André Breton
Encyclopedia
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism
. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto
(Manifeste du surréalisme) of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism
".
(Orne
) in Normandy
, he studied medicine
and psychiatry
. During World War I he worked in a neurological ward in Nantes
, where he met the devotee of Alfred Jarry
, Jacques Vaché
, whose anti-social attitude and disdain for established artistic tradition influenced Breton considerably. Vaché committed suicide
at age 24, and his war-time letters to Breton and others were published in a volume entitled Lettres de guerre (1919), for which Breton wrote four introductory essays.
Breton married his first wife, Simone Kahn, on 15 September 1921. The couple relocated to rue Fontaine # 42 in Paris on 1 January 1922. The apartment on rue Fontaine became home to Breton's collection of more than 5,300 items: modern paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, books, art catalogs, journals, manuscripts, and works of popular and Oceanic art.
and Philippe Soupault
. He also associated with Dada
ist Tristan Tzara
. In 1924 he was instrumental in the founding of the Bureau of Surrealist Research
.
In a publication The Magnetic Fields
(Les Champs Magnétiques), a collaboration with Soupault, he implemented the principle of automatic writing
. He published the Surrealist Manifesto
in 1924, and was editor of the magazine La Révolution surréaliste
from 1924. A group of writers became associated with him: Philippe Soupault
, Louis Aragon
, Paul Éluard
, René Crevel
, Michel Leiris
, Benjamin Péret
, Antonin Artaud
, and Robert Desnos
.
Anxious to combine the themes of personal transformation found in the works of Arthur Rimbaud
with the politics of Karl Marx
, Breton joined the French Communist Party
in 1927, from which he was expelled in 1933. During this time, he survived mostly by the sale of paintings from his art gallery.
In 1935, there was a conflict between Breton and Ilya Ehrenburg
during the first "International Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture" which opened in Paris in June. Breton had been insulted by Ehrenburg—along with all fellow surrealists—in a pamphlet which said, among other things, that surrealists were "pederasts". Breton slapped Ehrenburg several times on the street, which resulted in surrealists being expelled from the Congress. Crevel, who according to Salvador Dalí
, was "the only serious communist among surrealists" was isolated from Breton and other surrealists, who were unhappy with Crevel because of his homosexuality
and annoyed with communists in general.
In 1938, Breton accepted a cultural commission from the French government to travel to Mexico
. After a conference at the National Autonomous University of Mexico
about surrealism, Breton stated after getting lost in Mexico City
(as no one was waiting for him at the airport) "I don't know why I came here. Mexico is the most surrealist country in the world".
However, visiting Mexico provided the opportunity to meet Leon Trotsky
. Breton and other surrealists traveled via a long boat ride from Patzcuaro to the town of Erongaricuaro
. Diego Rivera
and Frida Kahlo
were among the visitors to the hidden community of intellectuals and artists. Together, Breton and Trotsky wrote a manifesto Pour un art révolutionnaire indépendent (published under the names of Breton and Diego Rivera) calling for "complete freedom of art", which was becoming increasingly difficult with the world situation of the time.
In 1939, Breton collaborated with artist Wifredo Lam
on the publication of Breton's poem "Fata Morgana", which was illustrated by Lam.
government banned his writings as "the very negation of the national revolution" and Breton escaped, with the help of the American Varian Fry
and Harry Bingham, to the United States and the Caribbean during 1941. Breton got to know Martinican
writer Aimé Césaire
, and later composed the introduction to the 1947 edition of Césaire's Cahier d'un retour au pays natal. During his exile in New York City he met Elisa, the Chilean woman who would become his third wife.
In 1944, he and Elisa traveled to the Gaspé Peninsula
in Québec, Canada, where he wrote Arcane 17, a book which expresses his fears of World War II, describes the marvels of the Rocher Percé and the extreme northeastern part of North America, and celebrates his new romance with Elisa.
Breton returned to Paris in 1946, where he opposed French colonialism (for example as a signatory of the Manifesto of the 121
against the Algerian war
) and continued, until his death, to foster a second group of surrealists in the form of expositions or reviews (La Brèche, 1961–1965). In 1959, he organized an exhibit in Paris.
By the end of World War II André Breton decided to embrace anarchism explicitly. In 1952 Breton wrote "It was in the black mirror of anarchism that surrealism first recognised itself." "Breton was consistent in his support for the francophone Anarchist Federation
and he continued to offer his solidarity after the Platformists around Fontenis transformed the FA into the Federation Communiste Libertaire. He was one of the few intellectuals who continued to offer his support to the FCL during the Algerian war when the FCL suffered severe repression and was forced underground. He sheltered Fontenis whilst he was in hiding. He refused to take sides on the splits in the French anarchist movement and both he and Peret expressed solidarity as well with the new FA set up by the synthesist anarchists and worked in the Antifascist Committees of the 60s alongside the FA."
André Breton died in 1966 at 70 and was buried in the Cimetière des Batignolles in Paris.
's) was auctioned. He subsequently rebuilt the collection in his studio and home at rue Fontaine 42. The collection grew to over 5,300 items: modern paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, books, art catalogs, journals, manuscripts, and works of popular and Oceanic art.
After Breton's death on 28 September 1966, Breton's third wife, Elisa, and his daughter, Aube, allowed students and researchers access to Breton's archive and collection. After thirty-six years, when attempts to establish a surrealist foundation to protect the collection were opposed, the collection was auctioned by Calmels Cohen at Drouot-Richelieu. A wall of the apartment is preserved at the Centre Georges Pompidou
.
Nine previously unpublished manuscripts, including the Manifeste du surréalisme, were auctioned by Sotheby's in May 2008.
(1928) and Mad Love (L'Amour fou) (1937).
Selected works:
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto
Surrealist Manifesto
Two Surrealist Manifestos were issued by the Surrealist movement, in 1924 and 1929. The first was written by André Breton, the second was supervised by him. Breton drafted a third Surrealist manifesto which was never issued.-First manifesto:...
(Manifeste du surréalisme) of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism
Surrealist automatism
Automatism has taken on many forms: the automatic writing and drawing initially practiced by surrealists can be compared to similar, or perhaps parallel phenomena, such as the non-idiomatic improvisation of free jazz....
".
Biography
Born to a family of modest means in TinchebrayTinchebray
Tinchebray is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.It was the scene of the Battle of Tinchebray fought on 28 September 1106.-Heraldry:...
(Orne
Orne
Orne is a department in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne.- History :Orne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Normandy and Perche.- Geography :Orne is in the region of...
) in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, he studied medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
. During World War I he worked in a neurological ward in Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
, where he met the devotee of Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side....
, Jacques Vaché
Jacques Vaché
Jacques Vaché was a friend of André Breton, the founder of surrealism. Vaché was one of the chief inspirations behind the Surrealist movement. As Breton said:...
, whose anti-social attitude and disdain for established artistic tradition influenced Breton considerably. Vaché committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
at age 24, and his war-time letters to Breton and others were published in a volume entitled Lettres de guerre (1919), for which Breton wrote four introductory essays.
Breton married his first wife, Simone Kahn, on 15 September 1921. The couple relocated to rue Fontaine # 42 in Paris on 1 January 1922. The apartment on rue Fontaine became home to Breton's collection of more than 5,300 items: modern paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, books, art catalogs, journals, manuscripts, and works of popular and Oceanic art.
From Dada to Surrealism
In 1919 Breton initiated the review Littérature with Louis AragonLouis Aragon
Louis Aragon , was a French poet, novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt.- Early life :...
and Philippe Soupault
Philippe Soupault
Philippe Soupault was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in Dadaism and later founded the Surrealist movement with André Breton...
. He also associated with Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
ist Tristan Tzara
Tristan Tzara
Tristan Tzara was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, composer and film director, he was known best for being one of the founders and central figures of the anti-establishment Dada movement...
. In 1924 he was instrumental in the founding of the Bureau of Surrealist Research
Bureau of Surrealist Research
The Bureau of Surrealist Research, also known as the Centrale Surréaliste or "Bureau of Surrealist Enquiries" was a Paris-based office in which a loosely affiliated group of Surrealist writers and artists gathered to meet, hold discussions, and conduct interviews in order to "gather all the...
.
In a publication The Magnetic Fields
Les Champs Magnétiques
Les Champs Magnétiques is a book by André Breton and Philippe Soupault. It is famed as the first work of literary Surrealism...
(Les Champs Magnétiques), a collaboration with Soupault, he implemented the principle of automatic writing
Surrealist automatism
Automatism has taken on many forms: the automatic writing and drawing initially practiced by surrealists can be compared to similar, or perhaps parallel phenomena, such as the non-idiomatic improvisation of free jazz....
. He published the Surrealist Manifesto
Surrealist Manifesto
Two Surrealist Manifestos were issued by the Surrealist movement, in 1924 and 1929. The first was written by André Breton, the second was supervised by him. Breton drafted a third Surrealist manifesto which was never issued.-First manifesto:...
in 1924, and was editor of the magazine La Révolution surréaliste
La Révolution surréaliste
La Révolution surréaliste was a publication by the Surrealists in Paris. Twelve issues were published between 1924 and 1929....
from 1924. A group of writers became associated with him: Philippe Soupault
Philippe Soupault
Philippe Soupault was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in Dadaism and later founded the Surrealist movement with André Breton...
, Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon , was a French poet, novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt.- Early life :...
, Paul Éluard
Paul Éluard
Paul Éluard, born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel , was a French poet who was one of the founders of the surrealist movement.-Biography:...
, René Crevel
René Crevel
René Crevel was a French writer involved with the surrealist movement.-Life:Crevel was born in Paris to a family of Parisian bourgeoisie. He had a traumatic religious upbringing. At the age of fourteen, during a difficult stage of his life, his father committed suicide by hanging himself. Crevel...
, Michel Leiris
Michel Leiris
Julien Michel Leiris was a French surrealist writer and ethnographer.-Biography:...
, Benjamin Péret
Benjamin Péret
Benjamin Péret was a French poet, Parisian Dadaist and a founder and central member of the French Surrealist movement with his avid use of Surrealist automatism.-Biography:...
, Antonin Artaud
Antonin Artaud
Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud, more well-known as Antonin Artaud was a French playwright, poet, actor and theatre director...
, and Robert Desnos
Robert Desnos
Robert Desnos , was a French surrealist poet who played a key role in the Surrealist movement of his day.- Biography :...
.
Anxious to combine the themes of personal transformation found in the works of Arthur Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
with the politics of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, Breton joined the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
in 1927, from which he was expelled in 1933. During this time, he survived mostly by the sale of paintings from his art gallery.
In 1935, there was a conflict between Breton and Ilya Ehrenburg
Ilya Ehrenburg
Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg was a Soviet writer, journalist, translator, and cultural figure.Ehrenburg is among the most prolific and notable authors of the Soviet Union; he published around one hundred titles. He became known first and foremost as a novelist and a journalist - in particular, as a...
during the first "International Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture" which opened in Paris in June. Breton had been insulted by Ehrenburg—along with all fellow surrealists—in a pamphlet which said, among other things, that surrealists were "pederasts". Breton slapped Ehrenburg several times on the street, which resulted in surrealists being expelled from the Congress. Crevel, who according to Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, was "the only serious communist among surrealists" was isolated from Breton and other surrealists, who were unhappy with Crevel because of his homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
and annoyed with communists in general.
In 1938, Breton accepted a cultural commission from the French government to travel to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. After a conference at the National Autonomous University of Mexico
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is a university in Mexico. UNAM was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to the Roman Catholic-sponsored Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous...
about surrealism, Breton stated after getting lost in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
(as no one was waiting for him at the airport) "I don't know why I came here. Mexico is the most surrealist country in the world".
However, visiting Mexico provided the opportunity to meet Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
. Breton and other surrealists traveled via a long boat ride from Patzcuaro to the town of Erongaricuaro
Erongarícuaro
Erongarícuaro, which means "Place of waiting" in the Purepecha language, is a town in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It is located about an hour and a half drive to Morelia or Uruapan and just 20 minutes from the famous colonial town of Pátzcuaro...
. Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
and Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo de Rivera was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán, and perhaps best known for her self-portraits....
were among the visitors to the hidden community of intellectuals and artists. Together, Breton and Trotsky wrote a manifesto Pour un art révolutionnaire indépendent (published under the names of Breton and Diego Rivera) calling for "complete freedom of art", which was becoming increasingly difficult with the world situation of the time.
Wifredo Lam
Wifredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla , better known as Wifredo Lam, was a Cuban artist who sought to portray and revive the enduring Afro-Cuban spirit and culture...
on the publication of Breton's poem "Fata Morgana", which was illustrated by Lam.
1940s
Breton was again in the medical corps of the French Army at the start of World War II. The VichyVichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
government banned his writings as "the very negation of the national revolution" and Breton escaped, with the help of the American Varian Fry
Varian Fry
Varian Mackey Fry was an American journalist. Fry ran a rescue network in Vichy France that helped approximately 2,000 to 4,000 anti-Nazi and Jewish refugees to escape Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.-Early life:...
and Harry Bingham, to the United States and the Caribbean during 1941. Breton got to know Martinican
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
writer Aimé Césaire
Aimé Césaire
Aimé Fernand David Césaire was a French poet, author and politician from Martinique. He was "one of the founders of the négritude movement in Francophone literature".-Student, educator, and poet:...
, and later composed the introduction to the 1947 edition of Césaire's Cahier d'un retour au pays natal. During his exile in New York City he met Elisa, the Chilean woman who would become his third wife.
In 1944, he and Elisa traveled to the Gaspé Peninsula
Gaspé Peninsula
The Gaspésie , or Gaspé Peninsula or the Gaspé, is a peninsula along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, extending into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
in Québec, Canada, where he wrote Arcane 17, a book which expresses his fears of World War II, describes the marvels of the Rocher Percé and the extreme northeastern part of North America, and celebrates his new romance with Elisa.
Later life
Manifesto of the 121
The Manifesto of the 121 was an open letter signed by 121 intellectuals and published on 6 September 1960 in the magazine Vérité-Liberté. It called on the French government, then headed by the Gaullist Michel Debré, and public opinion to recognise the Algerian War as a legitimate struggle for...
against the Algerian war
Algerian War of Independence
The Algerian War was a conflict between France and Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria's gaining its independence from France...
) and continued, until his death, to foster a second group of surrealists in the form of expositions or reviews (La Brèche, 1961–1965). In 1959, he organized an exhibit in Paris.
By the end of World War II André Breton decided to embrace anarchism explicitly. In 1952 Breton wrote "It was in the black mirror of anarchism that surrealism first recognised itself." "Breton was consistent in his support for the francophone Anarchist Federation
Anarchist Federation (France)
Fédération Anarchiste is an anarchist federation in France and Belgium. It is a member of the International of Anarchist Federations since its establishment in 1968.- History :...
and he continued to offer his solidarity after the Platformists around Fontenis transformed the FA into the Federation Communiste Libertaire. He was one of the few intellectuals who continued to offer his support to the FCL during the Algerian war when the FCL suffered severe repression and was forced underground. He sheltered Fontenis whilst he was in hiding. He refused to take sides on the splits in the French anarchist movement and both he and Peret expressed solidarity as well with the new FA set up by the synthesist anarchists and worked in the Antifascist Committees of the 60s alongside the FA."
André Breton died in 1966 at 70 and was buried in the Cimetière des Batignolles in Paris.
Breton as a collector
Breton was an avid collector of art, ethnographic material, and unusual trinkets. He was particularly interested in materials from the northwest coast of North America. During a financial crisis he experienced in 1931, most of his collection (along with his friend Paul ÉluardPaul Éluard
Paul Éluard, born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel , was a French poet who was one of the founders of the surrealist movement.-Biography:...
's) was auctioned. He subsequently rebuilt the collection in his studio and home at rue Fontaine 42. The collection grew to over 5,300 items: modern paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, books, art catalogs, journals, manuscripts, and works of popular and Oceanic art.
After Breton's death on 28 September 1966, Breton's third wife, Elisa, and his daughter, Aube, allowed students and researchers access to Breton's archive and collection. After thirty-six years, when attempts to establish a surrealist foundation to protect the collection were opposed, the collection was auctioned by Calmels Cohen at Drouot-Richelieu. A wall of the apartment is preserved at the Centre Georges Pompidou
Centre Georges Pompidou
Centre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais...
.
Nine previously unpublished manuscripts, including the Manifeste du surréalisme, were auctioned by Sotheby's in May 2008.
Breton's collection
- Selected modern painters or sculptors: Pierre AlechinskyPierre AlechinskyPierre Alechinsky is a Belgian artist. He has lived and worked in France since 1951. His work is related to Tachisme, Abstract expressionism, and Lyrical Abstraction.Alechinsky was born in Brussels...
, Aloïse CorbazAloïse CorbazAloïse Corbaz was a Swiss outsider artist included in Jean Dubuffet's initial collection of psychiatric art. She is one of very few acclaimed female outsider artists....
, Braulio ArenasBraulio ArenasBraulio Arenas was a Chilean poet and writer, founder of the surrealist Mandrágora group.- Life :Braulio Arenas lived most of his youth in the north of Chile, moving in his teens to Talca to study...
, ArmanArmanArman was a French-born American artist. Born Armand Pierre Fernandez in Nice, France, Arman is a painter who moved from using the objects as paintbrushes to using them as the painting itself...
, Jean ArpJean ArpJean Arp / Hans Arp was a German-French, or Alsatian, sculptor, painter, poet and abstract artist in other media such as torn and pasted paper....
, Enrico BajEnrico BajEnrico Baj was an Italian artist and writer on art. Many of his works show an obsession with nuclear war. He created prints, sculptures but especially collage. He was close to the surrealist and dada movements, and was later associatied with CoBrA. As an author he has been described as a leading...
, BenBenBen is often a shortened version of the given name Benjamin, Benvolio, Benedict, or less commonly Bentley, although it is also used as a formal given name in its own right...
, A Benquet, Alexandre Boileau, Bona Pieyre de Mandiargue, Micheline Bounoure, André Bourdil, Francis Bouvet, Victor BraunerVictor BraunerVictor Brauner was a Romanian Jewish painter of surrealistic images.-Early life:He was born in Piatra Neamţ, the son of a timber manufacturer who subsequently settled in Vienna with his family for a few years. It is there that young Victor attended elementary school...
, Elisa Breton, Jorge CaceresJorge CáceresJorge Cáceres was a Chilean poet, painter and dancer....
, Jacques CallotJacques CallotJacques Callot was a baroque printmaker and draftsman from the Duchy of Lorraine . He is an important figure in the development of the old master print...
, Jorge CamachoJorge CamachoJorge Camacho is a writer in Esperanto and Spanish.Camacho was born in Zafra, Spain and learned Esperanto in 1980. He was a member of the Academy of Esperanto from 1992 until 2001...
, Paul Colinet, Pierre Courthion, Fleury-Joseph Crépin, Salvador DalíSalvador DalíSalvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, André Demonchy, Ferdinand Desnos, Deyema, Óscar DomínguezÓscar DomínguezOscar M. Domínguez was a Spanish surrealist painter.Born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna on the island of Tenerife, Domínguez spent his youth with his grandmother in Tacoronte and devoted himself to painting at a young age after suffering a serious illness which affected his growth and caused a...
, Enrico DonatiEnrico DonatiEnrico Donati was an American Surrealist painter and sculptor of Italian birth.-Life and work:Enrico Donati studied economics at the Università degli Studi, Pavia, and in 1934 moved to the USA, where he attended the New School for Social Research and the Art Students League of New York...
, Mirabelle Dors, Marcel DuchampMarcel DuchampMarcel Duchamp was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Considered by some to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art...
, Baudet Dulary, René Duvilliers, Yves Elléouët, Nusch EluardNusch ÉluardNusch Éluard was a French performer, model and surrealist artist, best known as the second wife of Paul Éluard....
, Paul ÉluardPaul ÉluardPaul Éluard, born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel , was a French poet who was one of the founders of the surrealist movement.-Biography:...
, Colette Enard, Jimmy ErnstJimmy ErnstJimmy Ernst was an American painter born in Germany.-Early life:Jimmy Ernst was born in 1920 in Cologne, Germany, the son of surrealist painter Max Ernst and Luise Straus, a well-known art historian and journalist. His parents divorced in 1922 and Ernst staying with his mother in Cologne...
, Max ErnstMax ErnstMax Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
, Henri Espinoza, Fahr el Nissa Zeid, Jean FautrierJean FautrierJean Fautrier was a French painter and sculptor. He was one of the most important practitioners of Tachisme.He was born in Paris. Given his unwed mother's surname, he was raised by his grandmother until her death in 1908, when he went to live with his mother in London.In 1912 he studied at the...
, Luis FernandezLuis FernándezLuis Fernández is a Spanish-French footballer who played as a defender / midfielder. He retired as a player in 1993 to become a manager....
, Charles Filiger, Alexandre Evariste, Johann Henrich Füssli, Paul GauguinPaul GauguinEugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...
, Alberto Gironella, Arshile GorkyArshile GorkyArshile Gorky was an Armenian-born American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. As such, his works were often speculated to have been informed by the suffering and loss he experienced of the Armenian genocide.-Early life:...
, Max Walter SvanbergMax Walter SvanbergMax Walter Svanberg was a Swedish Surrealist painter, illustrator, and designer.Born in Malmö. Founder of the Swedish artist group Imaginisterna in 1948, but left them soon after. In 1950, he published an album of lithographs. He was invited to the surrealist group in Paris by André Breton in 1953...
, Eugenio GranellEugenio GranellEugenio Granell was an artist often described as the last Spanish Surrealist painter.Born in A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia, Eugenio Fernández Granell started out as a political radical and a musician...
, Henri de Groux, Jacques Hérold, René IchéRené IchéFor the town in Morocco see Iche, MoroccoRené Iché was a 20th century French sculptor.-Life and work:...
, Wifredo LamWifredo LamWifredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla , better known as Wifredo Lam, was a Cuban artist who sought to portray and revive the enduring Afro-Cuban spirit and culture...
, René MagritteRené MagritteRené François Ghislain Magritte[p] was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images...
, Joan MiróJoan MiróJoan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...
, Pablo PicassoPablo PicassoPablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Man RayMan RayMan Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
, Diego RiveraDiego RiveraDiego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
, Yves TanguyYves TanguyRaymond Georges Yves Tanguy , known as Yves Tanguy, was a French surrealist painter.-Biography:Tanguy was born in Paris, France, the son of a retired navy captain. His parents were both of Breton origin...
, Adolf WölfliAdolf WölfliAdolf Wölfli was a Swiss artist who was one of the first artists to be associated with the Art Brut or outsider art label.-Early life:...
, etc.
- Selected photographers: Manuel Alvarez BravoManuel Álvarez BravoManuel Álvarez Bravo was a Mexican photographer.Álvarez Bravo was born in Mexico City on February 4, 1902. He came from a family of artists and writers, and met several other prominent artists who encouraged his work when he was young, including Tina Modotti and Diego Rivera...
, Pierre Argillet, Bach Fritz, Jacques-André BoiffardJacques-André BoiffardJacques-André Boiffard is a French photographer, born in Paris, lived in Roche-sur-Yon. He was a medical student until 1924 when he met André Breton through Pierre Naville, a Surrealist writer, and childhood friend....
, BrassaïBrassaïBrassaï was a Hungarian photographer, sculptor, and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. He was one of the numerous Hungarian artists who flourished in Paris beginning between the World Wars...
, Elisa Breton, Claude CahunClaude CahunClaude Cahun was a French artist, photographer and writer. Her work was both political and personal, and often played with the concepts of gender and sexuality.-Early life:...
, Henri Cartier-BressonHenri Cartier-BressonHenri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer considered to be the father of modern photojournalism. He was an early adopter of 35 mm format, and the master of candid photography...
, Léo Dohmen, Paul Dacceti, Izis, Dora MaarDora MaarDora Maar was a French photographer, poet and painter, best known for being a lover and muse of Pablo Picasso.-Life:...
, Man RayMan RayMan Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
, Raoul UbacRaoul UbacRaoul Ubac was a French painter, sculptor, photographer and engraver.In 1937, he made Tete du Mannequin, a photograph taken of a mannequin consisting of everyday objects. Another of his work's include the photograph 'La Conciliabule'...
, Emile van Moerkerken, etc.
- kachinaKachinaA kachina is a spirit being in western Pueblo cosmology and religious practices. The western Pueblo, Native American cultures located in the southwestern United States, include Hopi, Zuni, Tewa Village , Acoma Pueblo, and Laguna Pueblo. The kachina cult has spread to more eastern Pueblos, e.g....
dolls
Marriages
Breton married three times:- His first wife, from 1921 to 1931, was Simone Collinet, née Simone Kahn (1897–1980).
- His second wife was Jacqueline LambaJacqueline LambaJacqueline Lamba Breton was a French painter perhaps best known as the second wife of André Breton and "the subject of many of his poems". With Breton she had a daughter, Aube Elléouët Breton. She and Breton separated in 1943...
, with whom he had his only child, a daughter named Aube. - His third wife was Elisa Claro.
Works
His works include the case studies NadjaNadja (novel)
One of the iconic works of the French surrealist movement, Nadja is the second novel published by André Breton, in 1928. It starts with the question "Who am I?"...
(1928) and Mad Love (L'Amour fou) (1937).
Selected works:
- Mont de piété, 1919
- S'il Vous Plaît, 1920 – If You PleaseIf You PleaseIf You Please is a Dada–Surrealist play co-written by the French surrealist writer and theorist André Breton and poet and novelist Philippe Soupault....
- Les Champs magnétiques, 1920 – The Magnetic FieldsLes Champs MagnétiquesLes Champs Magnétiques is a book by André Breton and Philippe Soupault. It is famed as the first work of literary Surrealism...
- Manifeste du surréalisme, 1924 – The Surrealist Manifesto
- Les Pas perdus (Breton), 1924 – The Lost Steps
- Poisson soluble, 1924 – Soluble Fish
- Un Cadavre, 1924 – A CorpseUn CadavreUn Cadavre was the name of two separate surrealist pamphlets published in France in October of 1924, and January of 1930, respectively.-Pamphlet of October 18th, 1924:...
- Légitime Défense, 1926 – Legitimate Defense
- Le Surréalisme et la peinture, 1926 – Surrealism and Painting
- Nadja, 1928 – NadjaNadja (novel)One of the iconic works of the French surrealist movement, Nadja is the second novel published by André Breton, in 1928. It starts with the question "Who am I?"...
- L'Immaculée Conception, 1930 – The Immaculate Conception
- Deuxième Manifeste du surréalisme, 1930 – The Second Manifesto of SurrealismSurrealist ManifestoTwo Surrealist Manifestos were issued by the Surrealist movement, in 1924 and 1929. The first was written by André Breton, the second was supervised by him. Breton drafted a third Surrealist manifesto which was never issued.-First manifesto:...
- Ralentir travaux, 1930 – Slow Down Works
- L'Union libre, 1931
- La Revolver à cheveux blancs, 1932 – The Revolver Has White Hair
- Les Vases communicants, 1932 – The Communicating Vessels
- Le Message automatique; 1933 – The Automatic MessageThe Automatic MessageThe Automatic Message was one of André Breton's significant theoretical works about automatism. The essay was first published in the magazine Minotaure, No. 3-4, 1933....
- Qu'est-ce que le surréalisme, 1934 – What Is Surrealism
- L'Air de l'eau, 1934 – Looks Like Water
- Point du Jour, 1934 – Not of the Day
- Position politique du surréalisme, 1935 – The Political Position of Surrealism
- Notes sur la poésie, 1936 (with Paul Éluard) – Notes on Poetry
- L'Amour fou, 1937 – Mad Love
- Point du jour, 1937
- Dictionnaire abrégé du surréalisme, 1938 (with Paul Éluard) – Abridged Dictionary of Surrealism
- Manifesto for an Independent Revolutionary ArtManifesto for an independent revolutionary artThe Manifesto for an Independent Revolutionary Art is a document believed to have been written by Leon Trotsky and André Breton in 1938. It was signed by Breton and Diego Rivera...
, 1938 (with Leon Trotsky) - Fata Morgana, 1940
- Anthologie de l'humour noir, 1940 – Anthology of Black HumorAnthology of Black HumorThe Anthology of Black Humor is an anthology of 45 writers edited by André Breton. It was first published in 1940 in Paris by Éditions du Sagittaire and its distribution was immediately banned by the Vichy government. It got reprinted in 1947 after Breton's return from exile, with a few additions...
- Arcane 17, 1945 – Arcane 17
- Jeunes Cerisiers garantis contre les lièvres, 1946 – Young Cherry Trees Secured against Hares
- Ode à Charles Fourier, 1947 – Ode to Charles Fourier
- Yves Tanguy, 1947
- Poèmes 1919–48, 1948
- La Lampe dans l'horloge, 1948 – The Lamp in the Clock
- Martinique, charmeuse de serpents, 1948
- Entretiens, 1952 – Discussions
- La Clé des champs, 1953 – The Key of the Fields
- Farouche à quatre feuilles, 1954 (with Lise Deharme, Julien Gracq, Jean Tardieu) – Wild to Four Leaves
- Les Manifestes du surréalisme, 1955 – Manifestoes of SurrealismManifestoes of SurrealismManifestoes of Surrealism is a book by André Breton, describing the aims, meaning, and political position of the Surrealist movement. It was published in 1969 by the University of Michigan press....
- L'Art magique, 1957 – The Magic Art
- Constellations, 1958
- Le la, 1961
- Selected Poems, 1969
- Perspective cavalière, 1970
- What is Surrealism? Selected Poems, 1978
- Poems of André Breton, 1982