Kelekian, Dikran; Alexandre, Arsene (Intro.)

Collection Kelekian: Tableaux de L'Ecole Francaise Moderne [SIGNED ASSOCIATION COPY]

Paris, New York, and Cairo: Privately Printed, 1920.

First Edition. Hardcover. Inscribed in French by Dikran Kelekian (1868–1951) to the French cubist art collector and dealer Leonce Rosenberg (1879–1947), dated Paris Juillet 1920, at half-title page. Born in Turkey and of Armenian descent, Kelekian was known as "the Dean of Antiquities" and more specifically as a collector and dealer of Islamic art, especially Persian pottery, and his influence is visible in founder of Walters Art Museum Henry Walters' Coptic, Early Christian, and Classical collections of Henry Walters and president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York George Blumenthal's Gothic collection. Adding to his mystique, an uncited quotation frequently included in biographical notes of Kelekian ascribes to him qualities of both "Thor, the God of Thunder and Saint Francis of Assisi." Kelekian and his brother founded their antiquities business in Istanbul in 1892 and quickly grew, establishing galleries in New York, London, Cairo, and Paris. Kelekian served as a member of the jury for the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1900 and lent several works to the Exposition of Muslim Arts at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris in 1903. Of modern French painters, Kelekian was also an early champion, as attested to by this display of photogravure reproductions of masterpieces in his collection, featuring artworks by Cezanne, Corot, Daumier, Degas, Gaugin, Manet, Renoir, and Toulouse-Lautrec, along with Cassat, Goya, Pissarro, Van Gogh, Whistler, and others. Originally issued in portfolio form with loose plates, this complete copy, including all 72 photogravures, was bound together in cloth over boards with the original portfolio cover and spine pasted to cloth. Uncommon in any state, this association copy is of particular interest, signed and inscribed by an intriguing figure in art history, to say the least, to a fellow foremost art dealer of his time.

13" X 10". 14pp introduction by French art critic Arsene Alexandre, 72 photogravures with preceding introductory page per plate, plus one-page index. Text in French. Bound in cream wide-weave cloth over boards, with original portfolio cover paper pasted to upper board and to spine, referred to as title labels onward. Rather heavy wear to binding, with soiling, toning, creasing, inked and pencilled marks, and abrasion to title labels, losses to heavily darkened title label at spine, edgewear and small tears to extremities, and corners bumped, turned in, and split. Inner hinges beginning to separate at top edges; binding remains firm and sound. Foxing and gentle rippling to all pages and plates throughout, with toning to versos of introductory pages from adjacent plates. Good. Item #11733

Price: $850.00