceit to be rooted in the plan of a ‘constant revolution’ suggested by L'Intransigeant (Reynol)...´) and invites Guenne to collaborate in his project, ´Je vous saurais un gré tout spécial si vous consentiez à me calligraphier deux ou trois pages, selon votre, absolument libre, point de vue. Songez, Guenne, que les épreuves sur papier vélin, de cet ouvrage de si haute destinée, devra faire autorité dans les siècles des siècles´ (Translation: ´I would be especially grateful if you would agree to write two or three pages for me, according to your own, completely free, point of view. Consider, Guenne, that the proofs on vellum of this work of such high destiny will be authoritative for centuries to come´). In concluding Blanche offers to reciprocate with his own contribution to Guenne´s art journal, ´Oui, je suis tout prêt à collaborer pour le No de l´A[rt] V[ivant], sur l´illustration des livres. Je parlerais de Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, Ségonzac et de mon Aymeris. Mais il faudrait alors reproduire une page de ce livre, la planche, vers la fin, qui est une merveille de noir et blanc: une grosse dame au turban, avec un petit garçon, dans une ville florentine´ (Translation: ´Yes, I am quite ready to collaborate on the issue of L'A[rt] V[ivant] on the illustration of books. I would talk about Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, Ségonzac and my Aymeris. But then it would be necessary to reproduce a page from this book, the plate towards the end, which is a marvel of black and white: a large lady in a turban with a little boy in a Florentine city´). A letter of fine content and association. VG
Jacques Guenne (1896-1945) French writer and art critic who co-founded L´Art vivant in 1925.
Armand Pierhal (1897-1967) French novelist, essayist, poet, journalist and art & music critic. In 1938 Blanche painted a portrait of Pierhal´s son, Jean-Jacques, aged seven.
Aymeris is a novel written and illustrated by Blanche which was published in 1922. Blanche was also the author of the unreliable Portraits of a Lifetime: the late Victorian era: the Edwardian pageant: 1870-1914 (1937) and More Portraits of a Lifetime, 1918–1938 (1939) about which Walter Sickert remarked ´he is liable to twist things he hears or doesn't into monstrous fibs´.
BLANCHE JACQUES-ÉMILE: (1861-1942) French artist, a successful portrait painter whose subjects included his close friend Marcel Proust, as well as James Joyce, Aubrey Beardsley, Claude Debussy and Edgar Degas. A good A.L.S., J. E. Blanche, two pages, slim 4to, Offranville (-en-Caux, Normandy), 15th November 1929, to [Jacques] Guenne. Blanche commences his letter stating ´J´ai lu avec beaucoup d´attention votre philippique sur le Salon d´Automne. Il me semble que vous êtes seul dans votre entourage (ne le répétez pas!) à aimer le travail auquel vous êtes attelé, et la peinture....par surcroît´ (Translation: ´I read your tirade about the Salon d'Automne very carefully. It seems to me that you are the only one in your circle (don't repeat this!) who loves the work you do, and painting... on top of that´) and continues ´Vous savez, par Pierhal, le gros ouvrage d´histoire contemporaine dont j´ai assumé la tâche; souhaitant être aussi détaché que possible - "objectif" comme l´on parle, et d´intentions "éducatoires" . Je m´appuis sur quantité de textes d´époque; et, autant que possible, je consulte des peintres. Plus j´approche de nos jours, plus j´ai recours à ce système´ (Translation: ´You know, through Pierhal, the big work on contemporary history that I have taken on; wishing to be as detached as possible – ‘objective’ as they say, and with ‘educational’ intentions – I draw on a wealth of contemporary texts and, as far as possible, I consult painters. The closer I get to the present day, the more I resort to this system´). The artist further reflects ´Mais où devrais-je arrêter mon histoire? Au Salon d´automne de 1829? Je voudrais que, pour la partie qui concerne tous les pouilleux presque ex aequo dans l´adresse et la tricherie, que l´Intransigeant (Reynol) nous invite à raciner dans le plan d´une "constante révolutionnaire"...´ (Translation: ´But where should I end my story? At the 1829 Autumn Salon? I would like the part concerning all those wretches who were almost equal in skill and deceit to be rooted in the plan of a ‘constant revolution’ suggested by L'Intransigeant (Reynol)...´) and invites Guenne to collaborate in his project, ´Je vous saurais un gré tout spécial si vous consentiez à me calligraphier deux ou trois pages, selon votre, absolument libre, point de vue. Songez, Guenne, que les épreuves sur papier vélin, de cet ouvrage de si haute destinée, devra faire autorité dans les siècles des siècles´ (Translation: ´I would be especially grateful if you would agree to write two or three pages for me, according to your own, completely free, point of view. Consider, Guenne, that the proofs on vellum of this work of such high destiny will be authoritative for centuries to come´). In concluding Blanche offers to reciprocate with his own contribution to Guenne´s art journal, ´Oui, je suis tout prêt à collaborer pour le No de l´A[rt] V[ivant], sur l´illustration des livres. Je parlerais de Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, Ségonzac et de mon Aymeris. Mais il faudrait alors reproduire une page de ce livre, la planche, vers la fin, qui est une merveille de noir et blanc: une grosse dame au turban, avec un petit garçon, dans une ville florentine´ (Translation: ´Yes, I am quite ready to collaborate on the issue of L'A[rt] V[ivant] on the illustration of books. I would talk about Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, Ségonzac and my Aymeris. But then it would be necessary to reproduce a page from this book, the plate towards the end, which is a marvel of black and white: a large lady in a turban with a little boy in a Florentine city´). A letter of fine content and association. VG
Jacques Guenne (1896-1945) French writer and art critic who co-founded L´Art vivant in 1925.
Armand Pierhal (1897-1967) French novelist, essayist, poet, journalist and art & music critic. In 1938 Blanche painted a portrait of Pierhal´s son, Jean-Jacques, aged seven.
Aymeris is a novel written and illustrated by Blanche which was published in 1922. Blanche was also the author of the unreliable Portraits of a Lifetime: the late Victorian era: the Edwardian pageant: 1870-1914 (1937) and More Portraits of a Lifetime, 1918–1938 (1939) about which Walter Sickert remarked ´he is liable to twist things he hears or doesn't into monstrous fibs´.
