Item #2566 Au Pays des Visages. VIRGINIA WOOLF, JAMES JOYCE, VITA SACKVILLE-WEST, SARTRE, JEAN-PAUL.
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FREUND, GISÈLE. [WOOLF, VIRGINIA; JOYCE, JAMES; SACKVILLE-WEST, VITA; SARTRE; JEAN-PAUL].

Au Pays des Visages

“[Gisèle Freund] is noted for being one of the greatest portrait photographers ever [...] She shot the first color portraits of Simone de Beauvoir, Paul Valéry, Colette, André Breton, Virginia Woolf and numerous writers and artists that will remain unforgettable in our memory.”
– Dr. Maria Ruiter, Director of the Galerie Clairefontaine


A COLLECTION OF THE MOST CELEBRATED COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHS OF TWENTIETH-CENTURY ARTISTS. NUMBER 1 OF 6 COPIES RESERVED FOR ARTIST AND PUBLISHERS, OUT OF A TOTAL OF 36.

The present portfolio of Freund’s photographic portraits assembles the most celebrated of her innovative colour images. The portfolio is comprised of Freund’s portraits of:

1. Colette (1873–1954)
2. Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
3. André Gide (1869–1951)
4. James Joyce (1882–1941)
5. Andreinne Monnier (1892–1955)
6. Jean Cocteau (1889–1963)
7. Simone de Beauvoir (1908)
8. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905)
9. André Malraux (1901–1976)
10. Victoria Sackville-West (1892–1962)

It is well documented both Woolf’s and Joyce’s aversions to sitting for photographs, and indeed “Freund was twice refused admission to Tavistock Square but eventually Woolf succumbed”, being “acutely self-conscious and disliked sitting for pictures, never mind ‘seeing herself’”(Richard Shone, “Portraits of Virginia Woolf: here, the true face of the modern writer”, The Guardian, 20 June 2014). Freund’s ability to capture her subjects in states of ease—not to mention in colour—has preserved for posterity valuable likenesses of the most talented creative literary minds of the past century. The authorised release of these portraits, each signed by Freund and numbered and embossed by the publisher, as Au Pays des Visages coincided with Freund’s appointment to the presidency of the French Association of Photographers, and represent a definitive curation of her pre-eminent portraiture.

Size: Images = 8x11.5 in; matte = 14.5x18.5 in; portfolio = 17x21 in.

FREUND, GISÈLE. Au Pays des Visages. Washington, D.C.: Lunn Gallery/Graphics International Ltd., 1977. First edition, number 1 of 6; ‘The total edition is of 36 examples of which 30 are for sale and 6 are reserved by the artist and the publishers.’ Each print is signed by the artist and stamped blind and numbered “I/VI” by the publisher. Original blue cloth publisher’s box, each print is mounted as issued. Some wear to box, otherwise fine.

EXTREMELY RARE SIGNED FREUND PORTRAITS, ISSUE 1 OF 6.

Price: $14,000 .