ROGI ANDRE (NEE ROSA KLEIN), 1905-1970

At the Vanity, before 1929

Gelatin silver print. 8 ¾ x 6 ½ in. (22.2 x 16.5 cm). Photo Rogie Andre/5, rue de Vanves, Paris XIV' credit stamp and notations in pencil on the verso.

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SOIZIC AUDOUARD

Literature: Paris Magazine, n. 30, February 1934

Andre Kertesz and the Hungarian violinist Rosa (Josephine) Klein lived in the same building at 5, rue de Vanves, in 1927 and were married from 1928-1932. Kertesz taught her how to photograph and in homage to him, she assumed the name Rogi Andre (Greenough, Andre Kertesz: p. 86). During her photographic career, she specialized in portraits of painters, specifically the Surrealists Andre Breton and Paul Eluard. Her works were illustrated in Breton's "La Nuit de tournesol" in Minotaure 7 in 1935 and were later included in L'Amour fou in 1937 along with Man Ray, Brassai, Dora Maar and Henri Cartier-Bresson (Naef, Andre Kertesz: Of Paris and New York, p. 55). The credit stamp with the pseudo name "Rogie" and the address at rue de Vanves, dates the negative and print before February 1929 when the couple moved to blvd. du Montparnasse. Later, most likely around 1931 when they separated, she changed her name again from "Rogie" to "Rogi".

These few photographs, whether icons or simply charming, fascinating or disturbing, don't beong to me as much as I belong to them, respectful of their individual essence, grateful of the intense moments we shared. From the excitement of the encounter, when you either know a piece is yours before even saying how much?, or need a slower step into discovery, the approach is as much intuitive and emotional as it is formally cut-up by the sharp look of a professional eye. It melts into the same exigence.

Believing in mere chance or not, whether objective or subjective, does not alter the relation between each of these images, and their authors, from near or afar, are connected by a red thread that is not only me, but rather the vibrations of a tune they heard the same way, a mind that aimed the same spirit, an eye that focused the same sharpness.

The mystery of a look, of a gaze, or a captured movement could maybe find an answer in the slightly distorting plaque of a mirror. In front of these images, I questioned, I smiled, or even cried. After all, I am a woman. This is my portrait. – Soizic Audouard

Phillips de Pury & Company is pleased to offer a selection of fine Surrealist and Surrealist inspired works from the Collection of Madame Soizic Audouard. Mme. Audouard has a sharp, curious and intriguing vision of photography, which can be seen through her illustrious career as an art dealer.

With a traditional art history training at the prestigious Ecole du Louvre, Paris, Mme. Audouard's career took a dramatic turn in 1968 when she first visited the Claude Givaudan Gallery on the Left Bank. Claude Givaudan, famous for exhibiting cutting-edge contemporary art and the European 20th century avant garde, created his gallery not only to exhibit paintings, produce films and publish books but also to host performances; not the least of them was, in 1967, the last show of Marcel Duchamp during his lifetime.

Shortly thereafter, they began their collaboration and in 1975 opened a second space in Geneva which continued to champion Dada, Surrealism, photography and multiples. Exhibitions consisted of eclectic collections and in the spirit of the unexpected, it was not unusual to view an 18th century manuscript side by side with original Surrealist illustrated books or published texts by Beat Generation writers including William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. In the gallery they also challenged convention by exhibiting, for example, a Sigmar Polke manipulated photograph next to a Dutch Old Master drawing. At the time, photography was rarely exhibited in Europe. However, as pioneers in the medium, the gallery exhibited photographers such as Abbott, Man Ray, Bellmer, Weegee, Brassai, Mapplethorpe and Bustamante, all of whom ultimately led to the interest and rediscovery of the work of Claude Cahun in 1980.

In 1975, they acquired the photographic collection of Michel Simon (1895-1975), one of the most popular and beloved French actors. The collection consisted of 40,000 erotic items, of which half was offered at auction while the remainder added flourish to the growing collection.

Following the death of Claude Givaudan in 1988, Mme. Audouard applied more of her expertise at auction. Responsible for a number of prestigious sales in Paris, she organized the sale of the library belonging to the Dada poet Tristan Tzara and selections from the collection of Daniel Filipacchi, a great Surrealist art collector. In 1991, Mme. Audouard took over the Berggruen Gallery in Paris and continued to focus on works from Surrealism and its contemporary counterparts until the gallery closed in 2001. Since then, she has remained active as a private dealer and expert, generously lending works to important exhibitions, such as the National Gallery of Art's retrospective, Andre Kertesz, and continuing her research, this time into the edgy aspects of the 21st century avant garde.