RAYMOND MORETTI (1931-2005) Haggadah of the Fifth Cup. Jerusalem, Paris: Georges Israel, 1980.

The text for the reinstitution of the Fifth Cup by Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Chief Rabbi of Israel; illustrated with 20 lithographs and serigraphs signed by Raymond Moretti. Translated by Rabbi Léon Askenazi, with a preface by Rabbi Zvi Yehuda HaCohen Kook. Text in Hebrew and French. Copy no. XVII, signed by the artist and the publisher below the colophon. One of 150 copies printed on Rives vellum. Each print signed in pencil by the artist. Album in folio (42 x 32.5 cm) in its green velvet publisher’s slipcase. Excellent condition. Raymond Moretti was a French abstract painter and sculptor. Combining Hebrew letters, lines and colours, he created dynamic works which move in and out of abstraction. Born in Nice, he made a living creating lithographs for posters, magazine covers and stamps. Deeply involved with jazz, he had many famous musicians sit for him, including Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Thelonious Monk. In 1959 he created a profile portrait of Dalida, as well as of Martine Carol and Philippe Clay. In 1962, together with Jean Cocteau, he painted numerous gouaches and an oil on the theme of ‘The Age of Aquarius’. In 1963 he met Pablo Picasso, and a great friendship was born between the young artist and the old master. He also illustrated around thirty stamps for the French post office. He created the logo of the French Judicial Police, which combines the head of a man with the head of a tiger. In 1982 he created the art book Les Illuminations de Rimbaud, which received the Golden Eagle, one of the highest international awards given to an art book.