Preparation for Altar X (André Breton)

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Preparation for Altar X

Raymond Roussel

Author

Authors André Breton, Marcel Duchamp, Roberto Echauren Matta
People cited Elisa Claro Breton, Budworth, Pierre Schweitzer, André Breton, Alexander Calder, David Hare, Benjamin Péret, Yves Tanguy, Raymond Roussel

Description

Preparatory folder for one of the twelve altars planned for the exhibition ‘Surrealism in 1947’.

It was logical that Raymond Roussel, who had an altar dedicated to him by the surrealists for the 1947 International Exhibition of Surrealism, should be placed under the sign of Capricorn, which, as is well known, is a wilful, stubborn sign. It is also associated with rough stone. Here, he is given cult status by Matta and Duchamp, who have imagined a device that evokes history, right up to the atomic age that had just begun; a history that is also perpetual motion, a “salt wheel”, the “useless journeys” like those he himself made. Two manuscripts, one by Duchamp, the other (a letter) by Matta, are included in the folder. Roussel's altar reads: “The gates of heaven are open and man is reborn from his lethargic sleep”. For the author of Impressions of Africa, who died in 1933, it would have been better if he had not been resuscitated, as Benjamin Péret promises to feed him a “trembling banana”. [Atelier André Breton website, 2005]

Folder titled by André Breton of one of the 12 altars from the surrealist exhibition at the Maeght Gallery in 1947 (the documents are all in a ribbon folder).

X. Raymond Roussel, handwritten text by Victor Brauner on blue paper (1 page in-12°). [Auction Catalogue, 2003]

Altar card: Personification: Raymond Roussel; Extracts from texts: Dr Pierre Janet, From Anxiety to Ecstasy(Paris, 1926), and Raymond Roussel, How I Wrote Certain of My Books (Paris, 1935); Artist: Roberto Matta; Offerings: Henri Goetz, Jacques Hérold, Marcel Jean and Jindrich Heisler; Dish: Roberto Matta and Francis Bouvet; Correspondence: 10th hour of the Nuctemeron; Sign of the zodiac: Capricorn.

- Sheet from a drawing pad: mentioning the name of a stone (The Rough Stone: Brick? Millstone? Sandstone?) and a transcribed sentence.

- Binder sheet: containing a sentence transcribed in pencil, author (Benjamin Péret) [Kandinsky Library website, 2023].

Creation date	sd
Bibliographical material	1 page in-12 - MS - black and coloured pencil
Languages	French
Library	Bibliothèque Kandinsky, Centre Pompidou, Paris : BRET 1.21
Number of pages	2 p.
Reference	1353000
Breton Auction, 2003	Lot 2282
Keywords	Altars, Exhibitions, Work notes, Surrealism
Categories	Archives
Set	[Exhibitions] 1947, Exposition Maeght 1947
Exhibition	1947, Le Surréalisme en 1947
Permanent link	https://cms.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100824780

Exhibition place

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