BREL JACQUES: (1929-1978) Belgian singer. Rare and unusual vintage signed 11 x 8 colour ...

BREL JACQUES: (1929-1978) Belgian singer. Rare and unusual vintage signed 11 x 8 colour photograph of Brel, the image showing him standing in a three quarter length pose, holding a revolver, in a scene of Philippe Fourastié´s film La Bande à Bonnot (1968), Brel playing the role of Raymond la Science. Signed and inscribed (`Pour Pierre J. Brel') in bold dark fountain pen ink to the upper right clear area of the image. bearing the usual pencil annotation in the hand of the collector Pierre Goulliard. VG

Provenance: The present photographs originate from the collection of Pierre Goulliard, a French gentleman who, for over 50 years, dedicated himself to obtaining in person autographs of British, American and European movie stars, always obtaining the signatures in fountain pen ink.

Philippe Fourastié (1940-1982) French Director and Screenwriter. La Bande à Bonnot was his second and last film. Fourastié died of brain tumor in 1982, at the early age of 42.

The Bonnot Gang ("La Bande à Bonnot") or "The Tragic Bandits" ("Les Bandes Tragiques") was a French criminal anarchist group that operated in France and Belgium during the late Belle Epoque, from 1911 to 1912. Composed of individuals who identified with the emerging illegalist milieu, the gang used new technology, such as cars and repeating rifles not then available to the police. The press originally referred to them as simply "The Auto Bandits, " as they carried out the first motorized robberies and bank raids in world history.