On the occasion of its annual photo auction, De Baecque & Associés is proposing, on Thursday, June 20, 2019 in Lyon, an unprecedented set of photographic prints and drawings by Roger Parry (1905-1977). This vacation give the opportunity to trace the whole career of this artist to whom the Jeu de Paume devoted an exhibition Roger Parry. Photography. Drawings. Layouts from September 18 to November 18, 2007.
The different lots offer the rediscovery of a photographer between the two wars. The collector and historian of photography, Christian Bouqueret (1950-2013) called him the “fabulous Meteor”. This rare ensemble highlights the great singularity of Roger Parry’s work, while revealing the diversity of his talents. Some 450 photographic prints by Roger Parry (1905-1977)
Roger Parry left no writing because he relied on the power of photography. The diversity of the pictures are testimony of the relation to precursory images of Roger Parry and his sharp eye, and for the French photography of the 1930s, it remains a particular case. He was much more inventive than many of his contemporaries.
With Fabien Loris (1906-1979), and with a text by Léon-Paul Fargue (1876-1947), he produced Banalité, a surrealist book published in 1930. A copy of this mythical book will be auctioned.
This photograph, entitled Paris, 1943, appears at the Liberation in A Paris. Under the boot of the Nazis (Editions R. Schall). Roger Parry made images with several levels of reading: here, the carriage gives a timeless note of Paris and the presence of the German soldier gives it a timing. Under the Occupation, anyone photographing the Wehrmacht was sentenced to death. Intrepidity emerges from the personality of Roger Parry. In 1930, he was already leaving for Africa by boat. Bold approach for the time! Always in search of adventure, he lived each trip as an experience that nourished the next. He also went to the West Indies in 1932. In Tahiti, he took pictures of postcards, and photographed, in 1932, lepers or a mother carrying her dead child in her arms. Raiatea leaving the boat in Uturoa, Tahiti, 1932 is part of a set of 13 vintage silver prints probably constituting the model of the book titled Tahiti. Published in 1934 by the NRF at Galimard, this album was illustrated by 106 photos of Roger Parry. In Holland, he took a series of extraordinary photographs, on the occasion of the publication of Zuyderzée by Jeff Last (published by NRF Gallimard 1938), and looked at a micro society of Dutch fishermen: he made humanist portraits which are among his most moving photographs. From this trip, an exceptional gathering of 16 large vintage silver prints will be offered for auction: mounted on cardboard, these photographs constitute the exhibition held at the Paul Magné Gallery – 73, boulevard Saint-Michel in Paris – from April 14 to May 12, 1938.
He joined the NRF Gallimard before the Second World War; he had many collaborations as testifies, among others, Terreur, towards 1933-1935, a B/W print, a probable study for the cover of a crime novel. His talent was particularly notable in the collection the Universe of forms that allowed him to remain in the world of absolute and beautiful, without accountability: he worked there in 1948 alongside his friend, André Malraux (1901- 1976). This collection is part of a long collaboration between the two men.
During his career, he used many techniques: photomontages rare for the time, superimpositions, rayograms … Also he reworked the images: he cropped them, enlarged them …
Public Auction – Old and Modern Photographs and Photographic Equipment
Thursday, June 20, 2019 at 2:30 pm
70 rue Vendôme
69006 Lyon
