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February 6, 1952

Dear Mr. Buhrle:

I am taking the liberty of sending you herein two colored slides of the two upright panels by Braque I showed you at my gallery, as well as two black and white prints.

I am sorry the colored slides did not come out any better, for as you will recall, the gray of the background is much stronger (plus soutenu) than appears, and the opposition between the background and the subject is in fact better indicated on the regular prints.

If I am sending these to you it is because I feel they are of such an exceptional nature that I would like you to have an opportunity of thinking about them further.

In fact I was wondering whether you could not place them on the large walls of your entrance hall, at both ends. They are not only of great elegance but full of life and spaced with with and spirit.

You will recall the date at which they were made, 1932, a time when Braque was much interested in archaic Greek and Etruscan sculptures, and they combine in a striking manner sculpture and painting.

Furthermore, from the angle of history of art it is interesting to notice that they were conceived at a time when Braque had not yet undertaken sculpture, and the first piece of sculpture he made, such as the well known head of a horse dating I believe around '39 or '40, was very much in the same style.

Last but not least, they are to my knowledge a unique pair.

The price for the two, you will remember, is $16,000.- (Sixteen thousand 00/100 dollars), an extremely reasonable one if you bear in mind the fact that individual paintings by Braque today, of physical importance, range close to that figure.

The medium is evidently a mixture of pastel, gouache, charcoal, chalk and perhaps also some oil.

I was glad to receive the cable announcing the sale arrival of the three paintings and do hope your enjoyment is in terms of their

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