Francis Naves — À propos des piscines…, Galerie Stadler, Paris, 1973

14 × 21 cm. Offset lithograph on card. Good vintage condition with age toning, light handling wear, original postal markings, typed address, and manuscript annotations consistent with use and mailing.

Original exhibition invitation issued by Galerie Stadler for Francis Naves, À propos des piscines…, 14 juin – 11 juillet 1973. Vernissage: le jeudi 14 juin, 18–21 h. Galerie Stadler / Rodolphe Stadler, 51 rue de Seine, Paris 75006, tél. 326 91-10.

This example was mailed prior to the opening and retains its postal franking dated 5 June 1973, typed address to Monsieur Jean-Jacques Lévêque, 217 Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris, and manuscript annotations. These additions belong to the object’s first function: distribution. The invitation records its own passage before becoming collectible.

The front reproduces one of the exhibition’s central images: a solitary figure in a dark jacket seated on the edge of an empty tiled swimming pool, looking away from the camera. The title refers to swimming pools; the image withholds explanation.

During the early 1970s, Galerie Stadler occupied a central position within the Parisian avant-garde, presenting artists whose work moved between conceptual photography, narrative image-making, and post-surrealist propositions. Naves belongs to this moment. His photographs describe situations that appear ordinary yet remain unresolved, exchanging narrative for suspended observation.

The invitation compresses several systems into a single printed support: exhibition, reproduction, postal service, and archive. The exhibition no longer exists. The circulation that announced it survives as paper.

Rare. Examples are seldom encountered on the market, particularly in circulated condition with complete postal evidence intact.

Shipping and handling included in the listed price.