The Surrealist Book

Revolution on the page―discover the Surrealists’ transformation of the book into a provocative new art form, from André Breton’s original manifesto for the movement to Claude Cahun's Aveux non avenusIntimately handheld yet a portal to vast universes, simultaneously available to one and to many, the book is in its very nature a vessel of contradiction. These dualities were especially compelling to the painters and poets of Surrealism, who, beginning in the 1920s, embraced the book as a central medium for artistic experimentation and a crucial vehicle for disseminating the movement’s essential tenets, strategies and aspirations―a bridge between personal revelation and social revolution.The Surrealist Book presents rare artists’ books from The Helen and Sam Zell Collection, featuring an exceptional concentration of works made in the context of Surrealism and reflecting its legacy well into the 1960s. This lavishly illustrated catalog features the most extraordinary volumes in a given edition, with special supplemental materials and contributions by writers such as André Breton and Paul Éluard and artists including Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst and Alberto Giacometti; unique maquettes and singular sketchbooks; rare works by Hans Bellmer, Claude Cahun, Toyen and Unica Zürn; original manuscripts for iconic Surrealist texts, notably the “Surrealist Manifesto”; and extraordinary sculptural bindings that become hybrid and interactive book-objects.Through close studies of individual works and explorations of key themes―including the use of sumptuous and unconventional materials and formats, the intimate tactility of collage and scrapbook techniques, and the treatment of language as a physical form―this volume underscores the role of bookmaking in the most compelling artistic achievements of the 20th century and beyond. Read more