Chaissac, Gaston (1910-1964) — Hippobosque Au Bocage. First Edition

Paris: Gallimard, 1951. 8vo. 14 x 19.5cm. Original wraps and glassine. 231pp..Edition originale, un des 1650 exemplaires numérotés.. The book is a mesmerizing, raw collection of letters and "hippoboscal" poems written by Chaissac between 1946 and 1948...The text consists of correspondences addressed to prominent avant-garde figures of the era. To maintain a sense of mystique, the recipients are designated only by their initials. These include:....J.D. (Jean Dubuffet, the pioneer of the Art Brut movement)..J.P. (Jean Paulhan)..R.Q. (Raymond Queneau)...Jean L'Anselme and Michel Tapié...Gaston Chaissac, is completely self-taught, having never followed any artistic training. He was born in Avalon France 40 years before the start of the First World War. He practiced all sorts of humble jobs (kitchen boy, assistant in a hardware store, apprentice saddle, and cobbler). His first contact with art is from a woman who taught art to his sister. The health is precarious, he has tuberculosis. His neighbor, the painter Otto Freundlich, puts him in the direction of painting in 1937. The following year, Otto Freundlich organizes an exhibition of Chaissac work in Paris, his first solo exhibition. Albert Gleizes, Robert Delaunay and others notice his work. From now on he exhibits in group exhibitions in the Parisian Salons. His brut art attracts the attention of Raymond Queneau, Jean Paulhan and Jean Dubuffet, with whom he will start up an important correspondence. Expertise by Amaury BONNETAIN. .