"We, the undersigned, Jean Estrade and Daniel David, respectively President/Founder and Director of Editions d’Art Les Heures Claires attest to the sale to GPL Promotions/PASS 220 Madison avenue New York USA [this is the company run by Philippe Du Noyer]

The following piece:

1 collection No. 2343 of Dante's Divine Comedy illustrated by Salvador Dali consisting of 6 volumes in folios in slip cases which include the text of the 100 illustrations.

The 100 illustrations bear the original signature bottom right and are countersigned on the verso by Jean Estrade.

This collection, edited by the Editions d'Art Les Heures Claires, was bought back from one of our clients.

Executed in Paris, 31 January 2005."

This attestation bears the signatures of Jean Estrade and Daniel David.

De: David Phillips

Envoyé : mardi 23 décembre 2008 16:33
À : LHC Daniel David
Objet : Re: Une demande svp

Dear M. David

Thank you very much for looking at the document and confirming that it is a valid attestation from you and M. Estrade.

Did you personally witness Salvador Dali signing the 100 prints that make up collection No. 2343?

Can you give me the specifics of the Dali signing. When and where this was done and who was present?

Is it possible to give me the name and contact information of the Les Heures Claires client that these prints were bought back from? Or, if not, could you find out from them if they would be willing to correspond with me about the set of prints as I would very much like to know some information concerning its provenance?

I am trying to trace back and confirm the provenance of the set in detail.

Thank you very much for your help

David

On Dec 29, 2008, at 1:39 AM, LHC wrote:

« racheté à l'un de nos clients » it means that the series 2343 has been sold to this custumer by Les Heures Claires.
We only buy from our custumers items sold by Les Heures Claires.

From: David Phillips
Date: December 29, 2008 6:05:04 AM PST
To: LHC
Subject: Re: Une demande svp

M. David,

Thank you. Yes I had understood that this set had been bought back from one of you customers before it was sold to DuNoyer. But I still have the questions about the signing.

Here is the problem I am trying to solve. The set of prints that we saw, sold by Park West, has some serious problems. Park West are using as proof of provenance, the attestation that I sent you. That is all that they have (except for the opinion of Bernard Ewell which is not relevant).

Here are the problems with the set (or at least the main ones).

1. It does consist of a complete set of genuine woodblocks of the Divine Comedy on Rives paper, but a large number of them are signed in the block and another large number of them are not signed in the block. There is no explanation given for this in the provenance. The certificate of authenticity says that this series is "as issued". That would mean that none of the prints should be signed in the block except for the first one. The prints sold as books were not signed in the block according to the Albert Field catalog. In any case, it makes no sense that the set should contain a mix, unless there is some legitimate explanation that you know of. For me, it means that this set has been put together from a bound set(s) and loose prints. But it is represented as an original set of Divine Comedy books "as issued".

2. There is only one tirage page in the entire set. There should be, according to the same reference, three tirage pages, one for Paradis, one for Infer, one for Purgatoire. Each second volume should have a tirage page. Two of these are missing.

3. The pencil signatures have been examined by leading Dali experts and in their opinion they are quite certain that these signatures are not by the hand of Salvador Dali. This is why I am asking if you personally had information about the signing of these prints since you have co-signed the attestation along with M. Jean Estrade.

I would appreciate any information that might help explain these things. I am trying to find out if the set, as it is now, is exactly what was sold by Les Heures Claires to DuNoyer in 2005, or if it has been altered by DuNoyer or Park West after they bought it. As you can imagine, this is quite important.

Thank you,
David

From: David Phillips
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 9:46 AM
To: LHC
Subject: Re: Une demande svp

M. David,

I hope you had an enjoyable New Year's celebration.

We are planning to publish a lengthy article about the set of Divine Comedy prints examined by experts. I was hoping to be able to include information from you regarding points 1, 2 and 3 in the last email I sent you but I have not heard back from you.

Please let me know if you have information regarding these points so that I can include it. If not, I will have to leave these points open and hope that we can get further information soon and publish a follow-up article to cover.

Thank you very much,
David