Finding aid for the Tristan Tzara manuscripts from the collection of René Gaffé
Descriptive Summary
Title: Tristan Tzara manuscripts from the collection of René Gaffé
Date (inclusive): 1921-1931,
undated
Number: 2021.M.8
Creator/Collector:
Tzara, Tristan,
1896-1963
Physical Description:
1 volume
(21 items)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
Business Number: (310) 440-7390
Fax Number: (310) 440-7780
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The handwritten and typed manuscripts
by Tristan Tzara from the collection of René Gaffé are gathered in a volume whose binding
was designed by Paul Bonet. The manuscripts consist of drafts of writings from Le cinéma calendrier du cœur abstrait, maison,
La deuxième aventure céleste de monsieur Antipyrine,
De nos oiseaux,
Faites vos jeux and poems from L'antitête. Tipped into the volume are also a card from Tzara to Paul Éluard and
a notebook containing pen-and-ink drawings.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials
described in this inventory through the
catalog
record
for this collection. Click here for the
access
policy
.
Language: Collection material is in French with some German
Biographical / Historical: Tristan Tzara
Romanian and French poet and artist, Tristan Tzara, was one of the founders of Dada. He was
born Samuel Rosenstock into a Jewish family from Moinesti in Romania in 1896, and spoke
Yiddish as his first language. He moved to Zürich in Switzerland during the First World War
to study philosophy, a country which remained neutral throughout the war. There he met the
German author and poet, Hugo Ball, and the two together with Emmy Hennings, Marcel Janco,
Richard Hülsenbeck, Hans Richter, Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Jean Arp, initiated the Cabaret
Voltaire, a literary and artistic café. It was during one of the soirees of the Cabaret
Voltaire, which often featured the reading of nonsensical poems to a background of
cacophanous noise, that Ball read the Dada Manifesto.
Tzara became editor of the movement's journal
Dada, which
was characterized by a spirit of anarchic revolt against traditional values, as well of
disillusionment from the horrors of the war, and in the journal's third issue he wrote the
essay "Dada manifeste 1918." He joined Francis Picabia in Paris in January 1920 and was
welcomed by the group
Littérature, which included Louis
Aragon, André Breton, and Philippe Soupault. He drew close to the French Communist Party,
becoming friends with Picasso to whom he dedicated numerous essays.
References consulted:
Articles "Dada" and "Cabaret Voltaire" in
Dictionary of 20th Century
Art
. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1998.
Henri Béhar, "Tristan Tzara" in
Oxford Art Online.
Œuvres complètes / Tristan Tzara ; texte établi, présenté
et annoté par Henri Béhar. 6 volumes. Paris : Flammarion, 1975-1991.
Biographical / Historical: René Gaffé
The Belgian collector and industrialist René Gaffé was born in Brussels in 1887. He first
worked as a journalist in the Netherlands, where he founded the daily newspaper
L'écho belge, and then worked in the perfume industry, which was
the source of his wealth. During the First World War, he began collecting African art and
developed an interest in sculptures from the Belgian Congo. He later met Paul Éluard and
André Breton who helped him build his art collection, which focused on Cubist and Surrealist
art. He befriended Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, and René Magritte who painted his
portrait in 1942. Gaffé acquired works by them, along with paintings by Georges Braque,
Giorgio de Chirico, and Fernand Léger. In 1956, he moved from Belgium to France, where he
purchased a house in Cagnes-sur-Mer near Nice, large enough to exhibit his vast collection
that included monumental works. That year, he also sold his library at the Hôtel Drouot in
Paris, a sale that featured the Tristan Tzara manuscripts acquired from Paul Éluard. Gaffé
lived in Cagnes-sur-Mer with his second wife, Jeanne, until he passed away in 1968. Jeanne
Gaffé arranged the sale of the art collection, which took place in 2001 at Christie's in
Paris and in New York shortly after her death.
References consulted:
Wohl, Hellmut. "Tristan Tzara, René Gaffé and the Cabaret Voltaire,"
Burlington Magazine, vol. 149, no. 1249, p. 262-267
"René Gaffé" in Index of collectors and dealers of Cubism, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Viewed online, 12/6/2021.
Bibliothèque de M. René Gaffé. Paris : Hôtel Drouot,
1956.
The collection of René Gaffé, tribal art, property from the estate
of Madame René Gaffé, sold without reserve for the benefit of L'Institut Curie.
Paris : Christie's, 2001.
The collection of René Gaffé, property from the estate of Madame
René Gaffé, sold without reserve for the benefit of UNICEF, the United Nations Children's
Fund.
New York : Christie's, 2001.
Administrative Information
Access
Restricted. Contact the repository for information regarding access.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Tristan Tzara manuscripts from the collection of René Gaffé, 1921-1931, undated, The Getty
Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2021.M.8.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2021m8
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired with partial support of the GRI Council. Acquired in 2021.
Processing Information
The finding aid was prepared by Karen Meyer-Roux in September 2021.
Related Materials
Tristan Tzara correspondence, manuscripts, photographs and printed matter are held at the
Bibliothèque Jacques Doucet, INHA, Paris.
Scope and Content of Collection
The handwritten and typed manuscripts by Tristan Tzara from the collection of René Gaffé
are gathered in a volume whose binding was designed by Paul Bonet (1889-1971). The
manuscripts consist of drafts of writings for
Le cinéma calendrier du
cœur abstrait, maison,
La deuxième aventure céleste de monsieur Antipyrine,
De nos oiseaux,
Faites vos jeux and poems from
L'antitête. Tipped into the volume are also a card from Tzara to Paul Éluard and
a notebook containing pen-and-ink drawings.
The name of the binder, Paul Bonet, appears in gold letters inside the front cover. Bonet's
mosaic binding is formed from geometric elements of black and red leather with gilt
lettering repeating the word "Dada" and a central band of marbled paper. The volume is
enclosed within a slipcase decorated with marbled paper.
The manuscript leaves are bound in the volume in a manner suggesting that they were
acquired by René Gaffé from Paul Éluard in 1931. The leaves are enclosed within an envelope
addressed by Éluard to Gaffé and postmarked 1931. The envelope has been cut into two halves
so that the manuscript pages can be turned: the front panel of the envelope has been tipped
into the front of the volume and the back panel of the envelope closes the group of
manuscript leaves.
The volume was in the collection of René Gaffé until it was sold at auction in 1956
("Bibliothèque de M. René Gaffé," Drouot, Paris, April 26-27, 1956, lot 237). Afterwards it
entered the collection of Maurice Car (1908-1968) and was sold at auction in 2019 ("Maurice
Car Collection of Arts and Sciences Featuring Rare Books and Manuscripts," Heritage
Auctions, New York, September 4, 2019, lot 45091). It was later offered for sale by the Sims
Reed Gallery, London.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Names
Éluard, Paul,
1895-1952
Bonet,
Paul
Car, Maurice, 1908-1968
Gaffé,
René
Subjects - Topics
Authors--History--20th century--Archives.
Dadaism
Decoration and ornament -- Art Deco
Contributors
Tzara, Tristan,
1896-1963
2021.M.8-fpe
Front pastedown endpaper
2021.M.8-fe
Front free endpaper
2021.M.8-sh1
Auction tear sheet
2021.M.8-sh2
Sheet with stamp
2021.M.8-item1
Envelope addressed to René Gaffé,
1931 February 23
Scope and Content Note
Blue envelope postmarked and addressed to René Gaffé at 2bis rue Crespel, Bruxelles.
The address listed for the sender, Paul Éluard [i.e. Eugène Émile Paul Grindel], is 42
rue Fontaine in Paris, the building where André Breton had his apartment and where the
Éluards lived for a period. Breton and Éluard wrote
L'Immaculée
Conception
at 42 rue Fontaine.
2021.M.8-item2
Card from Tristan Tzara to Paul Éluard,
1921 September 22
Scope and Content Note
Card with two photographs pasted on its recto, one of which is a portrait of Tzara.
In the message addressed to Paul Éluard on the verso of the card, Tzara mentions Max
Ernst and sends greetings to Gola Éluard.
2021.M.8-item3
Letter,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Letter in several hands by Tristan Tzara, Philippe Soupault, G. R. D. [i.e. Georges
Ribemont-Dessaignes] and R. H. [i.e. Raoul Haussman?]. With note "Breton refuse de
signer / cette lettre. Il dit que c'est / une cochonnnnnnnnnerie." Letter addressed to
Paul Éluard?
2021.M.8-item4
Draft of
Les ciseaux des façons
d'agir
,
undated
Scope and Content Note
No. XXX from
Monsieur AA l'antiphilosophe in
L'antitête. See
Œuvres
complètes
, II, 301.
2021.M.8-item5
Draft of
Filatures de jonques,
undated
Scope and Content Note
No. XXXI from
Monsieur AA l'antiphilosophe in
L'antitête. See
Œuvres
complètes
, II, 302.
2021.M.8-item6
Draft of
Les battements de narines and
Le nain dans son cornet,
undated
Scope and Content Note
No. XXXVII and XXIII from
Monsieur AA l'antiphilosophe
in
L'antitête. See
Œuvres
complètes
, II, 310 and 292.
2021.M.8-item7
Manuscript "L'équilibriste minuscule au fond de ma chambre…,"
undated
Scope and Content Note
No. II from
Minuits pour géants in
L'antitête. See
Œuvres
complètes
, II, 327. On paper with letterhead of the Foreign Press Service
Incorporated, New York.
2021.M.8-item8
Draft of
La deuxième aventure céleste de monsieur
Antipyrine
,
undated
Scope and Content Note
See
Œuvres complètes, I, 143 - 147. "Monsieur
Absorption" is given here as "Ouate." Text on tracing paper with drawings by Tzara on
recto and verso, including caricatures and portrait heads in the margins of the
recto.
2021.M.8-item9
Draft of poems
Crimes,
undated
Scope and Content Note
See
Œuvres complètes, I, 210-215. With section
headings: Crime distingué; Crime long; Crime portatif (annotated in pencil as Crime
sportif); Crime garanti (instead of Crime solennel in the published version) and Crime
Pilau (see text Crime à voir clair in the published version).
2021.M.8-item10
Draft of
Je sors de mon appartement
somptueux
,
undated
Scope and Content Note
From
De nos oiseaux. See
Œuvres
complètes
, I, 216.
2021.M.8-item11
Draft of
Longue vue fertile,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Text of
Longue-vue in
De nos
oiseaux
. See
Œuvres complètes, I, 196.
2021.M.8-item12
Draft of
Sur une ride du soleil,
undated
Scope and Content Note
From
De nos oiseaux. See
Œuvres
complètes
, I, 238-239. On paper with letterhead of the Foreign Press Service
Incorporated, New York.
2021.M.8-item13
Draft of
Eau sauvage,
undated
Scope and Content Note
From
De nos oiseaux (1923). See
Œuvres complètes, I, 200. In upper right, in pencil: La dernière strophe a
été écrite chez la baronne d'Oettingen lors d'un concours de poèmes érotiques où ont
participé Éluard, Soupault et quelques autres. T. T.
2021.M.8-item14
Typescript "Le cyclone a mis le crochet dans l'œil du bossu…,"
undated
Scope and Content Note
No. III from
Minuits pour géants in
L'Antitête. See
Œuvres
complètes
, II, 328.
2021.M.8-item15
Typescript "Au dessus du nid de camphre...,"
undated
2021.M.8-item16
Manuscript "L'opulence de quelques vacances…,"
undated
Scope and Content Note
Includes drafts from
Minuits pour géants in
L'Antitête See
Œuvres
complètes
, II, 329-331. Drafts on sixteen leaves of paper with letterhead of
MoUvEmEnT DADA Berlin, Genève, Madrid, New York, Zürich, Paris.
2021.M.8-item17
Manuscript "C'est la peur d'une rupture prématurée...,"
undated
2021.M.8-item18
Draft of
Le cœur dans le cœur,
undated
Scope and Content Note
First section of
Le cœur dans le cœur in
Faites vos jeux. See
Œuvres
complètes,
I, 244 - 245. On paper with letterhead of the Foreign Press
Service Incorporated, New York.
2021.M.8-item19
Draft of
Le cœur sur la main,
undated
Scope and Content Note
In
Faites vos jeux. See
Œuvres
complètes,
I, 253.
2021.M.8-item20
Notebook,
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 notebook (20 leaves). Includes pen-and-ink drawings, pencil sketches, sections of
text from
Le cinéma calendrier du cœur abstrait (see
Œuvres complètes, I, 125, 126, 133, 135) and sections
from
De nos oiseaux. See
Œuvres
complètes,
I, 201.
2021.M.8-item21
Back of envelope,
undated
