Author André Breton
People cited Jean Degottex, E. Grosse, Isidore Ducasse, dit comte de Lautréamont, Lancelot Lengyel, Arthur Rimbaud, Henri, dit le Douanier Rousseau, Paul Gauguin
Manuscript by André Breton dated Paris, 23rd January 1955.
This manuscript by André Breton dated 23rd January 1955 is a reflection upon the status of modern art. It was Charles Estienne who introduced Breton to Jean Degottex, whose exhibition at the À l'Étoile scellée gallery was held in February 1955. Breton wrote a preface for it that would be republished in the complete edition of Surrealism and Painting. The abstraction in his work did not trap him in one of those ready-made categories that, in Breton’s view, was becoming the prison of contemporary art; on the contrary, the critic established the connection between Degottex’s work and automatism. While one might wonder how painting, associated with the slow pace of its execution, could adopt an approach as meteoric as automatism, then Degottex’s art, even more than that of the Canadian ‘Automatists’ such as Riopelle, affirmed the possibility of this concurrence. [Atelier André Breton website, 2005]
Signed handwritten manuscript, Paris, 23rd January 1955
1 in-4° page manuscript, dated and signed in ink by Breton, with deletions and corrections on the back of headed notepaper for the À l'Étoile scellée gallery, of the first draft of a text of André Breton’s preface for Degottex’s exhibition at À L'Étoile scellée.
“The word ‘line’ here is not to be understood here in the sense of Western calligraphy … it is, rather, a line which ‘breathes in and breathes out’ in response to a state of trance ... The degree to which the art of Degottex succeeds in capturing simultaneously what the Chinese call ch’I jun (the expression of the artist’s inner soul, revealed initially by his brushstroke) and what they call sheng-tung (movement of life, animation) succeeds in gratifying my wishes to the full on that score.”
(From the new edition of Surrealism and Painting, Gallimard, 1965.) [Auction catalogue, 2003]
André Breton (Édition publiée sous la direction d'Étienne-Alain Hubert avec la collaboration de Philippe Bernier et Marie-Claire Dumas), « L'épée dans les nuages », Œuvres complètes, tome IV, Écrits sur l'art et autres textes, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, Paris, Gallimard, 2008, pages 762-764, notice p. 1365-6.
André Breton et Charles Estienne, L'épée dans les nuages, À l'étoile scellée, Paris, 1955.
| Creation date | 23/01/1955 |
| Bibliographical material | 1 in-4° page manuscript (27 x 21 cm) with deletions on the back of headed notepaper for the À l'Étoile scellée gallery. Manuscript bought by Paul Destribats in 2003; sold at Christies in 2021 as part of the Paul Destribats sale, Lot 49. |
| Languages | French |
| Place of origin | |
| Size | 21,00 x 27,00 cm |
| Number of pages | 1 p. |
| Reference | 698000 |
| Breton Auction, 2003 | Lot 2397 |
| Keywords | Abstract Art, Exhibitions, Painting |
| Categories | Manuscripts, Andre Breton's Manuscripts |
| Set | [Breton's Manuscripts and Drawings] dossier Le Surréalisme et la peinture, [AB's Manuscripts] Manuscripts 1958-1966 |
| Exhibition | L'Épée dans les nuages |
| Permanent link | https://cms.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100642590 |
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À l'étoile scellée
Jean Degottex
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Carton d'invitation pour l'exposition Degottex organisée à l'Étoile scellée du 8 au 28 février 1955.
Deux images, une notice descriptive, des expositions, une bibliographie.
[Expositions] 1955, Étoile scellée, [Breton's Manuscripts and Drawings] dossier Le Surréalisme et la peinture
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Huile sur toile de Jean Degottex offerte à Breton en 1955 et placée sur le mur de l'atelier d'André Breton.
Une image, une notice à compléter, une exposition, une bibliographie, un lien.
