SACRED ART - Wladimir POLISSADIW-POL-DIVES(1883- murdered 19 - Lot 449

SACRED ART - Wladimir POLISSADIW-POL-DIVES(1883- murdered 1940,Ukrainian artist described as "at the crossroads of Avant-Garde, Mysticism and Sacred Art"; Having fled Tsarist Russia after his conversion to Catholicism, he trained at the Beaux-Arts in Paris and in the 20s and 30s rubbed shoulders with this Avant-Garde of Sacred Art by Catholic artists, grouped under the name of the "Black Misery" Movement, derived from "The Rosace", with the concept of "serving spiritual art, misery as a trial of God"; The movement attracted and seduced the Paris of the Roaring Twenties, but dissolved into the recuperation of entertainment with the "Bal de la Misère Noire", inspired by Marie Vassilief; from then on Polissadiw devoted himself to his Association of Ukrainian Artists, which he directed until the early '30s; He then disappeared (Côte d'Azur, Switzerland), only to reappear in Paris around 1937 under the pseudonym Pol-Dives; few traces of him remain - See the particularly fascinating study by Serhiy BLATVATSKYY on the BNF website: Important autograph letter signed 2 times "Pol-Dives", 10 p in-8, July 15, 1938, to his discipleHenri HERAUT(1894-1989, painter of Armenian origin), the letter has been torn in 2 by the addressee; He announces the sending of a copy of his "manifesto to artists", "with an approval from "my King Bro. Angel de la Rosace" [N.B. :Brother Angel (Jacques Brasilier, 1883-1965, Symbolist painter) was the founder of "La Rosace", a brotherhood of Catholic artists who came together to exhibit their work under the theme of Sacred Art; Polissadiw was known there as "Brother Cyrille"; In 1926, he took over the management of "La Rosace", which he transformed into "Misère Noire" (Black Misery); in 1938, "La Rosace" no longer existed, but Polissadiw, in his "radicalization" of Sacred Art, maintained its old foundations]; "For my part, I at least affirm an action towards a totalitarian regime in the artistic branch:a totalitarian regime that leans neither to the right nor to the left, neither in the direction of Hitler (but against him) nor in the direction of Stalin (but against him), in order to assert, as befits France, already so evolved, the reign of Christ the King, in accordance with the Church's preferred directives" [...] "We ourselves can no longer remain lukewarm Christians, individualistic Christians, free-thinking Christians. And if we want to do more than M. Denis, Desval[lière], P[ère] Cout[urier] etc. have done, we must first of all: put everything we have into our work. we must first of all: put ourselves at least at the level of their degree of sanctity; secondly :exceed them in sincerity, frankness and disinterestedness; thirdly: reconcile ourselves with them, at least in our hearts, by expiating our faults towards them, our backbiting through ardent prayers"; The rest of the letter is a burst of acute mysticism that advocates "the conversion of our fellow artists living in appalling disorder and claiming in spite of everything, and out of pride, to exercise the holy profession of art, under the pretext of being so-called chosen ones of Heaven, independent little Gods"; He takes aim at his correspondent and urges him to put himself in good standing with the Church and pursue Christian perfection under the guidance of a wise director of conscience; "You think you can judge (as Christians) M. Denis or Desvallières, Lucy Grogh, etc."Polissadiw develops his convictions in a delirium of moralistic phrases, condemning the "sin of human pride" ("man wanting to be the equal of God without God"), "such is the morality preached by Hitler with the aim of improving the race as with animals, and not with the aim of entering into friendship with God and thus receiving his sanctifying Grace for Eternal Life"; "As for Art, one must momentarily make an act of complete renunciation for the benefit of God": "Since it's a question of becoming God's docile instrument, you must generously surrender to him all your desire to do this or that. Once this sacrifice has been made, God will then lead you back onto the path of activity that He will please according to your disposition"; "Only then can you allow yourself, with God's permission, to touch paintbrushes, to begin to paint a little, without forgetting God for a single second" - "Then you'll be at the level of M. Denis and Desvallière, and they'll be the best. Denis and Desvallière and surpass them"; "If I'm telling you all this, it's because I've done it myself" - "I urge you not to preach Christian Art to anyone, the Art of a Christian (as Maritain says) without having experienced it yourself"; "I also propose to introduce you to my great friend Prince Ghika, Apostolic Protonotary" [Vladimir GHIKA(1873-1954) was a Romanian prince and prelate, converted to Catholicism, declared Bienheu