Finding aid for the André Breton drafts of publications and letters 2022.M.32
Karen Meyer-Roux
Special Collections
2022
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
Business Number: (310) 440-7390
Fax Number: (310) 440-7780
reference@getty.edu
Contributing Institution: Special Collections
Title: André Breton drafts of publications and letters
Creator: Breton, André, 1896-1966
Identifier/Call Number: 2022.M.32
Physical Description: 0.3 Linear Feet(69 sheets)
Date (inclusive): 1948-1965
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Abstract: The archive consists of 37 drafts of publications and letters dating from 1948 after Breton had returned to France from his
exile in the United States to 1965, several months before his death. The draft writings, primarily texts for exhibition catalogs
and exhibition reviews, document his intense activity to promote artists in the last two decades of his life.
Language of Material: Collection material is in French.
Preferred Citation
André Breton drafts of publications and letters, 1948-1965, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2022.M.32.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2022m32
Biographical / Historical
French writer André Breton (1896-1966) was the main founder, theorist, and promoter of surrealism. Born in Tinchebray in Normandy,
Breton first studied medicine and during World War I was stationed in psychiatric wards at several hospitals. From this period
dates his study of psychiatry and his discovery of Freud's theories on the unconscious and dreams, which would later be fundamental
to his development of surrealism. He corresponded with Guillaume Apollinaire, who later introduced him to many of his collaborators,
became friends with Paul Éluard, and began collecting artworks, such as in 1913 an object from Easter Island, in 1918 a drawing
by Amedeo Modigliani, in 1920 a painting by André Derain and in 1921
Tête by Pablo Picasso. He later actively collected objects from Africa and Oceania.
In 1919, along with Louis Aragon and Philippe Soupault, Breton created the journal
Littérature which initially supported Dada and the activities of Tristan Tzara. From 1920 dates the publication
Les Champs magnétiques (Magnetic Fields) written with Soupault and which included examples of the techniques of automatism, in which the writer
suppresses conscious control. In 1921, Breton married Simone Kahn, a writer, artist, art patron, collector and the following
year moved with Kahn at 44, rue Fontaine in Paris. In 1924, Breton published
Le Manifeste du surréalisme, which marked the official launch of the surrealist movement and further exposed his doctrine on "pure psychic automatism."
Breton was instrumental to the founding of the Bureau of Surrealist Research and a group gathered around him: Philippe Soupault,
Louis Aragon, Paul Éluard, René Crevel, Michel Leiris, Benjamin Péret, Antonin Artaud, and Robert Desnos. Several painters
were associated with the group and Breton expanded his doctrine on surrealism to painting in 1928 in
Le Surréalisme et la peinture, which he published and revised several times.
From 1927 to 1935, Breton was a member of the French Communist Party. He was a fervent critic of Stalinism, which eventually
contributed to his leaving the political party, but he remained committed to Marxism. This was particularly evident when
in 1938 he accepted a mission from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to give a series of conferences in Mexico where
he met Diego Rivera and Leon Trotsky and wrote the manifesto
Pour un art révolutionnaire indépendent (For an Independent Revolutionary Art) with Trotsky.
After the breakout of World War II, Breton moved with Jacqueline Lamba, his second wife and a painter, and their daughter,
Aube, to the south of France before fleeing in 1941 to the United States. There he was involved in numerous publications and
exhibitions and traveled to Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona with Elisa Bindhoff Enet (Claro), his third wife, a
pianist and artist from Chile. Their visit of Hopi and Zuni pueblos during this trip had a profound impact on them.
In 1946, Breton returned with Elisa to Paris, where he continued to be involved in numerous exhibitions and political actions.
In 1947, he organized with Marcel Duchamp, Benjamin Péret, Victor Brauner and Henry Miller the exhibition
Le surréalisme en 1947 : Exposition internationale du surréalisme at the Galerie Maeght, which featured artists from different countries, such as the Brazilian sculptor Maria Martins, the
Algerian painter Baya Mahieddine, the Scottish painter Scottie Wilson, the Haitian painter Hector Hypolite and the Canadian
painter and sculptor Jean-Paul Riopelle. During the last two decades of his life, Breton wrote extensively on art and fostered
until his death in 1966 a second group of surrealists through exhibitions and publications.
Sources consulted:
"André Breton" at https://www.andrebreton.fr.
Béhar, Henri. "André Breton" in Oxford Art Online (www.oxfordartonline.com).
Breton, André.
Œuvres complètes. IV. Écrits sur l'art et autres textes. Édition de Marguerite Bonnet. Édition publiée sous la direction d'Étienne-Alain Hubert avec la collaboration de Philippe
Bernier et Marie-Claire Dumas. Paris: Collection Bibliothèque de la Pléiade (no. 544), Gallimard, 2008.
Chilvers, Ian. "André Breton" and "Surrealism" in
Dictionary of 20th Century Art. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1998.
Scope and Content of Collection
The archive consists of 37 drafts of publications and letters dating from 1948 after Breton had returned to France from his
exile in the United States to 1965, several months before his death. The draft writings, primarily texts for exhibition catalogs
and exhibition reviews, document his intense activity to promote painters and to a lesser degree sculptors and printmakers
in the last two decades of his life. Several manuscripts refer to exhibitions that were held at the art gallery À l'étoile
scellée, founded in 1952 (11, rue du Près-aux-Clercs, Paris), with which Breton was closely associated.
The texts are focused on the artists Jean-Marie Albagnac (1931-); Enrico Baj (1924-2003); Augustín Cárdenas (1927-2001); Jorge
Camacho (1934-2011); Fabio de Sanctis (1931-); René Duvillier (1919-2002); Max Ernst (1891-1976); Simon Hantaï (1922-); Jim
Dine (1935-); Hector Hyppolite (1894-1948); Gerome Kamrowski (1914-2004); Konrad Klapheck (1935-); Yves Laloy (1920-1999);
Jacques Le Maréchal (1928-2016); Yahne Le Toumelin (1923- ); Marcelle Loubchansky (1917-1988); René Magritte (1898-1967);
Johannes Hendrikus Moesman (1909-1988); Judit Reigl (1923-2020); Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-2001); Endre Roszda (1913-1999);
Henri and No Seigle; Ugo Sterpini (1927-2000); Max Walter Svanberg (1912-1994); Remedios Varo (1908-1963); Miguel Garcia Vivancos
(1895-1972); and Aloys Zötl (1803-1887).
One manuscript is a preliminary draft of "L'Art des fous, la clé des champs," which is considered one of Breton's fundamental
texts on art and was incorporated into
Le surréalisme et la peinture in 1965, along with many of the texts written on artists. The manuscripts also attest to Breton's interest in the work of
the writers, Michel Butor, author of
La peinture se repeuple; Karel Kupka, author of
Dawn of Art: Painting and Sculpture of Australian Aborigines; and Don C. Talayesva, author of
Sun Chief: The Autobiography of a Hopi Indian. There is a draft of a letter by Breton to Max Walter Svanberg and two letters dating from several months before his death
in which Breton further explained which artists he considered to be the most important since World War II.
These manuscripts were featured in the 2003 auction sale André Breton, 42, rue Fontaine, Drouot-Richelieu, Paris, auctioneers
Calmels-Cohen. The lot numbers from the sale are listed in each entry.
Arrangement
The manuscripts are arranged by lot number from the 2003 Calmels-Cohen auction sale. Each manuscript is filed with its Calmels-Cohen
folder that gives the lot number from the 2003 sale.
Processing Information
Karen Meyer-Roux processed the archive and wrote this finding aid in August 2022.
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Authors -- History -- 20th century -- Archives
Drafts (documents)
Surrealism--Archives.
Authors--Archives.
Breton, André, 1896-1966 -- Archives
André Breton drafts of publications and letters,
1948-1965
box 1, item 1
G. Kamrowsky,
[1950]
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The text is a draft of a preface written for an exhibition dedicated to the American artist Gerome Kamrowski
(1914-2004) at the Galerie Creuze in Paris from 6 to 21 January 1950. Draft in blue ink with numerous words crossed out. Lot
2251. See
Œuvres complètes, IV, 624-627 and https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100477070.
box 1, item 2
Hector Hyppolite,
1948 October 6
Scope and Contents
3 sheets (3 pages). In this text, Breton gives an account of the exhibition of the Haitian artist Hector Hyppolite (1894-1948),
which was held in Port-au-Prince in Haiti in December 1945. Draft in blue ink with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated.
Lot 2288. See: https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100366270.
box 1, item 3
Aparté,
1949 February
Scope and Contents
8 sheets (8 pages). The manuscript and typescript draft co-written by André Breton, Elisa Claro Breton, and Benjamin Péret
are dedicated to the Canadian painter Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-2001). Draft with numerous words crossed out. Lot 2302.
box 1, item 4
Exp. Max Ernst [i.e. Exposition Max Ernst],
1950 January 5
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The manuscript is a draft of the presentation given by André Breton for an exhibition on Max Ernst (1891-1976)
held at the gallery La Hune in Paris. Draft in blue ink with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated. Lot 2316.
box 1, item 5
Miguel G. Vivancos,
1950 April 6
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The manuscript on the Spanish painter Miguel Garcia Vivancos (1895-1972) was written for an exhibition held
in April 1950. Draft in green ink with numerous words crossed out. Lot 2319. See
Œuvres complètes, IV, 708-709 and https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100130710.
box 1, item 6
Mes amis Seigle,
1950 December 19
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The manuscript is a draft for a preface by André Breton written for an exhibition on Henri and No Seigle
at the Galerie Creuse in Paris in 1951. Draft in black ink with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated. Lot 2327. See
Œuvres complètes, IV, 634-635, 1331 and https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100203450.
box 1, item 7
[Text for the opening of the gallery À l'étoile scellée in Paris],
1952 November 28
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). In this text, which appeared anonymously in
Arts, Breton mentions Roberto Fernandez Retamar, Wolfgang Paalen, Man Ray, Clovis Trouille, Jean Arp, Balthus, Victor Brauner,
Max Ernst, Joan Miró, and Marie Cerminova (Toyen). Draft in black ink with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated. Lot
2350. See
Œuvres complètes, III, 1080-1081, 1459-1460 and https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100428280.
box 1, item 8
Hantaï,
1952 December 28
Scope and Contents
2 sheets (1 page). This text in which Breton discusses the Hungarian artist Simon Hantaï (1922-) on the occasion of an exhibition
held at the gallery À l'étoile scellée, appeared in January 1953 in
Medium. The manuscript consists of one sheet and one folded sheet to be inserted at the end of the text on the first sheet. Draft
in black ink with numerous words crossed out. Lot 2353. See
Œuvres complètes, IV, 637, 1331-1333 and https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100582480.
box 1, item 9
L'Art des fous, la clé des champs,
Fall 1948
Scope and Contents
4 sheets (4 pages). The manuscript is a draft of "L'Art des fous, la clé des champs," which is considered one of Breton's
fundamental texts on art. The text appeared in late 1948 in
Les Cahiers de la Pléiade and again in
Le Surréalisme et la peinture, where it was illustrated by Aloïse (Aloïse Corbaz) and Adolf Wölfli. Draft in blue ink. Signed. Lot 2372. See
Œuvres complètes, IV, 726-731, 1358-1359 and https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100974830.
box 1, item 10
Draft of letter by André Breton to Max Walter Svanberg,
1954 May 18
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (2 pages). The letter refers to prints and drawings that Walter sent Breton. Draft in black ink with corrections in
pink ink. Signed. Dated. Lot 2383
box 1, item 11
Le regard de Judit Reigl,
1954 October 31
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The text is a draft for a preface of the catalog for an exhibition on the Hungarian artist Judit Reigl (1923-2020)
at the gallery À l'étoile scellée in Paris. The text appeared again in
Le Surréalisme et la peinture in 1965. Draft in black ink with numerous words crossed out. Lot 2384. See
Œuvres complètes, IV, 639, 1333 and https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100410470.
box 1, item 12
Hector Hyppolite,
[1954]
Scope and Contents
4 sheets (4 pages). Draft in blue ink with the date "1954" in pencil on the first sheet. Signed. Lot 2390.
box 1, item 13
L'épée dans les nuages,
1955 January 23
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). Draft in black ink on À l'étoile scellée letterhead with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated. Lot
2397.
box 1, item 14
Hommage à Max Walter S.; La femme du viking,
1954 February 12 and 1955 March 6
Scope and Contents
3 sheets (3 pages), 3 sheets (3 pages). Drafts in black ink with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated. Lot 2398. See:
https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100546780.
box 1, item 15
Duvillier au tramail,
1955 May 18
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The text on the painter René Duvillier (1919-2002) served as a preface for the pamphlet of the exhibition
Duvillier, le cheval de mer océan at the gallery À l'étoile scellée in Paris in June 1955. The text appeared again in
Le Surréalisme et la peinture in 1965. Draft with numerous words crossed out in blue ink on green paper. Signed. Dated. Lot 2402. See:
Œuvres complètes, IV, 760-761, 1364 and https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100182270.
box 1, item 16
Marcelle Loubchansky,
1956 January 25
Scope and Contents
3 sheets (3 pages). The manuscript is a draft of the preface for the catalog of the exhibition dedicated to the painter Marcelle
Loubchansky (1917-1988) and held at the Galerie Kléber in Paris in January 1956. The text appeared again in
Le Surréalisme et la peinture in 1965. Draft in black ink with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated. Lot 2421. See: https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100222610.
box 1, item 17
[Aloys Zötl],
1956 March 21
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The manuscript is a draft of the text on the Austrian painter and printmaker Aloys Zötl (1803-1887), which
served as the preface for the auction catalog of the sale of watercolors of Zötl held at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris on 1956
May 3. Draft in black with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated. Lot 2425. See: https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100138910.
box 1, item 18
Endre Roszda,
1957 February 10
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The text was written for an exhibition on the Hungarian artist organized by Simone Colinet at the Galerie
Furstenberg in Paris in February 1957. Draft in black ink with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated. Lot 2439. See: https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100835370.
box 1, item 19
Yahne Le Toumelin,
1957 October 16
Scope and Contents
2 sheets (2 pages). The text is a draft for the preface of the catalog for the exhibition dedicated to the French painter
Yahne Le Toumelin (1923- ) held at the Galerie d'Orsay in Paris in November 1957. The text appeared again in
Le Surréalisme et la peinture in 1965. Draft in black ink with numerous words crossed out. Lot 2448. See
Œuvres complètes, IV, 653-657, 1337-1338 and https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100294920.
box 1, item 20
Préface-manifeste,
1958 March 25
Scope and Contents
3 sheets (3 pages). The text was written on the occasion of the exhibition
Dessins symbolistes, which was organized by Breton at the Bateau-Lavoir in Paris in March 1958. The draft is in black ink with numerous words
crossed out. One sheet in red and blue ink presents a chronological frieze from 1844 to 1944, which lists artists. Lot 2457.
See
Œuvres complètes, IV, 777-784, 1369-1371 and https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100750990.
box 1, item 21
Yves Laloy,
1958 September 14
Scope and Contents
2 sheets (2 pages). Upon receipt of the archive, the manuscript was filed in the folder for lot 2457 which consists of the
manuscript "Préface-manifeste," which is also dated 1958. It formerly appeared in Breton's personal copy of
Yves Laloy (Lot 219) at the 2003 sale. See: https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600101000300.
box 1, item 22
Cárdenas,
1959 February 11
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The text was written on the occasion of the exhibition dedicated to the Cuban sculptor Augustín Cárdenas
(1927-2001) at the Galerie La Cour d'Ingres in Paris in February-March 1959. Draft in black ink with numerous words crossed
out. Signed. Dated. Lot 2465. See
Œuvres complètes, IV, 738-739, 1360-1361 and https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100197840.
box 1, item 23
Les surréalistes à Don C. Talayesva,
[1959]
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The manuscript does not bear a signature and the date in pencil was presumably added later. It was filed
in the folder from Calmels-Cohen along with the manuscript on Cárdenas. The draft is in blue ink on blue paper. See
Œuvres complètes, IV, 1095.
box 1, item 24
Maréchal,
1960 October 7
Scope and Contents
3 sheets (3 pages). The three manuscripts are different versions of a biography of the poet and painter Jacques Le Maréchal (1928-2016).
The drafts in blue ink were written on D'Arcy Galleries, New York, letterhead paper. Lot 2487.
box 1, item 25
Nous ne l'entendons pas de cette oreille,
1960 December 6
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The text relates an incident at a D'Arcy Galleries exhibition in New York, which involved Salvador Dalì.
Draft in black ink with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated. Lot 2489.
box 1, item 26
Hommage,
1961 September 5
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The text was written on the occasion of the exhibition dedicated to René Magritte at the Obelisk Gallery
in London in 1961. Draft in black ink on salmon-colored paper with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated. Lot 2497. See
Œuvres complètes, IV, 673-676, 1343-1344 andhttps://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100062700.
box 1, item 27
La peinture se repeuple,
[circa 1961]
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The manuscript written by André Breton on the verso of an invitation card is a copy of the text by Michel
Butor,
La peinture se repeuple, which refers to René Magritte's work
La Condition humaine. Lot 2497. See: https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600101000415.
box 1, item 28
Albagnac,
1961 December 7
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The text is a draft for a preface to a catalog on the work of the French printmaker Jean-Marie Albagnac
(1931-). The draft is in black ink with numerous words crossed out. Lot 2499. See: https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100239050.
box 1, item 29
Main première,
1962 October 5-10
Scope and Contents
3 sheets (3 pages). The text is a draft of the preface to the book by Karel Kupka,
Dawn of Art: Painting and Sculpture of Australian Aborigines. The text was also issued in the journal
La Brèche, n°4, February 1963, pages 32-35. Draft in blue ink with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated. One sheet consists of
two portions of sheets glued together. Lot 2508. See: https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100641980.
box 1, item 30
Enrico Baj,
1963 February 10
Scope and Contents
3 sheets (3 pages), 6 leaves (5 pages). The two texts both titled "Enrico Baj" are drafts for a preface written for an exhibition
held in 1964. One is a manuscript drafted in blue ink with numerous words crossed out and whose first page consists of two
sheets glued together. The second is a typescript of 6 leaves which is dated 1963 February. Included is an obituary clipping
"Enrico Baj" by Harry Bellet (
Le Monde, 19 juin 2003). Lot 2512. See: https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100204960.
box 1, item 31
Hommage à J.-H. Moesman,
1963 March 31
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). On the same sheet is a text dedicated to Jim Dine and dated 8 April 1963. Lot 2514. See: https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100508350.
box 1, item 32
Brousse au-devant de Camacho,
1964 April 11
Scope and Contents
2 sheets (2 pages). The text is a draft of a preface for an exhibition dedicated to the Cuban painter Jorge Camacho (1934-2011)
at the Galerie Mathias Fels in Paris from 8 to 31 May 1964. The text appeared again in
Le Surréalisme et la peinture in 1965. The draft is on letterhead of La Dragonne, Galerie Nina Dausset and has numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated.
Lot 2520. See
Œuvres complètes, IV, 834-837, 1387-1389 and https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100626200.
box 1, item 33
[Remedios Varo],
1964 November 22
Scope and Contents
2 sheets (2 pages). The two sheets are drafts of a text on the Spanish artist Remedios Varo (1908-1963) that appeared in the
journal
La Brèche no. 7, December 1964. One sheet is dated and bears the initials "A.B." The second sheet is undated and bears the initials
"A.B." The drafts have numerous words crossed out. Lot 2523. See https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100657780.
box 1, item 34
[Text related to Fabio de Sanctis and Ugo Sterpini],
1964 December 3
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). The draft is a text written on the occasion of the exhibition dedicated to the architect Fabio de Sanctis
and the painter Ugo Sterpini at the Galleria Pogliani in Rome. It begins with the lines "Nous en restions à cette exquise
fantaisie en prose..." Draft in black ink with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated. Lot 2524. See: https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100276860.
box 1, item 35
Konrad Klapheck,
1965 February 7
Scope and Contents
2 sheets (2 pages). The text is a draft for the preface to the brochure for the exhibition at the Galerie Ileana Sonabend
in Paris. Draft in black ink with numerous words crossed out. Signed. Dated. Included is the exhibition brochure. Lot 2526.
See: https://www.andrebreton.fr/work/56600100232510.
box 1, item 36
Letter by André Breton in response to a literary inquiry,
1965 April 4
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (2 pages). Breton explains which literary works he considers to be the most important in France and in the world.
Lot 2528.
box 1, item 37
Letter by André Breton in response to an inquiry relating to artists,
1965 June 4
Scope and Contents
1 sheet (1 page). Breton lists the ten artists that he considers to be the most authentic for the past 20 years: Pierre Alchinsky
(Belgium); Enrico Baj (Italy); Jean Degottex (France); Alberto Gironella (Mexico); Konrad Klapheck (Germany); Robert Rauschenberg
(USA); Max Walter Svanberg (Sweden); and Henri Télémaque (Haiti). Included are four facsimiles. Lot 2528.
