Rimbaud's birthplace to acquire a rare portrait of the poet by his sister

A view of the old XVII century mill converted into a museum dedicated to French poet Arthur Rimbaud in the northern French town of Charleville Mezières. © AFP/François Nascimbeni

Charleville-Mézières, Rimbaud's birthplace, has launched a public funding appeal to acquire a portrait of the poet by his sister Isabelle, recently found in a Parisian bookshop, for a total of 180,000 euros.

The pencil sketch of Arthur Rimbaud "playing the Abyssinian harp" dates from 1893, two years after the poet's death, explained Carole Marquet-Morelle, director of Musée de l'Ardennes in Charleville-Mézières, eastern France.