BOUTET DE MONVEL Bernard (1881-1949), set of letters and postcards sent to his parents and grandparents during his travels in Italy, dated early 20th century. [About thirty documents - autographed letters]. Set of handwritten letters and postcards sent by Bernard Boutet de Monvel to his family on his first trip in 1904 and a second in 1912. True journeys of initiation for the artist, his letters recount the discoveries he made in the various cities he visited via Switzerland: the Great Lakes region, Milan, Bologna, Ravenna, Padua, Venice, Florence, Rome, Arezzo and Assisi, among others. One of his stops was the Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore, where he wrote: "As soon as I had dropped off my suitcase, I was taken to the island known as 'Isla Bella', which 300 years ago was nothing but a bare, flat rock. Then came a lord from Borromeo who, at great expense, brought land and cut stone and built a marvellous palace surrounded by a park with 10 terraces bathing in the lake". This correspondence reveals his interest in and mastery of art history, as when he writes: "We arrived in Assisi yesterday []. The town is charming, and this double church of St. Francis is a real marvel, covered with the frescoes of Giotto and his pupils, which are admittedly not as good as those in Florence, but he should be credited with having done them at the age of 20". And in a letter to his grandmother from Palermo in 1912, he notes that "the architecture of the monuments is most curious, with a mixture of Italian, Norman and Moorish styles". These letters also recount the lifestyle of an early 20th-century dandy on his Grand Tour, visiting the finest addresses in the country. Various hotel bills in Rome and Florence are included. (Lot sold as is)