Description

FIRST EDITION.
One of 25 copies on blue rotogravure hors-commerce after 10 on Japon impérial. Followed by 200 numbered copies on laid paper.
Complete with the original etching by Yves Tanguy on the frontispiece, included only in the 35 copies of the first edition.

PRECIOUS SIGNED AUTOGRAPH ENVOILED from the author to Peggy Guggenheim :

"to Peggy Guggenheim
very friendly tribute
by Alice Paalen
"the north builds in winter with
black bees and wings
white "

In 1932, through Roland Penrose, Peggy Guggenheim met the Viennese painter Wolfgang Paalen and his new partner Alice Rahon. These two recent members of the Surrealist group were to marry two years later, and Éditions Surréalistes published Alice Rahon's first collection of poems,  On the ground,  decorated with an engraving by Yves Tanguy and a model by Benjamin Péret. This work, which was not printed in large numbers, was given to many members of the group, including Jacqueline and André Breton (ex. on Japon - Christies 23 May 2006), Nusch and Paul Eluard (ex. on roto bleu - Bibliotheque Daniel Filipacchi - Deuxieme Partie) and Man Ray (ex. on roto bleu - Christies 25 Nov 2008). This was followed in 1938 by a new collection influenced by his trip to India with Valentine Penrose, The lying hourglass, published by Éditions Sagesse, with an original etching by Miró, which was also presented to Peggy Guggenheim (Christies Women in Art - 16 Jun 2021).

In May 1939, to escape the Nazis who were invading Europe, Alice Paalen set off with her husband and their friend and patron, the Swiss photographer Eva Sulzer, on a long journey to America, a continent she would never leave. Travelling along the west coast of Canada and the United States, where they admired Amerindian art, the couple emigrated to Mexico City, where they met the painters Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and took part in the first international exhibition of Surrealism held at the Galeria de Arte Mexicano. In 1941, after the publication of the collection Animal black, published by Dolores, she gave up writing for painting and took up her birth name again.
On 20 October 1942, Peggy Guggenheim opened her New York gallery. Art of this Century Initially exhibiting works acquired on the advice of Ernst, Duchamp and Breton, the gallery quickly became a place for meetings and debates, and turned towards supporting young American artists, exhibiting in particular Motherwell, Rothko and Pollock. In January 1943, it organised the controversial exhibition "31 Women"This exhibition featured works by women only. In May 1945, Peggy Guggenheim exhibited Alice Rahon's work for the first time. Art of this Century. Today, museums and the Guggenheim collection frequently display works by the artist.