Guillaume Apollinaire, the author of fundamental texts on Surrealism, arranges a meeting at the Cafe De Flore, in Paris.
- Letter written and signed by Guillaume Apollinaire to Carol Bérard.
- One page.
- In French.
- 10.5 cm x 13 cm.
- November 15, 1917, Paris.
- Excellent condition of conservation.
- Unique piece.
Thursday. I give in Paris, at noon, an echo playing its musical society. Come and see me on a Tuesday between 5 ¼ and 7 in the morning at the Café de Flore, Boulevard St Germain. I have something to offer you. Yours sincerely, Guillaume Apollinaire.
Guillaume Apollinaire (1880 — 1918) was a French poet and one of the most important French intellectuals of the early 20th century. He became known for having written fundamental texts on Cubism and Surrealism, a word he invented.
A friend of Pablo Picasso, Blaise Cendrars and Jean Cocteau, among others, he began publishing short stories and poems in 1902. Later, he revealed to the public the libertine texts of the Marquis de Sade, shocking traditional French society. In 1918, after the First World War, in which he participated, he published the famous "Calligrammes", poems about peace and war, an exceptional work for its originality. Historical anecdote: Apollinaire was accused, along with Picasso, of complicity in the theft of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa from the Louvre.
Here Guillaume Apollinaire writes to Carol Bérard, a French composer renowned for her studies of music, to arrange a meeting at the Café de Flore. This typical Parisian bistro was at the time - and still is today - one of the most frequented places for artists and intellectuals. André Breton or Louis Aragon, who invented Surrealism, Picasso, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir met daily at the Café de Flore to exchange ideas, work or simply have a glass of wine.
This short letter, written just a few months after the word surrealism was coined, brings together Guillaume Apollinaire and the Café de Flore, two famous names in French culture. An additional interest is the envelope, which is also in excellent condition.
