Portrait signé

In January 1948, Albert Camus went to receive treatment for tuberculosis at the sanatorium of the Grand Hôtel in Leysin, Switzerland (canton of Vaud), where he joined Michel Gallimard, who was staying there for the same reason. The two men, together with Michel Gallimard’s wife Janine, remained there until February 8. It was during this stay that Camus completed L’État de siège and began writing Les Justes.

The photographer of this celebrated portrait, frequently reproduced (and often cropped and reduced), remains unidentified. Camus nevertheless owned several original prints, suggesting that they were given to him by whoever took the photograph — either Janine or Michel Gallimard.

This print was presented and inscribed to Gérard Mourgue: an early member of the Resistance, in the Saint-Amand-Montrond network (Cher), he became, at the Liberation, a teacher at the Cercle de la librairie, before becoming a bookshop director — eventually overseeing seven bookshops and three art galleries. Also a publisher, he later became deputy chairman and managing director of the Librairie Julliard.

Only two other original signed prints are known: one given to René Char, the other to Robert Chatté. The Gallimard archives also hold an identical original print, from Michel Gallimard. Numerous copy prints, made after Camus’s death, exist as well.