COLLECTIVE. - Lot 66

COLLECTIVE. The Subversion of Images: Surrealism, Photography, Film. Paris, Centre Pompidou, 2009. Large in-4, illustrated publisher’s hardcover. An important catalog published in conjunction with the exhibition held at the Centre Pompidou (September 23, 2009–January 11, 2010), and subsequently at the Fotomuseum Winterthur and the Fundación Mapfre in Madrid. It is one of the most comprehensive studies devoted to the relationship between Surrealism and photographic practices. The book explores the central role of photography in Surrealist aesthetics, demonstrating how this medium became a key tool for subverting reality, the unconscious, and visual conventions. The essays bring together contributions from leading specialists on the movement and are supported by a rich body of imagery combining original photographs, photomontages, magazines, films, manuscripts, and archival documents. Notable figures discussed include Man Ray, Claude Cahun, Hans Bellmer, Brassaï, Raoul Ubac, Maurice Tabard, Eli Lotar, Dora Maar, Lee Miller, André Kertész, Jacques-André Boiffard, Henri Cartier-Bresson, as well as major figures of Surrealism such as André Breton, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, and René Magritte. Taken together, these works highlight the many experimental techniques—solarizations, photograms, collages, double exposures, staged scenes, and manipulations—that profoundly transformed the language of photography in the 20th century. Richly illustrated, this volume is now an indispensable reference on the connections between photography, cinema, and Surrealism. A very fine copy in the publisher’s illustrated hardcover binding.