?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
CYRILLE POLISSADIW & GUY JEAN SELZ (DATES UNKNOWN) THÉÂTRE DES CHAMPS-ELYSÉES / BAL COSTUME DE LA MISÈRE NOIRE. 1927. 23 1/2x15 3/4 inches, 60x40 cm. Chachoin, Paris. Condition A-: minor tears and creases at edges. Paper. Guy and Jean Selz were active in the Montparnasse art world as collectors, critics and writers. Together with Vladimir Pollisadiv (a Ukranian artist who was dating Marie Vassilief at the time), they organized a ball based on the concept of "Utter Poverty." The program of events called for "lice and bugs," along with other elements of squalor and filth. The event turned into a major scandal and was canceled on the order of the French Interior Minister. Whether the event was intended to be satirical or real, the poster is a compelling Cubistic and Avant-garde work, much in the style of posters for other Russian balls in Paris during those years.
