PICASSO, PABLO. 1881-1973.


CESAIRE, AIME. 1913-2008. Corps Perdu. Paris: Editions Fragrance, 1960. Folio (412 x 300 mm). 12 etchings and 20 engravings on Montval. Original wrappers with the title design, full sheets loose as issued, paper-covered boards, with vellum spine, titled in gilt, publisher's slipcase.LIMITED EDITION, NO 42 OF 177 COPIES ON VELIN DE MONTVAL, SIGNED BY PICASSO AND CESAIRE. The frontispiece, "Crowned Poet," a reference to Cesaire, was used for the poster for the first Congress of Black Writers and Artists, organized by the seminal literary journal Présence Africaine at the Sorbonne in 1956. Cesaire was one of the founders of the Negritude movement, which sought to assert pride in "blackness" and African values and culture, drawing inspiration from the Harlem Renaissance, and at the same time inspiring the "Black is Beautiful" movement of the 1960s. Picasso and Cesaire had met at the World Congress of Intellectuals for Peace in 1948, and found a shared interest in politics, art, and the Surrealist's idea of the power of the unconscious mind. Picasso's powerful illustrations reflect the congruence between his art and the African diaspora, with allusions to the magical surrealism of their "brother artist" Wifredo Lam, creating one of Picasso's most arresting graphic works. Artist and the Book 233; Bloch 632-663; Cramer 56.