Description

Letter from Alberto Giacometti to André Breton, dated 16 May 1932. Early in 1932, tensions between Breton and Aragon, which were already high, finally led to a definitive break – the ‘Aragon affair’ – with the latter joining the Communist Party, from which Breton had increasingly distanced himself. As we know, it was during a defence of Aragon, who was being prosecuted for his poem ‘Front rouge’ [Red Front], that the crisis broke out. Breton wrote Misère de la poésie [The Poverty of Poetry], as a distant echo of Marx's The Poverty of Philosophy. However, the central idea of Breton’s pamphlet, the rejection of any self-censorship of poetic activity on the grounds of political activity, is disavowed by Aragon. The file includes several letters in response. The first letter, dated 16 January 1931 (in fact, this must without doubt be written in 1932) is from Pierre Unik, who would later take Aragon's side. This is followed by a break-off letter, elegantly but firmly formulated by Sadoul; a letter from Buñuel, who finds the Bretonian idea of a ‘closed’ poetry, purporting to be above class struggle, reactionary; and two letters from Giacometti, the first expressing his disagreement with Breton, the second rallying to his position. [Atelier André Breton website, 2005] Typescript, 16 May 1932. - 1 page in-4° of this typescript letter signed Giacometti, relating to the disagreement over Breton's booklet, Misère de la poésie. [Auction Catalogue, 2003] 1 page in-4°.

Bibliography

 Serena Bucalo-Mussely (dir.), Alberto Giacometti - André Breton, Amitiés surréalistes, institut Giacometti, Paris et éditions Fage, Paris, 2022, rep.

 

Creation date	16-mai-1932
Bibliographical material	1 page in-4°.
Date of publication	1932
Languages	French
Physical description	Ts
Place of origin	46, rue Hyppolite-Maindron Paris XIV
Library	Bibliothèque littéraire Jacques Doucet, Paris : BRT 178
Copyright	© Fondation Alberto Giacometti
Reference	1745000
Breton Auction, 2003	Lot 2162
Keywords	Aragon case, Correspondence, Letter, Politics, Poetry, Surrealism, manuscript
Categories	Letters to André Breton
Set	[Archives] dossier A.A.E.R./A.E.A.R, [Correspondance] Correspondance avec Alberto Giacometti
Exhibition	Alberto Giacometti - André Breton, Amitiés surréalistes
Permanent link	https://cms.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100127240