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Lot #392
John Maynard Keynes

Keynes invokes d'Alembert: "Those productions of art must indeed be wretched whose beauty is only discernible by artists"

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Estimate: $3000+
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Keynes invokes d'Alembert: "Those productions of art must indeed be wretched whose beauty is only discernible by artists"

Highly influential British economist (1883-1946) who was the chief British representative at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference that established the International Monetary Fund. TLS signed “J. M. Keynes,” one page, 6.25 x 8.25, personal letterhead, March 14, 1939. Interesting letter to English art critic Clive Bell, a fellow member of the Bloomsbury Group. In full: "I offer you the following as perhaps furnishing for you some day the text of an article. It is taken from D'Alembert's Eloge on Montesquieu: 'He went from Venice to Rome. In this ancient capital of the world, which is still so in some respects, he applied himself chiefly to examine that which distinguishes it most at present; the works of Raphael, of Titian, and of Michael Angelo. He had not made a particular study of the fine arts; but that expression, which shines in the master-pieces of this kind, infallibly strikes every man of genius…. Those productions of art must indeed be wretched whose beauty is only discernible by artists.' Would you agree with that?" He adds a postscript: "And what do you think of this from the same source? 'It was the result of his observations, that Germany was made to travel in, Italy to sojourn in, England to think in, and France to live in.'?" Matted and framed to an overall size of 10.75 x 13. In fine condition. Though Keynes's calling was in the 'dismal science' of economics, he was a major supporter of the arts in England and a member of the culturally influential 'Bloomsbury Group,' a loose collective of writers, intellectuals, philosophers, and artists.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: August
  • Dates: #527 - Ended May 09, 2018





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