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Description
Manuscript in Breton’s hand of an article published on 5 March 1962 in Combat-Art, co-authored with Édouard Jaguer, Charles Estienne and José Pierre.
‘A no-man’s land’: that’s the landscape proposed by contemporary art in 1962. This co-authored article with Édouard Jaguer, Charles Estienne and José Pierre appeared in Combat-Art that March. This ‘compass’ was intended to provide the means of orientation in an artworld confused by a number of ‘pseudo-philosophical’ debates. Denouncing art critics’ preference for jargon, here Breton makes no claim to eulogise clarity, but he makes a rigorous demand to end a certain complicity between advertising and rhetoric, both of which aim to blind the spectator. [Atelier André Breton website, 2005]
Handwritten manuscripts, one of which is signed, Paris, 16 February 1962.
- 2 in-4° first draft manuscript pages in ink, dated and signed by André Breton, with numerous deletions and corrections of this text of a collective declaration for a coming to consciousness of artists in the face of the atomic threat.
- 1 in-4° manuscript page in ink by Breton titled ‘Compass’, constituting the second draft of this manifesto text.
‘If today art offers all the appearance of a no-man’s land, stretching to the horizon, it goes without saying that the real disorder lies elsewhere.
‘Without in any way compromising their individual demands, the signatories of this declaration mean to free the lines of force that specifically control contemporary art from its current confusion.’
Title devised by André Breton for the notes published regularly by Combat-Art. [Auction catalogue, 2003]
Bibliography
André Breton, Charles Estienne, Édouard Jaguer, José Pierre, Combat-Art, n° 87, 5 mars 1962
José Pierre (dir.), Tracts surréalistes et Déclarations collectives (1922-1969), Paris, Le Terrain vague (Éric Losfeld éditeur), t. II, p. 219
Lire ce tract sur Mélusine
| Creation date | 16-févr.-62 |
| Date of publication | 1962 |
| Publication | first publication |
| Languages | French |
| Physical description | Ms - encre bleue et crayon noir |
| Breton Auction, 2003 | Lot 2504 |
| Keywords | Aesthetic, Painting, Tract |
| Categories | Manuscripts, Pamphlets |
| Set | [Mansucrits d'AB] articles pour Combat, [AB's Manuscripts] Manuscripts 1958-1966, [Revue] Combat, Tracts surréalistes et déclarations collectives |
| Permanent link | https://cms.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100673030 |