William S. BURROUGHS. [The Face on the Room Floor]. [1988]. - Lot 74

William S. BURROUGHS. [The Face on the Room Floor]. [1988]. Collage heightened with gouache (51 x 35.7 cm), signed twice, framed. A fine original collage by William S. Burroughs, reworked in red and blue gouache. It consists of two magazine clippings reproducing photographs taken on Mars by the Viking I and II probes, made up with brushstrokes in gouache. The title refers to a famous poem written in 1887 by the French-born American writer Hugh Antoine d'Arcy, The Face upon the Floor, more commonly known as The Face on the Bar Room Floor. The central image features an autograph letter signed "William S. Burroughs for Brion Gysin". Exhibitions: - L'Écrit, le signe. Center Georges Pompidou, 1991-1992, with reproduction. - L'Un pour l'autre, les écrivains dessinent. Caen, IMEC, Lisbon, Musée Berardo, Ixelles, Musée communal, 2008-2009. - William S. Burroughs. Paris, Galerie K, 1990. Provenance: Pierre Belfond. The publisher was, as we know, the leading collector of writers' drawings. Reproduced in Dessins d'écrivains, Éditions du Chêne, 2003, p. 151.