The Anniversary of André Salmon's Death on March 12, 1969

 

Man Collot (1903-1961), Portrait of André Salmon, 1951

André Salmon -October 4, 1881-March 12, 1969

Today we pay our respects to the gifted and generous poet/art critic André Salmon whose kindness manifested itself most clearly at the end of his life.  We know far more about his relationships with Pablo Picasso, Max Jacob, Guillaume Apollinaire, Moise Kisling, and so many other well-known members of the avant-garde Parisien arts scene during the first half of the twentieth century.  We know less about his final chapter, retired from the fast pace among "les jeunes" in Montparnasse.  

In 1925, Salmon started to make Sanary-sur-Mer one of his main destinations and in 1937 he had his home, Villa La Hune, built on what is today's Allée Kisling (where Salmon's dear friend, the artist Moïse Kisling lived too). In November 1961, he left his Paris residence behind to make Sanary his primary home.  He served on the municipal council from 1963 to 1965. In this role, he led an ecological movement to address the "red mud" (waste from bauxite) that was poisoning the countryside.  

Salmon also started the Salon de Peinture in Sanary, the first of its kind in the region of Toulon. He exhibited well-known French and international artists as well as lesser-known local artists who lived in the Var. 

In 1964, he received the Grand Prix de Poésie, and in 1967, he became a Commandeur of the Order of Arts and Letters.

Salmon succumbed to cancer at 87, 4 years before his dear friend Picasso died on April 8, 1973 at 91.  They were among the last of their generation to live this long.

After Salmon passed away, his widow Angèle Miey, known to everyone as Léo, gave half his estate to M. and Mme Barotti.  Jocelyn Barotti had been the Salmon's housekeeper for more than 11 years.  

In this brief video, which features an interview with Philippe Soupault first and then André Salmon, you have an opportunity to see Salmon sitting on the terrace at his home in Sanary-sur-Mer reminiscing about his cherished friend Guillaume Apollinaire. 

I am especially grateful to my colleagues and friends who share their resources with me. Together we keep this blog going.

Merci beaucoup Jacqueline Gojard, Jacques Gojard, Marilena Pronesti, and Jean-Luc Pouliquen, who recently sent me an article about Salmon in the magazine Mieux Vivre à Sanary, no. 298, May 2024, page 25. Trésors d'archives : André Salmon, un poète engagé - Mairie de Sanary-sur-Mer