Robert BENAYOUN.

Lot 75
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Estimation :
4000 - 5000 EUR
Robert BENAYOUN.
Project for a film on surrealism. [1952-1970]. Voluminous file of documentation from the archives of Robert Benayoun. Imposing collection of original and autographed documents concerning a documentary on Surrealism that remained unfinished. In the last years of André Breton's life, Robert Benayoun and Jacques-Bernard Brunius had formed the project of a film on the history of Surrealism intended for television. The documentary, produced by Pierre Braunberger, was to combine archival footage with sequences filmed with the members of the group. Some scenes were thus shot in Saint-Cirq la Popie during the summer of 1964. The outcome of the project was undoubtedly compromised by the death of André Breton on 28 September 1966 and Elisa Breton's opposition to the use of the filmed sequences. Robert Benayoun was to use some of the footage shot in his Passage Breton, which was broadcast on television in 1970. The present collection contains ten autograph letters and postcards signed by André Breton to Robert Benayoun, four autograph letters signed by Brunius to Robert Benayoun, the reworked screenplay, original sketches and photographs, documents used in the conception of the film, administrative correspondence relating to the production, etc. Detail: - Screenplay. 8 September 1964. Reproduction of a 20-page stapled typescript, reworked by the scriptwriter. With two original drawings, crayfish portrait, one in ballpoint pen, the other in India ink and watercolor and an introduction of one page 1/3 (double carbon). 2 draft notes. - 10 autograph letters and postcards signed from André Breton to Robert Benayoun. September 19, 1952- September 6, 1965. 3 signed autograph letters of 5 pages in-4, 7 signed autograph postcards, 1 telegram, 5 envelopes. Some letters, dating from the 1950s and early 1960s, are not yet related to the documentary, but to the life of the group. Thus Breton wrote on 19 September 1952 about the life of the group on returning from holiday: The 6 o'clock Conversation revolved mainly around the Sartre-Camus break, and then the sanctions taken in the "P.C.F." against Marty and Tillon, which, I believe, should lead to their exclusion shortly. There is agreement among us that Sartre and Jeanson put Camus in an almost untenable position. It is more difficult to determine the scope of the following disgrace, but it could have considerable repercussions. There is also talk of various publishing projects; he mentions Jérôme Lindon, who has just taken over the publishing of Minuit and Le Sagittaire (located at 7 rue Bernard Palissy); A postcard of July 25, 1960, approves the idea of consulting Brunius "concerning The Soothsayer's Tournament". A letter of August 25, 1961 mentions the publication of his text on the Douanier Rousseau. A card of August 30, 1961 gives the caption of his portrait by Mimi Parent: Duc... la Montagne Noire. A letter written shortly before the shooting in Saint-Cirq (August 3, 1964) gives him advice about bulletin formulas: References to Ubu are nowadays most worn. Elementary prudence, as soon as one approaches Belgium [cf. a certain "Daily-Bul" which has just reached me] advises against any allusion to... anal, which finds there the invasive echo that we know! With a table of 16 illustrations by André Breton, 1 page in-12 and the death notice of André Breton. 1966. - Printed questionnaire "Enquête sur les représentations érotiques", offprint of La Brèche, n° 6. 2 copies with autograph note signed by André Breton and Vincent Bounoure, one addressed to Louis Buñuel, the other to Christiane Rochefort. - Autograph letter signed by Robert Benayoun to André Breton, dated December 19, 1965: full of bitterness, Benayoun deplores the lack of collective spirit in the group, several surrealists having shot a film at the gallery to general approval. He regrets not having been informed, even though he had just "worked for a year and a half according to a unanimously approved project, designed to represent the group's collectivity, and with its help, playing fair at every stage...". Obviously, the letter was not mailed, as is proved by the envelope enclosed with Breton's address, which is not cancelled. - Double carbon copy of a typed letter from R. Benayoun to Édouard and Simone dated July 29, 1964. - Typed text "Doublons la garde mais vérifions les identités" from the Belgian section of the movement Phases, February 10, 1964, 1 ½ page in-4. - Four autograph letters signed from Jacques-Bernard Brunius to Benayoun. 24 June 1953-17 November 1965. 22 pages in-4. The first letter dates from 1953, after "six months of near despair" that Brunius had just spent in Morocco for his military service. Ell
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