Magnificent letter in blue pastel from Pablo PICASSO to his friend Max.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Autograph letter signed to Max Pellequer.

A page in-8° in blue grease pencil.
[Château de] Vauvenargues, 24.6.59

Affectionate and magnificent letter from the master to his friend and collector Max Pellequer.

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“My dear Max, You have just left this morning and I am already bothering you again (see my letter of the contributions I receive). Many more regards from both of us to you both. Picasso »

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Banker and discerning art lover, Max Pellequer assembled a considerable collection of modernist works in the 1920s. In 1920 he married Francine Level, niece of the merchant and businessman André Level. It was through the latter that he met Picasso in 1914. This meeting marked the genesis of an unwavering friendship between the two men. Pellequer became one of the artist's closest friends, but also his banker and financial advisor. Over more than 30 years, he acquired an incredible collection of paintings and sculptures from Picasso. The epistolary relationship that they maintained all these years allows us to take stock of the bonds that united the two men.

Always with the valuable help of his friend Max, Picasso acquired a 14th century castle ⁱⁿ 1958, in Vauvenargues, near Aix en Provence, at the foot of the Sainte-Victoire mountain. He occupied it intermittently between 1959 and 1962. On this subject, he declared to Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler: “I bought Cézanne's Sainte-Victoire. Which ? The real one.” It is in the park of this same property that the painter will be buried in a noxious atmosphere, on April 10, 1973.

Provenance: Max Pellequer Collection, then private collection.