Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Rahon (Alice) papers
2021.M.10
No online items
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Alice Rahon Papers
Creator:
Paalen, Wolfgang,
1907-1959
Creator:
Picasso, Pablo,
1881-1973
Creator:
Sulzer, Eva, 1902-1990
Creator:
Onslow-Ford,
Gordon
Creator:
Lamba,
Jacqueline, 1910-
Creator:
Varda, Jean
Creator:
Carrington, Leonora,
1917-2011
Creator:
Nin, Anaïs,
1903-1977
Creator:
Moro, César,
1903-1956
Creator:
Breton, André,
1896-1966
Creator:
Penrose,
Valentine
Creator:
Sekula, Sonja, 1918-1963
Creator:
Fitzgerald, Lionel Edward, 1916-1965
Creator:
Rahon, Alice (Alice Marie Yvonne), 1904-1987
Creator:
Miller, Henry,
1891-1980
Identifier/Call Number: 2021.M.10
Physical Description:
17 Linear Feet
(14 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1859-2004,
undated
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 .
Abstract: The Alice Rahon papers document the
life of the French Surrealist poet and artist. Rahon's early life in France as a poet as
well as her long career in Mexico as a painter are covered, although the preponderance of
material reflects her years in Mexico. Rahon had close relationships with many artists and
writers during her life. Her papers provide a close picture of the members of her Surrealist
circles and their relationships with one another, as well as her own artistic output through
writing and painting. As both poet and painter, Rahon's papers demonstrate the persistent,
close relationship between literature and art that characterizes surrealism in Latin America
while also providing an in-depth look at the thematic connectivity between her work in both
media.
Language of Material: Collection material is in French,
English, and Spanish.
Contact
Library Reproductions
and Permissions
.
Alice Rahon Papers, 1859-2004, undated, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles,
Accession no. 2021.M.10.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/archives2021m10
Scope and Content of Collection
The Alice Rahon papers document the life of the French Surrealist poet and artist. Both her
early life in France as a poet as well as her long career in Mexico as a painter are
covered, although the preponderance of material reflects her years in Mexico. Rahon had
close relationships with many artists and writers during her life and her papers provide a
close picture of the members of her Surrealist circles and their relationships with one
another, as well as her own artistic output through writing and painting. As both poet and
painter, Rahon's papers demonstrate the persistent, close relationship between literature
and art that characterizes surrealism in Latin America while also providing an in-depth look
at the thematic connectivity between her work in both media.
Series I Manuscripts and writings, comprises poetry, translations, and prose pieces by
Rahon. Of Rahon's oeuvre, there are handwritten drafts of works published in her lifetime;
pieces that were later published in
Shapeshifter (New York:
New York Review Books, 2021), a posthumous retrospective; and unpublished poems and
manuscripts. Present are numerous poems; the script of Rahon's ballet
Ballet d'Orion, and a story, "The History of a Little Red Man," illustrated with
sketches in the artist's hand. Several short pieces by others writing on Rahon and other
subjects are also found in the series.
Series II Photographs of artwork and exhibition material, includes photographic images of
the complete catalog of Rahon's paintings, present as either photographic prints,
transparencies, negatives, or slides. Also included are photographs of Rahon and her artwork
in her studio and home, or in other locations such as exhibition spaces. Rahon had numerous
solo shows in Mexico, the United States, and Europe. Notable venues included the Art of the
Century Gallery and Karl Nierendorf Gallery in New York, the Pasadena Art Museum and the
Stendahl Gallery in Los Angeles, and Galería de Arte Mexicano and the Museo del Palacio de
Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Exhibition-related materials include lists of Rahon's
exhibitions and related ephemera such as invitations , clippings, and articles about her
work which provide an understanding of the artist's production and critical reception. which
provide an understanding of the artist's production and critical reception. Gallery records
include lists of works and prices and lists of collectors.
Series III Correspondence, consists primarily of correspondence received by Rahon between
the late 1930s and the early 1980s, encapsulating her years in Paris and her life in Mexico
City. The letters explain relationships and aesthetic issues and evoke the Surrealist
bohemian life in the late 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s in France and Mexico. Correspondents
include André Breton, Pablo Picasso, Wolfgang Paalen, Eva Sulzer, Gordon Onslow-Ford, Anaïs
Nin, Valentine Penrose, Leonora Carrington, and Jean Varda with whom Rahon had an especially
extensive correspondence.
Also included are letters sent and received amongst Rahon's close friends and associates
including Rahon's first husband Wolfgang Paalen and her close friend and lover Eva
Sulzer.
Series IV Personal papers, consists of Rahon's legal documents, such as her birth
certificate and customs documents; business-related materials; notebooks; and a collection
of photographs from throughout her life. The series also includes miscellaneous notes and
documents from the artist's daily life, 12 books (mostly novels); and multiple notebooks,
including daily planners and address books.
Series V Jean Varda, comprises a small collection of documents from Rahon's close friend,
artist Jean "Yanko" Varda. Included are exhibition materials, correspondence, and several
photographs of his art.
The collection was processed by Quin Fraley in 2024 under the supervision of Beth Ann
Guynn. Fraley and Guynn wrote the finding aid in 2024.
Arranged in five series: Series I. Manuscripts and writings, 1936-1968, undated; Series II.
Materials documenting Rahon's artistic output, 1935-2004, undated; Series III.
Correspondence, 1936-1990, undated; Series IV. Personal papers, 1859-1989, undated; Series
V. Jean Varda, 1964-1987, undated.
Alice Rahon (1904-1987), née Alice Marie Yvonne Philippot, was a French-born poet and
visual artist. She was a prominent figure in the Surrealist movement, with close personal
and working relationships with Surrealist writers and artists, both in Paris and in Mexico.
Her life and career can be separated into two periods: poetry in Paris and painting in
Mexico. She established herself first as a poet in France before relocating to Mexico City,
where she transitioned to producing visual art, primarily painting.
Rahon was born in Chenecey-Buillon, France in 1904 (her birth year is erroneously listed as
1924 on her Mexican passports and customs documents; see: Box 5, Folder 11). Numerous
injuries sustained as a child and as a young woman left Rahon immobile and isolated from her
peers for extended periods of time. During the lengthy recovery periods, Rahon occupied her
time with reading, writing, and drawing, developing the imagination and introspection that
influenced her artistic career. She and her sister, Georgette "Geo" Dupin, moved to Paris in
the 1920s where Rahon worked as a model and wrote poetry. She had already met and
collaborated with photographer Man Ray and fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli when she met
artist Wolfgang Paalen in 1931. Their marriage in 1934 introduced her to Paris's burgeoning
Surrealist community and its central figure, André Breton, co-founder and leader of the
movement. Breton supported Rahon's early career by financing her first two books of poetry
and publishing her work in Surrealist publications. She was the first woman to be published
by Éditions Surréalistes and her writings were illustrated by artists within the Surrealist
circle, including Pablo Picasso, with whom she had a brief affair. In all, she published
three volumes of poetry between 1936 and 1941.
Rahon's life pivoted when she and Paalen accepted an invitation from the Bretons and Frida
Kahlo to visit Mexico City in 1939. Rahon, Paalen, and photographer Eva Sulzer first
traveled down the west coast of North America, where Rahon was inspired by the artistic
styles of indigenous American art, before arriving in Mexico. The breakout of World War II
in Europe led the couple to suspend their return to Paris and wait out the war in North
America. After the war, Rahon and Paalen decided to remain in Mexico.
It was at the beginning of her life and career in Mexico that Rahon's primary medium
transitioned from poetry to painting. Her style was heavily inspired by prehistoric,
indigenous American, and Pre-Columbian iconography. She exhibited her paintings in group and
solo shows in Mexico and internationally and illustrated the poetry of other writers, as
Picasso had done for her in Paris. From 1942 to 1945, Rahon participated in the production
of
Dyn, the journal founded by Paalen, contributing poetry,
prose, drawings, and paintings.
Dyn 6 featured an analysis of
her paintings by Jacqueline Johnson, a writer and editor for the journal.
Rahon divorced Paalen in 1947 and thenceforth took her mother's maiden name, Rahon, as her
own. She married Canadian filmmaker Edward Fitzgerald that same year, but the two divorced
in 1960 after making the now lost experimental film,
Les
magiciens
.
The toll of lasting injuries and new ones led Rahon to spend her last years in relative
isolation, receding from the public eye and artist circles she had thrived in for a half
century. She died in September 1987 in Mexico City.
Sources Consulted:
"Alice Rahon Artist Overview and Analysis". [Internet]. 2024. TheArtStory.org Content
compiled and written by Alexandra Duncan. Edited and revised, with Summary and
Accomplishments added by Antony Todd. Available from:
https://www.theartstory.org/artist/rahon-alice/ First published on 08 Aug 2022. Updated and
modified regularly [Accessed 10 Apr 2024]
Alice Rahon Online Art Archive. "Biography"
Alice Rahon. Nd.
https://www.alicerahon.org/biography.
Alonso, Idurre (originally written by Annette Leddy), "Acquisition Approval Form for 'Alice
Rahon (French, 1904-1987),'" accession no. 2021.M.10, 23 December 2015.
Frérot, Christine.
Alice Rahon et le Mexique: La révélation de
l'art
. Paris: Riveneuve, 2021.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired in 2021.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Gelatin silver prints -- Mexico -- 20th century
Correspondence -- 20th century
Women artists -- Archives
Surrealism -- Mexico
Chromogenic color prints -- Mexico -- 20th century
Photographs, Original
Women poets
Art--Mexico--20th century--Exhibitions
Surrealism--Poetry