Pierre SOULAGES plans to visit the Venice Biennale with Pierre Bérès.

Pierre Soulages (1919-2022)

Autographed letter signed to the bookseller Pierre Bérès

Two pages in quarto.

[Sète] August 18, 1964.

« We are very much looking forward to having you here and then going to Venice together. »

Pierre Soulages is delighted to soon welcome his friend Pierre Bérès (and his wife) to his home in Sète and to visit the 32nd Venice Biennale togetherⁱⁿ the autumn.

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"My dear Pierre, The letter was about to be sent when I had the joy of hearing from you. We regret a little having to wait until October to see you and Annick [Annick Balnchy-Bérès] , but we are very much looking forward to having you here and then going to Venice together."

Unfortunately, it's difficult for me to set a date right now. Perhaps we could agree on a date sometime in September? We wish you a wonderful holiday and lots of good weather. Lots of love, Pierre

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The 32nd Venice Biennale, held from June 20 to October 18, 1964, brought together, among others, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Carla Accardi, Enrico Baj, and others. This edition remains famous in art history for the "shock" caused by the triumph of American Pop Art, embodied by Robert Rauschenberg. In contrast to this new avant-garde, France championed the pictorial power of the New School of Paris, of which Soulages was one of the most internationally admired leading figures.

On the other hand, Pierre Berès, as a publisher, collector and important player in the world of contemporary art, directed Art de France with André Chastel, the fourth and final volume of which had just been published in 1964 and contained precisely an original lithograph by Soulages, printed by Mourlot.