Raymond Moretti (1931-2005), Composition XIII, 1977

serigraphy (workshop screenprint); BFK Rives France velin paper (watermark); 42 x 65 cm (composition); 56 x 75 (sheet); signed in pencil by the author p.d. and numbered 13/150.

Raymond Moretti is a figure who can be described as the "volcano of energy" of French 20th century art. If Picasso was the king of modernism, Moretti was its most dynamic successor. The artists not only knew each other, but were friends, and Moretti was considered one of the few who could keep up with Picasso's energy.

Moretti and Picasso worked together in workshops in the south of France. Picasso once said of Moretti that he had "fire in his fingers." In this work, that fire can be seen in every black line that crosses the sheet.

RAYMOND MORETTI was an expressive French illustrator, painter and sculptor with a rich and varied artistic output. In France he is known for his spectacular installations and decorations, while the outside world valued his illustrations above all, especially his evocative portraits of jazz legends. He was a great lover of music, especially jazz. He made portraits of many famous musicians, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Thelonious Monk. In the 1960s, he illustrated a series of 12 sought-after jazz long-playing records, entitled Moretti Verve

This work represents Raymond Moretti's second great fascination: Futurism, the City and the Cosmos.