SACRED ART - Wladimir POLISSADIW-POL-DIVES(1883- murdered 19 - Lot 450

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 Czarist 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 Catholic Sacred Art, grouping together under the name of the "Black Misery" Movement (derived from "La Rosace") with the concept of "serving spiritual art, misery as a test of God" - the movement attracted and seduced the Paris of the Roaring Twenties, but dissolved into the recuperation of entertainment with the "Black Misery Balls" (inspired by Marie Vassilief) - from then on Polissadiw devoted himself to his Association of Ukrainian Artists, which he ran until the early '30s - He then disappeared (Côte d'Azur, Switzerland), only to reappear in Paris around 1937 under the pseudonym Pol-Dives - Little trace of him remains - See the particularly fascinating study by Serhiy BLATVATSKYY on the BNF website / Manuscrit autographe signé "Pol-Dives Doyen",2 p in-folio (21 x 37 cm, the end was written in pencil, the ink seems to be missing) constituting a "detailed response" to remarks and complaints made by his discipleHenri HERAUT(1894-1989, painter of Armenian origin)about his leadership of the "La Misère Claire" movement, which we can date from the text to circa1937; We note that Polissadiw, increasingly faithful to his concepts of religious art, reactivated a new movement, "La Misère Claire", highly structured, with a central committee and drastic regulations (which is merely a mutation of "La Rosace" and "Misère Noire"): "Passing over the ground of your claim I divide them in two. There are paragraphs where the argument against me is purely religious. You must be aware, however, that religious questions are forbidden by our rules and regulations within La Misère Claire. Consequently, your argument is of no value to the members of the Committee or to me. You even deprive me of the possibility of replying to you, as the rules forbid me from getting involved in questions relating to Jesus Christ, the Devil, Christian humility, forgiveness, etc. I can't answer you in the name of the Committee. - I can only answer you in the name of the Central Committee to those paragraphs that remain on the neutral ground of Clear Misery - §1 accuses me of using Clear Misery to ensure my domination over innocent followers - I answer. I am not a Leader, I am only the Theorist, the Poet, the Announcer of Clear Misery; for it is obvious to everyone that the association is founded on my writings, on my theories. It's understandable that I object whenever there's an attempt to defame my thinking - I tend to stay on the side of legitimate defense. But I never block the action of a Knight when he is not seeking to hold me or the whole Association responsible. It's preferable that he found another home for Misère Claire, where it will shine out in a different way. He then becomes a Knight Regular. But as long as he is not a Knight Regular, all he has to do is learn as aCouillonorErrantattached to a home as a Knight Regular, and he alone is responsible for what he does - §2 accuses me of having created a hierarchy that hurt (pride no doubt, or who else) the first disciples because I accepted (sic) the first grade and rejected the others in the lower grades - Answer. The grades have existed for 12 years, and my first disciples, 12 years ago, were never hurt, because they understood that the grades are not invented but correspond to a reality. That's why I still have the title of Dean, which means "the oldest in the order" - it's a reality. During the distribution of ranks, each Knight named himself. Achkievitch confessed that he was an Errant. You confessed to being a Cuckold. I confessed to being a Regular, having founded an M.C3 broadcasting station on rue Huyghens [n.b.: Montparnasse]. But my comrades offered me the rank of Chef Accompli. One does not refuse the honor, but thanks [...] §5 accuses me of mixing profane subjects with Sacred Art subjects in my broadcasting - Answer.La Misère Claire does not accept the false division of Art into Profane Art and Sacred Art and affirms its unity in the Spirit of the Creator"[n.b.: The allusion to the first disciples going back 12 years makes it possible to date this document: Polissadiw founded "La Misère Noire", which mutated into "Misère Claire" in 1925] - an edifying text when one considers that "La Misère Claire" is an association of artists and artists' associations.