Antonin ARTAUD Signed Autograph Letter

  
Antonin ARTAUD (1896 - 1948), theater theorist and actor, French writer and poet. Autographed letter signed to the writer Robert Desnos. This Monday, March 15, 1937; 2 pages in quarto on the letterhead of the café "Le Dôme". Back from his trip to Mexico in 1936, he published a collection of lectures and essays under the title Revolutionary Messages. His break with the surrealist movement is complete, particularly with the conference titled Surrealism and Revolution. Once back in France, he reunites with his Belgian fiancée Cécile Schramme.

However, his regular drug use for the past five years forces him to enter a detoxification program at the French Surgical Center, with costs covered by Jean Paulhan. His friend Robert Desnos helps him get back on his feet, but in vain: "My dear Desnos, Thank you for your letter.

But perhaps you know that I am currently coming out of a health facility and that I have been undertaking a hard work for some time to regain a balance that I have lost for years and whose absence, I believe, is the cause of my difficulties. I need to be restored to my strength to do what I have to do and say what I have to say.

The Health House has only been a step; in any case, I cannot currently engage in work that would require a very marked physical effort. For the Radio, it would be another matter.

I would be sorry to discourage your friendship, and I am extremely touched by your solicitude, but I am not physically capable at the moment of making a film. Trying would lead to a failure that I prefer to avoid. Please do not hold it against me, but you have certainly been through that... The relationship between Antonin Artaud and Robert Desnos has always been very friendly, and the latter will help him, as specified in our letter of March 15, 1937.