PHILIPPE DEREUX (France, 1918-2001) TÊTE MEXICAINE, 1992 Mixed media, collage and assemblage on panel in a wood and Plexiglas case Signed lower left and annotated "92.21" lower right Countersigned, titled, dated and located "Villeurbanne, November 1992" on the back Mixed media, collage and assemblage on panel in a wood and Plexiglas case; signed lower left and annotated lower right; signed again, titled, dated and located on the reverse 62 X 39,5 CM - 24 3/8 X 15 1/2 IN. PROVENANCE Collection of Mr and Mrs F. M. L., France. EXHIBITION Nancy, Espace Poirel, Pourquoi faites-vous cette tête-là, 25 January-31 March 2001. "For me to take pleasure in gluing my peelings, they really have to be waste, in other words the fruit or vegetable they contained has been used for food. Basically, the two joys of eating and gluing are inseparable. Perhaps the day when I buy fruit or vegetables on purpose for their skins, with no intention of eating them, I'll have the feeling that I'm making art, and that will make me less comfortable in my attempt. In my collages there is a 'context of life': the brightness and colour of the market, the noise, the preparation of the meal, the tasting... inseparable from the success of my work. Buying 'on purpose' would remove one vital part of the context: the preparation and consumption of food, and weaken the other: the market. It's strange (and I'm realising it now) that I've always loved going to the market and, less commonly, peeling vegetables. I've never shied away from the chore of peeling potatoes. Perhaps that was my poetry. Philippe Dereux, Petit traité des épluchures; ou, Expériences et réflexions d'un colleur de peaux, published by Julliard: Paris, 1966, p. 11.