Surrealism and Painting

by André Breton, André Masson (Painter), Joan Miró (Painter)

Originally published in 1928 and augmented throughout the author's life, Surrealism and Painting is the single most important statement ever written on Surrealist art. While many pages have been devoted to visual Surrealism, this is the only book on the suject by the movement's founder and prime theorist. It contains Andra Breton's seminal treatise on the origins and foundations of artistic Surrealism, with his trenchant assessments of its precursors and practitioners, and his call for the plastic arts to "refer to a purely internal model." Also included are essays--many of them classics in their own right--on Picasso, Duchamp, Kahlo, Dal', Ernst, Masson, Gorky, Picabia, MirA, Magritte, Kandinsky, and others, as well as pieces on Gaulish art, outsider art, and the folk arts of Haiti and Oceania. But above and beyond the subject matter, what makes this book so enduringly compelling is Breton's signature mixture of rigorous erudition and visceral passion, his sense of adventure, and his discoveries of many of Modernism's most prominent figures early in their careers. Long unavailable in English, Surrealism and Painting is not only a supremely exciting work of art criticism, but also one of the three or four indispensable references for any serious discussion of modern art.

Genres: Art, Essays, Nonfiction, France, Philosophy, Art History

448 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 1965

About the author

After World War I, French poet and literary theorist André Breton began to link at first with Dadaism but broke with that movement to write the first manifesto of surrealism in 1924.

People best know this theorist as the principal founder. His writings include the Surrealist Manifesto (Manifeste du surréalisme), in which he defined this "pure psychic automatism."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3...

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andre Breton, yes was a kook, and sort of a social-like fascist, but beyond that he was a natural leader - and had a good sense what was good out there. He ran the Surrealist club like Stalin would may have over his kitchen, but Breton interests were wide and spectacular.

This was probably one of the first books I have ever had in my collection regarding a writer talking about the visual arts. My late father gave it to me, and it stikes me as an important art document. Breton was there when it happened, and basically had the taste and skill to discuss the artists - who were either associates of his (fellow Surrealists) or friends.

[jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art is a process of recording decisions. And is judged by opinions. I have no idea what to say about this book.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully produced book, containing wonderful essays on the visual art of the Surrealist movement.

[aaaaaaayse]

skimmed hashtag tbh