Oscar Dominguez sends a poignant letter to his friend Georges Hugnet.

Oscar Dominguez (1905.1957)

Autograph letter signed to Georges Hugnet.

One page in-4° on cream paper.

 [Barcelona. Circa 1936-1937]

"I will manage to build a boat, even with the skeleton of a horse that died in the war, to set sail."

Alone in Barcelona and desperate because of the raging Spanish civil war, Oscar Dominguez writes a letter with tragic overtones.

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"Dear Georges, Lock yourself up, and screw you forever. I ask you to write to me, it would make me very happy. I can't explain anything more about my current life, but I intend to be in Paris as soon as the events in Spain are over. Black or white."

I'll manage to build a boat, even with the skeleton of a horse that died in the war, to set sail. I received a very short letter from Lila ^* and today a postcard. I beg you the great favor of giving Lila the letter I'm sending you for her.

My dear friend, see you soon I hope. Many memories for everyone, many, many friendships for the café on Place Blanche ^** , for Germaine and for you. Oscar. Write to me at my sister's, without putting my name: Julia Dominguez, "Casa Montaña". Puerto de la Cruz. Write to me a lot, no politics .

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For easier reading, we have corrected Dominguez syntax errors.

 ^* After relationships with Georges Hugnet and André Breton, Lila Ferry was Oscar Dominguez's lover from 1936 to 1938. In that same year, 1938, she met the writer-screenwriter Jean Lévy, a specialist in Raymond Roussel and Satrap of the College of Pataphysics.

^** A hub for Surrealist gatherings, the Café de la Place Blanche hosted Dominguez's first attempts at decalcomania in 1935. This exhibition sparked a wave of enthusiasm and marked a turning point in the history of the Surrealist movement: "In 1935, feeling isolated, Dominguez wrote to Breton. He asked if he could attend the Surrealist group meetings. These took place at the Café de la Place Blanche; we would meet there with Breton, Dalí, Tanguy, Ernst… Dominguez quickly got into the habit of joining us." Marcel Jean (Gérard Xuriguera, Oscar Dominguez, Paris, Filipacchi, 1973, p. 7).