The Simone Collinet collection. Simone Breton: a passionate collector of Surrealist art

Francrs Picabra

Ftmmt au monoclt 1'124-21>

Private collettron

Th

eULIAOOOS1

1mone ollinet

ollection

Simone Breton: A Passionate Collector of Surrealist Art

13S

" ... astonishing proof ... of what thls freedom can 91ve to art"

Originalveröffentlichung in: Büttner, Philippe (Hrsg.): Surrealism in Paris : [Exhibition "Dalí, Magritte, Miró, Surrealism in Paris", Fondation Beyeler, ... October 2, 2011 - January 29, 2012]. Ostfildern 2011, S. 135-138 und Abb.

136

THE SIMONE COLLINET COLLECTION

"Simone comes from the country of the humming b1rds, Ll,use brief flashes of music, and evokes the season of the lime­

trees," Louis Aragon² wrote of a woman who preferred driving fast cars to cooking ¹-and who Look typewrltten minutes al lhe f1rsl rneetings of the Surrealist group. Some of the dreams rccorded by Sirnonc Breton were publlshed by her husband Andre Breton 1n the review Litterature as first-hand evidence of the epoque des sommeils. ⁴ The 27-year-old Simone features

in two of the well-known photographs of the Surrealists taken by Man Ray In 1()24 in tneir headquarters at 15, rue de Grenelle, Paris, not far from the Luxembourg Gardens (pp.135 and 160).

The only woman, she appears in the cenlre, seated at her type­

writer and surrounded by Max Morise, Roger Vitrac, Jacques­

Andr� ßoiffard, Paul Eluard, Andre Brrton, Pierre Naville, Giorgio de Chirico, Phillppe Soupault, and Jacques Baron. They are all starlng as though spellbound al a booklel presented on a cush- 1011 by the seance medium, Robert Oesnos. Man Ray, however, was clearly more interested fn the young woman, the only sharply focused pcrson in the photographs. Obviously fascinated by Ute hairstyle

^A

Ja

gari;onne,

the elegant clothing, the broad arm­

band, and the glasses, he captured her with his camera on other occasions, both alone and amid the Surrealists Cp. 164 and revcrse of front flap). Who was this woman,

¹¹

one of the queens of Surrealism,"

⁵

whose exceptional beauty would still caplivo1te Aragon decades later?'

Simonc Kahn was born in lquilos, Peru, on May 3, 1897.

⁷

Her Jewish parents ran a rubber exporllng company in Peru, having lefl thelr native Alsace when it became part of the German empire after France's defeat in the war of 1870-71.

The family returned to France in 1899, settling in Paris in a distinguished part of the 17th

arrondissement.

After a childhood and adolescence spent In the

grand bourgeois

milieu of a mer­

chanl ramily, a confident Simone enrolled at the Sorbonne to study litcrature. In the early summer of 1920 she was intro­

duced to her future husband by her frlend Bianca Makles and the lntler's parlner, Theodore Fraenkel, a fricnd of Breton's youth:

S1nce I was passionately interested fn llterature, had just discovered Runbaud, and was an enthusiastic visitor to the

1

terary cabinet of Adrienne Monnier, which was frequented by all young l'terary circles, they both suggested meeting one of tlleir friends, a poet and leading member of the Dada movement. 1 subscribed to

Lillerature,

a review edited by ßrcton, Soupault, and Aragon, so I found their suggestion extrernely enticing.

⁸

Within a year Simone Kahn had married the young writer. For almost a decade, she was to experience with him all the ups and downs, all the scandals, of Surrealism's first phase.

The unusually extensive, unpublished correspondence that Andr� Breton addressed to Simone Kahn/Breton between 1920 and hls break with her, in 1928, clearly shows lhat he saw in her rnore than a dcsirable woman and lover: she was not a muse but an equal, someone with whom he liked lo exchange ldeas.

His lellers to her durlng lhe firsl summer of lheir acqualntance conlained long discussions of the work of Stendhal, Fyodor Oostoevsky, Arthur Rimbaud, Andre Gide, Paul Valery, Guillaume Apollinaire, and Jacques Vache, and of his own book

Les champs magnetlques,

which he was writing with Soupaull. Soon he was glving her detailed accounts of the Surrealists' meetings, the gcnesls of the periodical

La revolution surrealiste,

and his

vislts to various artists' studios. He also dedicated to her the pocm "Le volubilis," published in 1923 in Clair de terre, and the manuscript of a selection of ecritures automatiques that in 1924 formed the basis of his Poisson soluble (p.16ol.q

Simone ran lhe Bureau central de recherches surreal1stes, helped Andre with the design of

Litterature,

and accompanied him to such events as

a

talk given by Filippo Tommaso Marinelti in May 1921. She also traveled with him, for example to Barcelona in November 1922 to attend the opening of an exhi­

bition of works by his friend Francis Picabia.

¹⁰

Simone was an acute and a critical observer with a mind and a will of her own, complaining, for instance, of the way in which women were treated in Surrealist circles.

¹¹

She contributed to the "Textes sur­

realistes" in the first issue of

La revo/ution surrealiste,

slgning her piece with the Initials "S. B." In a letter to her Andre praised lts poetic qualities: "Among Lhe Surrealrst texts, which furnish us wlth astonishing proof of what this freedom can give to arl, those of Robert Desnos, of Louis Aragon, and, especially, of S.B. draw on chimerical sources."

^1:

In 1927 she joined Breton and Morise in producing a

Cadavre exquis,

which appeared that October in

La revolution surrealiste

(p. 139").

¹³

These would remain Simone Breton's only direct contributions to Surrealism.

¹⁴

Instead, she indulged a passion shared with her husband in the 1920s and persistently cultivated after their official separation in 1931: she collected and publicized art.

"My first picture," she was to note in an autograph catalog of her collection, was a small painting of a dog by Andre Derain Cp. 13()

^0),

received in January 1()21 as an engagement present from Breton,

¹⁵

who had acquired it on a visit to the artist's studlo.

^•b

In May 1921 she wrote enthusiastrcally to her cousin Denise Levy that she had gol to know Derain personally, along with Pablo Picasso.

¹⁷

Breton had opened up a new world to her. He himself had begun purchasing works by Derain, Marie Laurencin, and Amedeo Modigliani some years before, and In June 1921 became literary and artistic advisor, and secretary, to Jacques Doucet, a fashion designer, art collector, and patron of the arts.

¹⁸

At this time he attended the Kahnweiler sales

at the Hötel Drouot on Doucet's behalf. There, and at the Galerie Paul Guillaume, he acquired for his patron works by Oerain, Picabia, Picasso, Henri Rousseau, Georges Seurat, Fernand Leger, Georges Braque, Robert Delaunay, and others.

When asked about lhis period later, Breton concealed the fact that his wife also regularly atlended auctions and purchased works from galleries.

^1<>

Yet she, too, had become an advisor and a dealer. In July 1922 she began acquiring works by Leger, Picasso, and Braque, followed later by Paul Klee, Andre Masson, and others. Her principal clients were Denise Levy and her husband Georges, a physician in Strasbourg:

l've bought a picture for Georges and you. A large Fernand Leger of the kind Georges told me he had grown to love in Germany. 73x95 cm, 240 francs + 17.5% = 282 francs. But you can choose between lhis and a small Braque lhat cost 260 francs + 17.5 %. Here's what I think: the Leger is much belter in terms of decoratlon, of furnishing, but the Braque

is infinitely more interesting as painting. ²⁰

The commission that the Bretons received on sales helped to secure them a living, yet their work in this area also led them to amass a collection of contemporary art of their own. lts con­

stant growth and metamorphosis formed an integral part of their

JULIA DROST

m

life together. Not infrequently, purchases resulted from their other activities, for exampfe their journey to the Picabia exhi­

bition in 1922²¹ or lheir organization in 1921-before their marriage-of Max Ernst's exhibition at the Galerie Au Sans Pareil, tilfed Exposition Dada Max Ernst. This was the nrst Paris showing of work by the cofounder of the Cologne Dada scene whose colfages and photomontages had been brought to the ' couple's attention by Eluard. Simone's fetters to her cousin con­

tain detaifs of the preparations, undertaken jointly in an impro­

visational manner: " ... we've done a Max Ernst exhibilion.

For fifteen days, as quickly as Ernst's deliveries and our waning strength permitted, Andre and l framed the fifty paintings and drawings that now hang in Sans Pareil. Da you know what [ErnstJ is doing at the moment? It's very strange and new.

Extremely impressive."²²

By way of thanks Ernst gave Sirnone a photographic enlarge­

ment (p. 146) of the photo collage sambesi/and (paysage a man go00,2³ inscribing it "for Simone Breton so that she awakes gently, very gently! ! ! ! ! ! "These words bring to mind a sponta­

neous jotting by Robert Desnos: "In the morning T descend an tiptoe the stairs muffled with a tricolor carpet so as not to wake Madame Breton."24 Simone presumably acquired further items from the exhibition, either as purchases or as pres­

ents-for example, another photo collage, /es cormorans (p. 145), and its photographic enlargement, titled ffamingi. ²⁵

At this time works of art conslantly circulated among befriended writers and artists. Consequently, painlings regularly changed hands. The Bretons presumably commissioned the portrait drawing of Andre reproduced on the subscription form for the writer's 1923 book Clair de terre directly from Ernst^2b and Simone later acquired the painting aux 100'000 colombes (pp. 153 and 143). On the other hand, un tremblement de terre tres doux (p. 163) and eislandschaften eiszapfen u. gesteins­

arten des weibl. körpers füst belonged to Eluard. '7 Finally, Simone bought Ernst's collage Deux jeunes filles se promenent a travers /e ciel (p. 146) from her brother-in-law Raymond Queneau in the 1930s, 28 while the artist's Jeune chimere (p.148) did not enter her collection t.rntil after World War I J. n

Simone and Andre Breton got to know the work of Andre Masson in February 1924 on a joint visit to the artist's first solo exhibition, held at Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler's Galerie Simon. lt was presumably on this occasion that Andre bought Les quatre elements ( p. 139 c) and gave it to Simone,3° who described it as "a delightful painting by a very young painter who has become known through an exhibition with Kahnweiler .... [Masson's workJ is very attractive. You should certainly buy something before it becomes expensive, which will be soon . ... Picasso likes il a lot. Andre Masson is his name."31 In September of that

year Andre Breton invlted the artist to join the Surrealist group.32 When Simone could nol be wilh him, Andre descrlbed his experiences to her in detail in letters that give notably direct, unvarnished expression to his thoughls. For instance, of the work of Joan Mir6, whom he did not know yet, he wrote:

l haven't yet seen the sixty pictures that the other painter, called Mir6¹ Masson's neighbor at 45, rue Biomet, has brought from Spain and that pass for exceptional. Aragon, Eluard, and Naville, who have seen them, haven't been able to reach a final opinion an the subject. l doubt they amount to much.3)

A lew months later thc Bretons, c1ccompanled by Masson not only saw works by Mir6, dl the Ga e�ie V1ot, but also acqu red some for the1r collection. •

The Bretons did not buy work out of kindness to the r art,st friends. Rat her, Lhey were driven by the pass1on of the truc collector, by the hunting mstinct that ignores mater al obstacles.

This became clear when they fa,led to secure a purchase. In November 1923, for examplc, Andr� wrote indig„antly to h1s wife to lell her that ne had been depnved of a painting by de Chinco: "This morning I went to Gu1liaumc, [where I J c mc across Max Ernst, who was fetching a de Ch1nco hc'd bought.' Breton left the gallery before Ernst and waitcd for h1m. 111 the rue La Boetie Ernst walked nght past h1m, as 1f he were not there. Catching up with him, Breton noticed 11c was carrying La maladie du general under his arm. "You remember I men tioned lhis picture to Eluard and made him prom1se to keep t for me. lErnstJ was pretty embarrassed by h,s hypocrisy and apologized awkwardly. You see what people are 1:ke " Two days later, however, Breton reportcd to llls wife that he !lad bee able to acqulre olher works by de Chinco, L'etonnante matmee and Le mauvais genie d'un roi (p. 149), cxplaining apologetically.

"Oh dear, l've been very foolish agam. l've boughl from Guil laume a very expensive de Cl1irico Cl,250 francs) and another, smaller one (400 francs>. You won'l be pleased. Sorry, dear Slmone. Now l've only 350 francs left from the comrn1ss on on the Matisse that Doucet pa1d 38,500 fral"ICS for."

A letter wr1tten by Andre to Simone in February 1025 g ves some idea of how fine and extensive the1r collection rnust have been. Report1ng on a vlsit by Doucet to the couple's harne, he states: "To Aragon he said how astonished he was to see In the rue Fontaine new African things and a Picasso (Le popula1re) unknown to him. 11 lhought you told me B. [Bretonl was in need of money. 1 don't understand that.''1' Tne contents of the colleclion are no langer ascerlainalJle, yet there can be no tJoubt thal Slmone played an importa'lt parl In shaping tl1em. Her personal preferences are clear. She showed no interest 111 Ute work of Salvador Dalf or the Bel91an Surreal1sts, for inslance,and left lhe acquisition of non-EIJropean arl to her husband (pp. lb1 and 164).38 The works were divided up belween Andre and Simone when they separated in 1q31, but there exists no hst of which items wenl to whom

In the 1930s Sirnone Breton (or Simone Collinet, as she became in 1938)^3q remained true to the inlellectual and artislic ethos of her old friends. She supported the Republican cause in the Spanish civil war and her collection grew m stature lhrough lhe purchase from Louise Leiris of such major paint111gs as Masson's Metamorphose des amants and Paysage iroquols (pp. 151 and 159). After World War II she acqulred further well-known works, including Yves Tanguy's Untltled ( f/ vient) and Picabia's Jud1tl1 and Femme au monocle (pp.165, 155,and 134).She evertually set up as a dealer in Paris, opening the gallery Arlistes et Arlisans in Paris in 1()48 and the Galerie Furstenberg In the street of that name in 1954. lnilially, she showed work by early exponents of Dada and Surrealism-Ernst, Masson, M1r6, Picab1a, Tanguy, and Jean Arp-but then turned lo new lalent, promot1119 Avlgdor Arikha, William Nelson Copley, Jean-Jacques Lebe 1, E. L. T. Mesens, Bernard Requichot, Endre Rozsda, Takis, Dorothea Tanning, and Toyen, to name only a few. She closed lhe Galerie Furstenberg in 1%5. A few days after her dealh, on March 31, 1()80, Michel Leiris praised her in an obituary tnbute as a woman who had never ceased to promote "pa1nting as a poetic category.11•

138

THE SIMONE COLLINET COLLECTION

The author thaoks Sylvie -1nd Marc Sator for thelr encouragement and for the oppor­

lunlty, in May 2011, to consult lhe unpubllshed correspondence oetween Simone Kahn and Andre Breton.

Sec note 12.

2 l.ou,s Aragon, "Une vague de reves," Commerce, no. 2 (autumn 1924), repr. wi!h correctoons in idem, L'ceuvre poet/que (Monaco and Paris, 1974), p. 247.

3 Raymond Queneau, dlary entries of 1928 and Octoher 10, 1931, in ,dem, Joumaux 1914 191>5, ed. by Anne Jsabelle Qucncau <Paris, t%bl1 pp. 193, 254.

4 Andr� Breton, "Entree des mediums/' Litterature, n.s.1 no. 6. (November 1, 1922), pp. 1 11>.

5 Const,,nce Collne, Le mailn vu du soir, de Ja belle epoque au• anflt!es tolles (Paris, 1'180), p. Hb.

b Louis Aragon, "Chez Anna de Noailles," La novve//e revue fran{alse, n.s., vol. 30, no.178 <October 1, 1%7), p. 725.

7 For biographical Information see Uoda Hörner, ^Die realen Frauen der Su"e„11stM

<Frankfurt am Main, 1q93), pp.11-78. . . , "

8 Somone Collinet <lonnerly Simone 8reton), "Conftrence sur la pe,nture surrea ,s.e (lqbS), '"Simone Breton, Lellres a Denise Levy 1919-1929 et autres textes 1924-1975, ed. by Georgiana Colvolc <Paris, 2005), p. 258. See alsoSimone Kahn, letler to Ofms;i Levy, July 9, 1920, b,d., p 55.

9 The aulhor thanks Philippe Büttner for lhls Information.

10 The exhlbitlon was accompanied by a catalog, Exposil/011 Francis Picabia, Galeries Oalmau (Barcelona, 1922).

11 See remarks ^by her recorded in the mlnutes of Surreahst meetlngs, pl'inted in Paule TMvenln <ed.l, Bureau de rechcrchcs surr6�/lst�s. cahler de Ja pcrmanence loctobre 1924-avril 1925) (Paris, 1'188), p 75.

12 "Parml les textes surn!alistes qui nous lourn ssent des preuves surprenantes de cc aue cette liberte va d1lnner a l'art, ceux de Robert Oesnos, de Louis Aragon, mais surtout de S. B., degagent des sources chimlriques "Andre Breton, letter to Simone Breton, Fcbruary 4, 1925, prisate arch "ol Sy v e and Marc sator, ?aris.

13 La rlvolu11on surreal,ste, vol. 3, nos. '1-10 <October 1'127>, unpaginated.

14 A lolerary chronology, ·,,hieb she descr;bed In a etter of August l.5, 1924 to Denlse L�vy as a "lucratlve" project CBreton 2005 r see note 81, p. 2001, did not 'Tiater ali1e.

15 "Mo11 premier (ableau." Simone Colflnet (formerly Slmone Bretonl, autograph cat3i09 of h•r collectlon, unnumbered pages, private arch ve of Sylvle and Marc Sator, Pari�. The paontlng ,s listed as Sans fiere and wlthout a date.

lo l111he wake of the visit Breton publlshed the artlclc "ldfcs d'un peintre" In Liltl!rature, vol. 3, no. 18 (March 1g21J, pp.13-15. See Etienne Alaln Huberl, "Breton et Oeraln, 'l'lnoubliable'/' Cahier, d'Andr·1' Deraln, no. 8 (2006-07), pp. '1-14.

17 Simonc l(ahn, letter to Denise L�vy, May 21, 1921, In Breton 2005 Csee note 6), p. 83.

18 Henri Sehar, Andre Breton, /e grand indeslr,1ble l lCl'lOJ, rev. ed. (Paris, 2005), P 101, nnd Marguerite Sonnet, Andre Breton, n.isSilnce d'vne aventure svrrealiste

<Paris, 1'188), pp. 118, 237.

19 Andre Breien in a rad:o nterv,ew w1th Andre Paronaud, Progamme nationale, 1952 full manuscripl verslon ( l<J51l in Breton, E'ntretiens 191)-1952 aVt>C A. Parinaud, D. Arban, J.-L. Bedouin, R. Belance, C. Chonez, P. Dem�rne, J. Duche, F. Dumon:, C. H. Ford, A. Patri. J.-M. Va/verde (Paris, 1952), pp. 102-4.

20 Slmone Breton, lener to Denise Levy, July 10, 1922, n Brcton 2005 <see note 8), p. 97.

21 Simone and Andr! Breton probably acqulred >1x works on paper or cardboaro from the exhlbltlon, supplemented by a lurthcr two 1tcms purchased four years late1 al a HOtel o,·ouot sale. See Francls Plcabia, galerie Da/mau, 1922, exh cat., Centre Georges Pompidou, Musee national d'art moderne, Galerie d'art graphique (Paris, 19%), nos. 3, 8, 12, lb, 23, 25, and 27-28.

22 Slmone Kahn, letler to Denise Levy, May o, 1921, ,n Bre1on 2005 (see note 8), pp. 79-80. On April 10, 1921, Ernst thanked the Brelons lor two letters they had wrltten to him, lor the exhibitior. lnvital on, and tor o copy ot Les champs magne tiques. See Werner Spies (ed.l, Max E'rnsl: Lebtn und Werk' (Cologne. 2005), p. 75.

23 Werner Sp,es <ed.l, Max Ems:: <1:uvre,Katalog, vol. 2: Werke 1906-1925, comp.

by ed,tor and Gunler and Sigrid Metken (Cologne, 1975>, no. 414. The work was ba<•d on a •ratagaga eo lage c,cated Joinlly wn� Jean Arp Cib,d., no.4131.

24 Quoted in Anne Egger, Robert Desaos (Paris, 2007>, 11. '15, lrom an unspecified ,,ritten source.

25 Sp,es <see note 231, nos. 392-93. Simone Kahn also acquired Le massacre des lnnocents Cibld., no. 391).

21:, Sples (see note 23), no. 561, glves the owner of the drawing as "Simone Breton-Colllnet."

27 Colllnct <see note 15!.

28 She also acqulred the collage Dlp/odocus from her slster Janine Queneau. Spie$ <sec note 23), no. 400.

29 Spies (See note 231, no.417.

30 Ades states that Breton bought the painting ,n February l'l24. Oawn Ades, Andrl Masson !Paris, 1994), p. 9.

31 Simone Breton, letter 10 Denise Uvy, March 27, 1924, ,n Breton 2005 Csee note 8),

pp.170-71

32 Ades (see note 30J.

33 "Je n'a, tou1ours pas vu les bO tableaux qu'a rappones d'Espagne cet autTe pelntre nomm� Mlro qui est au 45 rue Biomet le voisin de Masson et qul passent pour assez extraordlnaires. Aragon, Eluard et Navllle qui les ont vus sont incapables de

tormuler une opinion d�clslve a leur suJet. Ce nc doll pas eire tr�s Joli, n�anmoins."

Andrt Breton, letter to Simone Brelon, February 10, 1925, private archive of Sylvle and Marc Sator, Paris.

34 Slmone Breton, fetter to Den,se L�vy, October 7, 1925, In Breton 2005 <see note 8) p. 2 31. .l has nol been establlsh�d wh eh worh they purchased.

35 ''Ce matin j'eta,s chez GuollJume . 1¹al rencontre Max Ernst qu1 vena,t cte prendrc un Ch,rico qu'il avait achet� Tu te souv ens que 'ava,s signale ce lableau a Eluard et que 1e ui avais fait promellre de me le laosser. L'autre eta·t assez conlus de son hypocrsle 11 s'excuse lourdement Tu vo s d'lcr es gens.'' Andre 8reton, lelter 10 s,mone Sreton, November 7, 1923 private archove o4 Syh. e and Marc Sator, Paris.

3b "Ah j'ai encore fa,t des grandes fol es. J al achete a Guillaume un Chorico trh eher (1250) el un au:re petit (400). Tc ne vas pas ctre contente, Pardon, pet •te Slmone.

11 ne me revient donc plvs que .3�01 de la commlssion pour le Matisse que Doucct a achete 38500 f." Andre Breto11, ltlle, lo S1mo11e Breton, Noveiriler 9, 1'123, private archlve ol Sylvie and Mart Sator, Paris.

'J7 "II s'est etonne devant Ara9on d'�volr vu rue fonlaine de nouvelles cho�es negres, 11n Picasso (le Populairel qu'II ne conndlSsdll pas. 'Je croyais, vous m'aviel dlt que B. [BretonJ availbesoin d'argenl, le r.e comprends pas.'" Andre Brelon, leUer to Slmone Breton, February 23, 1925, pnvc.e archlve oi Sylvle and Marc Sator P�ris.

An earller etter tro,r Andr� lo S,mone Breton (March 13, 1q23, lbict.J, Incl tatPs tbat Elua'd acquired the paintlng Le popu/a,re lrom Picasso. lt has not been cstab­

loshed whether the Bretons subscq,Mtly purthased it from Eluard or h.1d rcceived ot lrom him on commiss on

.38 1,tormation orov oed by Sylv e Sator, the daughter of S,mone Coll"net tlormerly S mone Breton), in a conversatlon wlth the aulhor, May 19, 2011, Par s 39 Hörner (see note 7J, p. 71> That ye�r shc marr,ed the rad· cal lehist Mic�el Collu •t

and too� h,s name.

�O Famlly obituary upon the deaH of Slmone Collinet, 1n: Le monde, vol.37, no. lO'ln, April 4, 1'180, p. 24. How far Mlcilel clrls ·ontributed to the obituary sce M�rc Salor, "Poor Simone/' ln 9 marwscrlts exccptionnels d'Andre Breton provcna111 etc /11 collrction Si11'1one Co/J/Mt. M<1ni(e$te r/11 svrre.illsme, polsson soluble, 7 c�h,crs d'ecrlture automatlque, auctio� cat., Sotheby's France (Paris, May 21, 2008), p. 7

Andr� Breton, Simone Br·e;;on, A a�d Ma, Mor1se. G�duv e -,qufs, 1Q2,, crayon a, d penci I an card, 1'!,h ^,c 1!.:.2 cm, private cnllectio11

JULIA DROST

Andre Massen, _es Quotre C e!emert:s. 1923-2.::, c1 l on canvas 73 • ßöcm, c„ntrl!

Georges Pcmplaou, Musfa national d'11rt mode1•11e P.il'ls,

ß9

Annr� Der�in. ChJan renont un 8 oiseo,, oons so :iua,de, c. 1920, o! 1 on canvas. 20.5 • 20 cm.

private co'.��c-10

Max Ernst

aux 100'000 colombes, 1925 Private collection

143

Max Ernst /es cormorans, 1920 Private colleclion

145

146

Max Ernst

sambes/fand (paysage a mon gout), 1921 Private collection

Max Ernst

Deux jeunes fil/es se ^promenent

a travers /e ciel, 1 nq Privale collection

149

---- ^----

148

Max Ernst

Jeune chimere, C, 1921 Private collection

Giorglo de Chirico

Le mauva/s g<!nle d'un rol, 1 '114-15 The Museum ol Modern Art, New York, purchase l'l3b

Andr� Masson

Metamorphose des amants, 1938 Prfvate collection

151

Max Ernst Andre Bre1on, 1923 Private collecl,on

153

, ____ ^/ /i

Francis Picabia Judil/J, 1929 Private collection

155

Andre Masson Paysage iroquois1 1()42 Private collection

159

160

Man Ray

Seance de reve eveille, 1924

Members in the Bureau central de recherches surrealistes

(from left to right, above: Max Morise, Roger Vitrac, Jacques-Andre Boiffard, Andre Breton, Paul Eluard, Pierre Naville, Giorgio de Chirico, and Philippe Soupault;

below: Simone Breton, Robert Desnos, and Jacques Baron) Private collectlon

Totem pole {with detaill Haida, British Columbia Private collection

Totem pole (with detail) Halda, British Columbia Private collection

161

Max Ernst

un tremblement de terre tres doux, c, 1q23 Private collection

163

164

l<achina Doll, Angwusnasomt<1ka Hopi, Arizona

Private collection Mask

Vuvi, Gabon Private collection

\ _,.

Pablo Picasso

Portrait d'Andrt! Breton, 1923 Private collec lion

Man Ray

Group portrait, 1925

(From left to right, above: Andre Breton, Max Morlse, and Louis Aragon; below:

Simone Breton, Roland and Colette Ttial) Private collec tion

Man Ray

Portrait de Simonc Kahn, c.1ns Pi-ivate colleclion

Yves Tanguy Untilled (// vienll, 1928 Private collection

165

166

ET S'EfiJ VOLt:..

Andr� Breton

"Pour Slmone," March lo-27, 1q24 Manuscripl wilh a handwritten dedication by Breton to his wife Simone

Private collection, Mus�e des Lettres et Manuscrits, Paris

Andre Brcton

"SociH� moderne," April lb-17, 1924 Manuscript with 5 Collage poems Private collection, Musee des Letlres et Manuscrlts, Paris