Dated by Paul Verlaine of June 1872 (a memorable date, but probably not the exact one of its realization), the drawing he made ofArthur Rimbaud at age 17, hands in pockets, hat screwed on head, pipe in mouth, is one of the best-known representations of the poet and, beyond that, of French literature. Emblematic of their tumultuous life in love, from England to Belgium, between 1871 and 1873, this image, reinterpreted by Valentine Hugo in the 1930s, was chosen as the frontispiece to his Complete Poems published by Léon Vanier in 1895. The importance of this sheet (12.7 × 9.9 cm) in pen and brown ink, sold on December 2 at Teissier-Sarrou’s, is clear. Drouotfor a modest estimate of 100,000 to 200,000 euros.

This date marks the climax of the mythical relationship between the two accursed poets and sulphurous lovers, whom President Emmanuel Macron refused to admit to the French Academy of Arts. Pantheon