MAURICE CHEVALIER / MAURICE UTRILLLO (1883/1955) : An origin - Lot 47

MAURICE CHEVALIER / MAURICE UTRILLLO (1883/1955) : An original plate of 25 stamps entitled "Versailles - Entrée d'après Utrillo", engraved by Henry Cheffer after a painting by Maurice Utrillo and issued by La Poste on December 12, 1952. This plate bears N° 89463 and is signed by the painter Maurice Utrillo. Face value: 18 francs. Stamp size : 40x26 mm. Colors : brown-Lilac. Printed in rotary intaglio at 25 stamps per sheet.At the end of the Second World War, the Versailles estate was in a critical state, and the amount of work needed to save it from ruin was estimated at five billion francs. In 1952, André Cornu, Secretary of State for Fine Arts, launched a nationwide radio appeal to raise funds and founded the Comité National pour la Sauvegarde du Château de Versailles (National Committee for the Safeguarding of the Palace of Versailles). Matisse, for example, donated 200 lithographs, the proceeds from the sale of which exceeded one million francs. Maurice Utrillo, for his part, donated a painting depicting the entrance to the Château, reproduced on stamps and postcards that went on sale on December 12, 1952. In December 1954, the sale brought in 4 million francs.27.8x15.8 cm. Vintage plate under glass. Rare philatelic document signed by Maurice Utrillo on December 20, 1952 and given to Maurice Chevalier.