Baya - Derrière le Miroir Nr. 6 - 1947

Baya – Derrière le Miroir No. 6 – 6 Color Lithographs – Baya Exhibition – Galerie Maeght – First Edition 1947

Exceptionally early and artistically significant issue of Derrière le Miroir, entirely dedicated to the Algerian artist Baya.

Derrière le Miroir, No. 6 – Baya Exhibition
Galerie Maeght / Éditions Pierre à Feu, Paris
November 1947
First edition

The publication appeared on the occasion of Bayas first Paris solo exhibition at Galerie Maeght in November 1947 and thus belongs to the earliest and most important contemporary documents of her artistic career.

Baya was only 15/16 years old at the time. Her exhibition at Maeght brought her exceptional visual world directly into the center of the Paris art and literary scene of the postwar period.

6 Color Lithographs by Baya

The edition contains six color lithographs after works by Baya, including large-format and some spanning double-page compositions.

The intensely colorful representations already show the characteristic visual language of the young artist: female figures, fantastic animals and birds, plants, flowers and ornamental forms in strong greens, blues, reds, purples and browns.

Particularly striking is the connection between the colored imagery and the texts of the publication, including on “Le Grand Zoiseau.”

The lithographs in the present copy also present themselves with strong color impact.

André Breton on Baya

Of particular art-historical significance is the extensive contribution by André Breton, one of the central figures of Surrealism.

Breton praises the young artist and her extraordinary, largely independent visual world beyond academic conventions.

His text ends with the famous compliment:

“Baya, qui tient et ranime le rameau d’or.”

Thus the publication documents directly Bayas early reception within the milieu of the French avant-garde.

Other contemporary contributions

In addition to André Breton, the edition includes other texts and contemporary voices on Baya and her art, including from:

Jean Peyrissac
Émile Dermenghem
as well as further literary and art-critical contributions.

Also included is a letter from Algiers dated 7 November 1947, which documents contemporary perception and recognition of the young artist.

The combination of texts, photography and lithographs makes the booklet not only an art publication but an immediate document of Bayas early career.

Galerie Maeght – Derrière le Miroir

Derrière le Miroir is among the significant French art publications of the postwar period. The magazines published by Galerie Maeght accompanied exhibitions of numerous important Modern artists.

In the present No. 6 from 1947, it is a particularly early issue of the series.

The cover bears:

DERRIÈRE LE MIROIR
GALERIE MAEGHT – PIERRE À FEU
NOVEMBRE 1947
EXPOSITION BAYA

Thus the edition was not retrospective, but created directly for the historical Maeght exhibition of 1947.

Bibliographic details

Artist: Baya
Title: Exposition Baya
Publication: Derrière le Miroir
Number: No. 6
Publisher: Galerie Maeght / Éditions Pierre à Feu
Place: Paris
Year: 1947
Edition: First edition
Language: French
Illustration: 6 color lithographs
Text contributions: incl. André Breton, Jean Peyrissac and Émile Dermenghem
Theme: Baya / Galerie Maeght / modern art / French avant-garde / Algeria

Condition

The copy is in overall good, authentic condition for a work of art publication more than 75 years old.

The cover shows age-related wear. In particular at the upper edge there are foxing spots or brownish discolorations. Further age-related discolorations, small stains, creases and signs of use are present or possible.

The interior is generally appealing. Especially the colored lithographs retain a vivid and attractive color impact.

No restorative or cleaning treatment was performed by design.

The numerous photographs show the actual offered copy and are an explicit part of the condition description. Please judge the condition yourself from the images.

Collecting significance

This edition combines several features important to collectors:

Derrière le Miroir No. 6 – very early issue of the series
First edition of 1947
Appeared for the first Paris Baya exhibition at Galerie Maeght
6 color lithographs
Extensive original contribution by André Breton
Contemporary document from Bayas early period
Important document on modern North African art and its reception in Paris

The copy is thus particularly interesting for collectors of Baya, Derrière le Miroir, Galerie Maeght, artists’ books, lithography, Surrealism, French postwar art and modern North African art.

Private sale from my own private collection.

The description has been prepared to the best of knowledge based on the available copy, its contained information and available bibliographic information. Despite careful checking, mistakes or deviations in bibliographic details, dating, printing techniques, attributions or other descriptive information cannot be completely ruled out.

The assessment of the condition is naturally subjective. The photographs are therefore explicitly part of the description and decisive for the buyer’s own assessment. The offered and delivered item is exclusively the copy shown in the photographs.

As this is a private sale from a private collection, the sale is conducted within the legally permissible framework with exclusion of warranty for material defects. This exclusion does not apply in cases of intentional or gross negligence as well as in cases of injury to life, body or health and does not affect mandatory legal rights.