CHARLES MATTON (1931-2008) La librairie des colonnes, 1999. Mixed media. One-of-a-kind piece. Display case in chipboard and blackened metal angle iron, on a black patinated metal base with low chipboard shelf. 56 x 57.8 x 38 cm. 127.5 x 58.5 x 39 cm. Total height: 182 cm. Detachments (right chair and stack of books). Rubbing, stains and a few chips to the base; frame angle slightly disjointed; stability to be reviewed. Provenance : Galerie Beaubourg, Vence. One of Charles Matton's "Boîtes", created (among five others) for the exhibition "L'Appel du Maroc", curated by Academician Daniel Rondeau. This work is a tribute to the mythical Librairie des Colonnes in Tangier, where writers of the Beat Generation who had adopted Tangier as their main residence for a time, as well as visiting Frenchmen such as Yourcenar, Genet and Beckett, gathered.