Arthur RIMBAUD on his deathbed - Original drawing by his sister Isabelle.

Arthur RIMBAUD on his deathbed.

Original pen drawing by his sister Isabelle, signed IR on the lower margin.

Precious portrait of Arthur, made from memory, in 1895, by Isabelle Rimbaud and addressed to her future husband Paterne Berrichon (see letter of October 27, 1896).

Brown ink and white gouache on strong paper.

Size 9 x 7 cm.

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This drawing, a poignant testimony to the poet's last moments, constitutes the frontispiece of volume I of the Rimbaud correspondence by Jean-Jacques Lefrere, published by Fayard in 2007.

Isabelle Rimbaud was the privileged witness of the last months of suffering of her older brother, in Roche and in Marseille: “ I supported his tottering body. I carried this suffering and failing body in my arms. I guided his outings, I watched his every step; I led and accompanied him wherever he wanted; I always helped him get in, get up, get down; I removed the pitfall and the obstacle with his single foot. I prepared his seat, his bed, his table. Bit by bit, I gave him some food. I put the cups of drink to his lips, so that he might quench his thirst... ”

We know the work of memory – often criticized – undertaken by Isabelle upon the death of her brother, on November 10, 1891. Her union with Paterne Berrichon in 1897 reinforced the distortion of Arthur Rimbaud's destiny. Imbued with their ideological quest, the Rimbaud-Berrichon couple set out to perpetuate the cult of the poet under the sole auspices of Morality.

The Rimbaldian exegetes of the 20th century were able to deconstruct the sacred temple initially erected by Isabella to define the more exact contours of the life of the man with the soles of wind.

Whatever the case, Isabelle Rimbaud was an integral part of Rimbaud's posterity and legend. The only witness to the last moments, his writings and drawings take on “sacred” importance.

Bibliography:

. Arthur Rimbaud. Correspondence. Jean-Jacques Lefrere. Fayard. 2007.

. My brother Arthur. Rimbaud dying. Mercury of France. 1921.

. Facing Rimbaud. Jean-Jacques Lefrere. Phoebus. 2006.