[ Philip West, English surrealist artist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Philip.') to 'Vieanne', regarding his newly-born daughter Sandra Mercedes.

1p., 8vo. Signed in blue felt-tip pen. Letterhead illustration of drawing by West, picked out in blue and red felt-tip. A jokey letter beginning: 'ta very much for the dress - it didn't fit me so now Sandra wears it. We have called her Sandra Mercedes. Sandra, though perhaps not very evocative, is easily pronounced in both English and Spanish. Choosing a name was more difficult than you might imagine - as what seems to be a splendid name in one country, often turns out to be a famous brand of toilet-paper or fly spray in the other.' He discusses her size and the fact that he is 'the only male amongst millions of clucking Spanish mothers' to be pushing his daughter's pram in the park. 'Even the local communist and anarchist brigade ask when we are going to baptise her. When they discover that the event will not take place they look as if a revolutionary fanatic has suddenly appeared in their midst. (or mist). Strange people the Spanish.' According to Benezit, West 'saw his representational painting as relating to that of Magritte, a sort of poetic communication beyond words, using association and analogy'. Two hundred of West's works are in the Eugenio Granell Foundation in Santiago de Compostela. From the Philip West archive.