DAMAS (Léon-Gontran). - Lot 122

DAMAS (Léon-Gontran). Pigments. Paris: GLM, 1937. — In-12, 192 x 142: (28 leaves, first and last blank), printed cover. Paperback. A first edition that has become very rare, with a preface by Robert Desnos and illustrated with a woodcut frontispiece by Frans Masereel. This collection is the work of Léon-Gontran Damas (1912–1978), a poet from French Guiana and one of the leading figures of the Negritude movement alongside Senghor and Césaire. *Pigments*, his first volume of poetry, rails against the assimilation imposed for three centuries by colonial powers and condemns colonization, exoticism, racism, and the bourgeoisie, urging Senegalese veterans to demystify themselves. A few poems had already appeared in *Esprit* (1934) and *Les Cahiers du Sud* (1936). Published by Guy-Lévis Mano, the book was banned by censors as soon as war was declared in 1939, due to its calls for critical awareness—even rebellion—among Black conscripts, whom Damas regarded as new slaves, largely unconcerned, according to the poet, by conflicts within Europe. The engraving is intriguing and has been thoroughly analyzed by Yves Bergeret: “Masereel, in a rather geometric style typical of the ‘modernist’ aesthetic of that era, depicts a young Black man, naked, bursting forth from an enormous starched shirt collar—a symbol of the financial power of the wealthy world. On the left, the large modern city parts as it bows; on the right, the more supple tropical trees also part. The Black figure in the center stands like a strong, dark cloud emerging from a volcano. Frans Masereel did not carve this woodcut without recalling the Ballets Nègres, Josephine Baker, or the then-new craze for jazz. But his woodcut does not seek to evoke exotic allure. It proclaims naked rebellion, a black body standing out without transition (which the woodcut technique allows for) against a white light reminiscent of an explosion.” He adds: “The space depicted in the engraving is significant: like the mouth of a volcano, the starched collar from which the Black man emerges is adorned with a bow tie—a luxury of the white world; the symbolism is obvious, even naive. But the white giant is decapitated. Behind him rises, still barely visible, a black people, their arms sometimes raised, exulting or dancing. The space is compressed; the engraving is narrow and cramped: one feels suffocated in this world. The tall tropical trees sway in the blast’s wake, and the buildings are sent flying at an angle. But the explosion marking the birth of Negritude does not destroy them: Masereel indicates that Negritude is part of the modern world, where it claims its rightful place; indeed, it will even enrich it. ” (Yves BERGERET, “Pigments by Léon Gontran Damas,” Histoire par l’image [online], accessed August 30, 2026. URL: http://histoire-image.org/etudes/pigments-leon-gontran-damas.) One of 270 copies printed on vellum (no. 204), featuring an autographed dedication by the author addressed to the poet and novelist René Arcos (1881–1959): To René Arcos // with warm regards from // the author // May 1937 // L. G. Damas Cover detached from the spine.