"I am writing to you to request that you kindly honor with your presence the literary and artistic gathering in which Apollinaire, along with several young poets and artists, will be present."
9.500€
Henri ROUSSEAU , known as Le Douanier Rousseau (1844-1910)
Signed autograph letter.
One page in-8°.
Paris, November 8, 1909.
“…the literary and artistic gathering in which Apollinaire will be present, along with several young poets and artists.”
Rare letter from the naive painter organizing one of his famous artistic evenings in the presence of Guillaume Apollinaire and Sonia Delaunay.
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“Dear friend, allow me to address you with this title if you will. I am writing to you to ask you to honor with your presence the literary and artistic gathering in which Apollinaire and several young poets and artists will be present.
I think you will be willing to join us; we can chat for a while . I have been wanting to see you for so long. Hoping for many sincere and cordial handshakes in your presence. Your friend, H. Rousseau. Thursday evening, the 11th of this month, at 8:30 p.m. 2 bis rue Perrel, near rue Vercingétorix.
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Having settled at the end of his life at 2 bis rue Perrel, Rousseau regularly organised his family, artistic and musical evenings, inviting his artist friends to attend concerts and to discover his own musical compositions played on the violin.
Marie Laurencin, Pablo Picasso, Alfred Jarry, Max Jacob, Sonia and Robert Delaunay, Georges Braque, Maurice Utrillo, Vlaminck, Max Weber, Wilhelm Uhde, Francis Picabia, were among his illustrious guests.
In 1914, in his magazine Les Soirées de Paris, Apollinaire testified that the Douanier "liked to give soirées where he invited people of letters, some painters, beautiful foreign women and the young ladies from his neighborhood".
Her friend Hélène d'Oettingen further notes: "These evenings were like extraordinary galas, preceded by invitations worded and adorned with drawings: landscapes, birds, flowers, by Henri Rousseau himself [...] On the nights of these gatherings, when many came to enjoy themselves at Father Rousseau's house, the rue Perrel saw an unusual activity; the studio was overflowing."
A consummate organizer, Rousseau wrote to his collector friend Wilhelm Uhde on November 8, 1909 (the same day as the letter presented here): “Dear friend, I would be very happy if you could come to a literary and artistic evening that I am hosting at my studio. I hope that your lady [Sonia, the future Delaunay] will also come.” On November 10, he wrote to Guillaume Apollinaire: “Dear friend, I am writing you these two words to remind you that tomorrow, Thursday the 11th, the literary and artistic gathering will take place and that we are expecting you and your muse [Marie Laurencin, whose portrait Rousseau had just painted, in the company of Apollinaire: The Muse Inspiring the Poet ] who will sing us some cheerful and charming little songs.”
Ten months later, the Customs Officer died miserably of gangrene in his leg at Necker Hospital. Initially buried in Bayeux, his ashes were transferred to Laval – his birthplace – in 1947. The words of Apollinaire are engraved on the funerary monument erected in his honor:
Greetings, Gentle Rousseau
Can you hear us, Delaunay, his wife, Monsieur Queval, and me?
Let our luggage through the gate of heaven free of charge
We will bring you brushes, paints, and canvases
So that your sacred leisure time may be in the true light
You dedicate them to painting, just as you painted my portrait
The face of the stars.
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Bibliography:
The writings of Douanier Rousseau. Yann le Pichon.
The truth about Douanier Rousseau. Henry Certigny.
Musical evenings at Douanier Rousseau's. Holly Malinovski.