Hans Bellmer: Les Milles en Feu

This work is based on the drawing  by Bellmer that dates back to the Second World War, when he worked at the Camp des Milles, a former tile factory near Aix-en-Provence. It was during this period that his obsession with bricks, a symbol of confinement, reached its climax: housed in a windowless brick oven, from the "catacombs" of the camp, he shared this cramped space serving both as his dwelling and a "workshop" with Max Ernst.

This print is a poignant testimony to the tragic past. It shows a woman with fiery hair, whose silhouette seems to consume the camp in ruins. Her gaze, icy and impassive, rests on the viewer, while her face disintegrates into a tangle of bricks, evoking the detention and intense despair of this period.