History of the Surrealist Movement
9780226174129
History of the Surrealist Movement
"With its unprecedented depth and range, this massive new history of Surrealism from veteran French philosopher and art critic Durozoi will be the one-volume standard for years to come. . . . The book discusses expertly the main surrealist artists like Jean Arp, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró, but also treats with considerable understanding the surrealist writing by Louis Aragon, Paul Eluard, Robert Desnos, Julien Graçq and, of course, the so-called ’Pope of Surrealism,’ André Breton. . . . This book should turn up in all serious collections on 20th century art."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
From Dada to the Automatists, and from Max Ernst to André Breton, Gérard Durozoi here provides the most comprehensive history of the Surrealist movement. Tracing the movement from its origins in the 1920s to its decline in the 1950s and 1960s, Durozoi tells the history of Surrealism through its activities, publications, and reviews, demonstrating its close ties to some of the most explosive political, as well as creative, debates of the twentieth century.
Drawing on a staggering amount of documentary and visual evidence—including 1,000 photos—Durozoi illuminates all the intellectual and artistic facets of the movement, from literature and philosophy to painting, photography, and film, thus making History of the Surrealist Movement its definitive encyclopedia.
From Dada to the Automatists, and from Max Ernst to André Breton, Gérard Durozoi here provides the most comprehensive history of the Surrealist movement. Tracing the movement from its origins in the 1920s to its decline in the 1950s and 1960s, Durozoi tells the history of Surrealism through its activities, publications, and reviews, demonstrating its close ties to some of the most explosive political, as well as creative, debates of the twentieth century.
Drawing on a staggering amount of documentary and visual evidence—including 1,000 photos—Durozoi illuminates all the intellectual and artistic facets of the movement, from literature and philosophy to painting, photography, and film, thus making History of the Surrealist Movement its definitive encyclopedia.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
1919-1924 "Get Ready for Some Fine Explosions . . ."
Littérature
From Jacques Vaché to Tristan Tzara
Picabia Enters the Scene
Dada in Paris
1920: The First Glorious Feats
Ambiguous Recognition
1921: New Offensives
The First Max Ernst Exhibition in Paris
"The Barrès Trial"
The Arrival of Man Ray
Failure of the "Paris Conference"
Littérature at a Distance from Dada
Sleeping Fits
Which Meeting, and for Which Friends?
Last Dadaist Fireworks
Tension and Waiting
CHAPTER TWO
1924-1929 Salvation for Us Is Nowhere
The Surrealist Manifesto
A Cadaver
La Révolution surréaliste
Artaud’s Influence
Homage to Saint-Pol Roux
Affirmation of Pictorial Surrealism: Priority to Picasso
De Chirico
Ernst, Man Ray, Masson
Miró
The Surrealist Gallery and Publications
Yves Tanguy, Jean Arp
The Political Question
La Guerre civile
Pierre Naville: Légitime défense
Disappointing Enrollment in the Communist Party
In Belgium
Magritte
Love
The Struggle against Dominant Values
Surrealist Paris
Meeting at the rue du Château
"Surrealism in 1929"
The Discovery of Dalí: Ernst’s Romans-collages
CHAPTER THREE
1929-1937 "Elephants Are Contagious"
The Second Surrealist Manifesto
Shared Writing
Surrealism in the Service of the Revolution
"La Peinture au défi"
Lâge d’or
Dalí and the Paranoiac-Critical
Anticolonial Struggle
Surrealist Objects
The Aragon Affair
The AEAR: Political Collaboration and Autonomous Research
Minotaure
The Supremacy of Picasso
Political Initiatives in 1934
New Propositions
In Belgium
Internationalization
Break with the AEAR
Contre-Attaque
The London International Surrealist Exhibition
Impact of the Spanish Civil War
The Moscow "Trials"
The Galerie Gradiva
"The Guaranteed Surrealist Postcard"
Japan
Recognition to Jarry
CHAPTER FOUR
1938-1944 "During the Sordid Years’
The Concise Dictionary of Surrealism
Criticism and Its Clichés
Breton in Mexico
For an Independent Revolutionary Art
Constitution and Failure of the FIARI
Trajectoire du rêve
Nicolas Calas: Foyers d’incendie
Dreams in the News
News from Mexico
Latest Trends in Surrealist Painting
Going beyond the Three Dimensions
International Exhibition in Mexico City
Marseille
The Permanence and Pertinence of Black Humor
The Antilles
New York
VVV
The Problematic of the Myth: The Great Transparencies
First Papers of Surrealism
"Art of This Century": The Beginnings of Abstract Expressionism
Arshile Gorky
Péret Takes the Floor
Tensions
Latin America
In France
La Main à Plume
In England
In Belgium
CHAPTER FIVE
1944-1951 "Freedom, My Only Pirate"
The Salon d’Automne
Le Déshonneur des poètes
Dialectic of Dialectics
For a Lack of Anything Better
An Exhibition in Brussels
Breton’s Return
Politics at a Distance
Surrealism in 1947
The War Years in Czechoslovakia
Néon
Internationalist Policy
la niche les glapisseurs de Dieu!
The Automatists
Art Brut
Surrealist Solution(s)
Almanach surréaliste du demi-siècle
CHAPTER SIX
1951-1959 Commitment, That Ignoble Word
The Carrouges Affair
Julien Gracq Refuses the Prix Goncourt
Film Enthusiasts
Different Places to Speak Out
Le Libertaire’s "Billets surréalistes"
Camus and Rebellion
Offensive against Socialist Realism
Diffusion or Disappearance?
New Artistic Ideas
Charles Estienne’s Contributions
"Phases": Group and Periodical
From Gallic Art to Magic Art
Among the "Classics"
Médium; le surréalisme, même; Bief
Political Vigilance
CHAPTER SEVEN
1959-1969 "Ideas Crackling with Images"
EROS
The Manifesto of the 121
The Mostra Internazionale in Milan
La Brèche
Inadequacies of Pop Art
Defending Duchamp
L’écart absolu
Against Planetary Consumption
The Windows of Refusal
The Trajectory of Refusal
"Readymade" Reviews
The Cerisy Décade
André Breton’s Death and Debate over the Continuation of Group Activity
L’Archibras
The Cuban Temptation and May 1968
The Prague Platform
Le Quatrième Chant
Reaction to Le Quatrième Chant; the Bulletin de liaison surréaliste, Coupure
Now and Beyond
Notes on the Principal Surrealists and Some of Their Close Followers
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Names
Index of Periodicals
Illustration Credits
1919-1924 "Get Ready for Some Fine Explosions . . ."
Littérature
From Jacques Vaché to Tristan Tzara
Picabia Enters the Scene
Dada in Paris
1920: The First Glorious Feats
Ambiguous Recognition
1921: New Offensives
The First Max Ernst Exhibition in Paris
"The Barrès Trial"
The Arrival of Man Ray
Failure of the "Paris Conference"
Littérature at a Distance from Dada
Sleeping Fits
Which Meeting, and for Which Friends?
Last Dadaist Fireworks
Tension and Waiting
CHAPTER TWO
1924-1929 Salvation for Us Is Nowhere
The Surrealist Manifesto
A Cadaver
La Révolution surréaliste
Artaud’s Influence
Homage to Saint-Pol Roux
Affirmation of Pictorial Surrealism: Priority to Picasso
De Chirico
Ernst, Man Ray, Masson
Miró
The Surrealist Gallery and Publications
Yves Tanguy, Jean Arp
The Political Question
La Guerre civile
Pierre Naville: Légitime défense
Disappointing Enrollment in the Communist Party
In Belgium
Magritte
Love
The Struggle against Dominant Values
Surrealist Paris
Meeting at the rue du Château
"Surrealism in 1929"
The Discovery of Dalí: Ernst’s Romans-collages
CHAPTER THREE
1929-1937 "Elephants Are Contagious"
The Second Surrealist Manifesto
Shared Writing
Surrealism in the Service of the Revolution
"La Peinture au défi"
Lâge d’or
Dalí and the Paranoiac-Critical
Anticolonial Struggle
Surrealist Objects
The Aragon Affair
The AEAR: Political Collaboration and Autonomous Research
Minotaure
The Supremacy of Picasso
Political Initiatives in 1934
New Propositions
In Belgium
Internationalization
Break with the AEAR
Contre-Attaque
The London International Surrealist Exhibition
Impact of the Spanish Civil War
The Moscow "Trials"
The Galerie Gradiva
"The Guaranteed Surrealist Postcard"
Japan
Recognition to Jarry
CHAPTER FOUR
1938-1944 "During the Sordid Years’
The Concise Dictionary of Surrealism
Criticism and Its Clichés
Breton in Mexico
For an Independent Revolutionary Art
Constitution and Failure of the FIARI
Trajectoire du rêve
Nicolas Calas: Foyers d’incendie
Dreams in the News
News from Mexico
Latest Trends in Surrealist Painting
Going beyond the Three Dimensions
International Exhibition in Mexico City
Marseille
The Permanence and Pertinence of Black Humor
The Antilles
New York
VVV
The Problematic of the Myth: The Great Transparencies
First Papers of Surrealism
"Art of This Century": The Beginnings of Abstract Expressionism
Arshile Gorky
Péret Takes the Floor
Tensions
Latin America
In France
La Main à Plume
In England
In Belgium
CHAPTER FIVE
1944-1951 "Freedom, My Only Pirate"
The Salon d’Automne
Le Déshonneur des poètes
Dialectic of Dialectics
For a Lack of Anything Better
An Exhibition in Brussels
Breton’s Return
Politics at a Distance
Surrealism in 1947
The War Years in Czechoslovakia
Néon
Internationalist Policy
la niche les glapisseurs de Dieu!
The Automatists
Art Brut
Surrealist Solution(s)
Almanach surréaliste du demi-siècle
CHAPTER SIX
1951-1959 Commitment, That Ignoble Word
The Carrouges Affair
Julien Gracq Refuses the Prix Goncourt
Film Enthusiasts
Different Places to Speak Out
Le Libertaire’s "Billets surréalistes"
Camus and Rebellion
Offensive against Socialist Realism
Diffusion or Disappearance?
New Artistic Ideas
Charles Estienne’s Contributions
"Phases": Group and Periodical
From Gallic Art to Magic Art
Among the "Classics"
Médium; le surréalisme, même; Bief
Political Vigilance
CHAPTER SEVEN
1959-1969 "Ideas Crackling with Images"
EROS
The Manifesto of the 121
The Mostra Internazionale in Milan
La Brèche
Inadequacies of Pop Art
Defending Duchamp
L’écart absolu
Against Planetary Consumption
The Windows of Refusal
The Trajectory of Refusal
"Readymade" Reviews
The Cerisy Décade
André Breton’s Death and Debate over the Continuation of Group Activity
L’Archibras
The Cuban Temptation and May 1968
The Prague Platform
Le Quatrième Chant
Reaction to Le Quatrième Chant; the Bulletin de liaison surréaliste, Coupure
Now and Beyond
Notes on the Principal Surrealists and Some of Their Close Followers
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Names
Index of Periodicals
Illustration Credits