Flora Morgan-Snell's handwritten letter (1973)

In 1973, Brazilian artist Flora Morgan -Snell thanked a renowned French art critic for recognizing her talent.

Flora Morgan-Snell's handwritten letter to Bernard Gauthron. 4 pages including 2 drawings, and the envelope. In French. Paris, June 24, 1973. Perfect condition. Single set.

We are often fascinated by famous historical personalities who have many talents: the Glórias collection has the ambition to present many of them to Sofia, my daughter, and to you, through autograph documents. There are also celebrities who have no talent, they are the new heroes of modern times produced by television and the internet, which history will probably forget. But there is another category, which I also want to present in this collection: the talents that are not (yet) famous. These are my "bets".

Flora Morgan -Snell (1920 - 2007) is, in my point of view, one of the great artists that Brazil and the world are unaware of or have forgotten. What were your skills? The painting and sculpture that I discovered one day on my digital walks. Her works are ignored in Brazil, although she has won great prizes such as the Leonard de Vinci, Paris Free Art and Greek Sculpture Salons, has exhibited in galleries such as Bernheim-Jeune and the Museum of Modern Art in France, participated in UNESCO events and organized exhibitions of contemporary Brazilian and foreign artists in Europe.

The writer Clarice Lispector (in the last of her interviews for the magazine Fatos e Fotos, published shortly before her death) recounts her visit to the painter's house: (...) we were received in the ultra sumptuous apartment by a duly uniformed butler. (...). During practically the whole interview (Ms. Snell) did not stop smiling (...) she was laconic in her answers (...). I have known many artists - painters, sculptors, poets, musicians, novelists - and I can say that Mrs. Snell was the only one to convey to me such absolute self-assurance, without a hint of the doubts that occur in those who create art (...)

According to Roberto Ormon who studied his life, the artist grew up in Petrópolis and soon revealed her self-taught nature. Her interest in the human body led her to books on anatomy and to attending wrestling championships, where she witnessed the strength and movement that she would address in her work. When seeking formal study in Rio de Janeiro, the young woman was dismissed from the course. The reason? There was nothing more the professor could teach him. At the age of 25, she participated in two exhibitions in the former federal capital and married Albert de Moustier, a descendant of the French aristocracy.

Flora moved to Paris, where she established her image as a socialite in a male-dominated environment, with exhibition judges sometimes imagining that the works were, in fact, her husband's. From a wealthy family, the painter did not depend on selling canvases for a living and created them for those who admired her, serving private, institutional and French state orders. Roberto Ormon also tells where one of his works can be found in France: the panels that were in the Church of the Trinity are today in the church of Saint-Michel des Batignolles (Paris, Place Saint-Jean, 17th arrondissement); another panel, called "The Kidnappers of the Sea", was taken to the Center Les Atlantes, in the town of Les Sables d'Olonne.

In this letter, Flora Morgan -Snell thanks in French an art critic who published an article about her in the French magazine l'amateur d'art (the Amateur of Art) which was renowned in France in the 1970s-1980s. In addition to the absolutely spectacular calligraphy (graphologist friends, what can you tell us?), the artist presents the recipient with two original drawings typical of her work.

Epoca magazine article about Flora Morgan-Snell.