A portrait of the French poet Arthur Rimbauddrawn by his lover Paul Verlainewill be auctioned in Paris on Monday, December 2 for an estimated price between 100 and 200 thousand euros. The drawing, chosen by Verlaine to illustrate the first edition of the complete works of the cursed poet in 1895, will be exhibited to the public for the first time on the occasion of the sale of the collection Hugues Gall by the Drouot auction house.
“It is the jewel of the collection,” he comments enthusiastically. Ambroise Audoinauction expert. The work has a journey “typical of Rimbaud’s objects”, preserved for 130 years in private collections, according to him. Rimbaud, 17 years old at the time and with a lanky silhouette, is depicted in profile, with long hair covered by a hat, hands in his pockets and smoking a pipe.
Far from the caricatures of the poet of the time, Verlaine “presents the young Rimbaud as he was when he arrived in Paris, with his hands in his torn pockets,” describes Audoin. The drawing, made “from memory” by Verlaine on an unknown date, represents “a decisive moment in their common history, in Rimbaud’s literary history,” according to the expert.
In his preface to Complete Poemspublished in 1895 – four years after the poet’s death in 1891 – Verlaine writes: Rimbaud “had the perfectly oval face of an angel in exile, with an intense red mouth with a bitter expression.”
Paul Verlaineborn on March 30, 1844 in Metz, eastern France, had a happy childhood in contact with nature, where he began his inclination for poetry. From a young age he cultivated a romantic and delicate style, but his life took a turn when he moved to Paris to study Law. There, influenced by the bohemian atmosphere of the Latin Quarter, he gave himself over to alcohol and adopted a life marked by excess.
In this context, Verlaine began to stand out as a poet, publishing works that earned him recognition in the Parisian literary circuit for his use of innovative rhymes and powerful symbolism. He married Mathilde Mautewith whom he had a son, and although his life seemed stabilized, his penchant for drinking never disappeared.
The arrival of Arthur Rimbauda literary prodigy just 15 years old, completely changed Verlaine’s existence. In August 1871, the young poet sent Verlaine his poem “The Drunken Ship,” a work that deeply impressed the author, who invited him to Paris with a paid ticket. Rimbaud, a native of the Ardennes, accepted the invitation and arrived in the French capital at a time of social unrest marked by the Paris Commune.
The relationship between the two quickly became one. explosive combination of admiration, rebellion and excess. While Verlaine became increasingly immersed in alcohol, Rimbaud, with his defiant and provocative attitude, became the driving force of a chaotic life that scandalized the Parisian literary circle.
This relationship, intense and destructive, defined both as the main exponents of the “cursed poets”, a legacy that transformed modern poetry and continues to fascinate generations.
Fuente: AFP
(Photos: Casa Drouot press)
