[André Breton].

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Lot n° 110
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[André Breton].
Letters to André Breton from the painters and artists invited to the EROS exhibition. 1959. Set of 21 letters. The Exposition inteRnatiOnale du Surréalisme, EROS, organized by André Breton and Marcel Duchamp at the gallery Daniel Cordier from December 15, 1959, has remained famous. It was accompanied by a catalogue inserted in the Boîte alerte with various documents. The luxury copies of this Boîte alerte were accompanied by two aprons by Duchamp, whose idea he submits here to André Breton in a letter dated 9 November 1959. The set of letters addressed to André Breton in response to his invitation to participate, gathered here, is remarkable. Hans Bellmer, Leonora Carrington, Marcel Duchamp, Alberto Giacometti, Hannah Höch, Joan Miró, Meret Oppenheim, Max Walter Svanberg, Clovis Trouille, and others all respond enthusiastically, though not without nuance. From the Breton archives, the file is preserved in an unbleached cloth folder with Le Surréalisme même pasted on the first cover. A copy of the exhibition catalogue is enclosed. All the letters are addressed to André Breton, with the exception of the two letters from Doumayrou addressed to Adrien Dax. - Hans BELLMER. 2 autograph letters signed "Hans and Unica". 6 August-4 September 1959. 5 pp. in-4 in all. A preserved envelope. Preparations for the exhibition, appointment with Daniel Cordier, etc. He insists on his refusal to be included in the section of "active" surrealists for two reasons: "The Doll (or: the dolls) was made between 1933 and 1937; and nothing has been added to it since. It therefore belongs to the past. AND:] In view of my disagreement with the "group" since the "expulsion" of the very important Surrealist painters: Matta, Brauner and, later, Max Ernst, it goes without saying that I will not be included in the category of "active"." - Leonora CARRINGTON. Autograph letter signed. Mexico City, undated [1959]. 1 p. in-4, envelope kept. She has recovered her paintings which she is going to send as soon as they are photographed and plans a trip to England and Paris. "What do you think of the Goddess Beard of the Underground and her animals? The elimination of animals among - in the modern Devotees? (God the Father, Mr. Jesù, Buddha, Mohammed, Stalin, Hitler, the state, etc.). I think that the Bestial-Sacred must emerge again from the Underground - maybe with hypnotic methods if the doctors were less stupid. What do you think?" - Adrien DAX. Autograph letter signed. Toulouse, September 16, 1959. 2 pp. in-4. With : Guy DOUMAYROU. 2 autograph letters signed to Adrien Dax. 27 August]-15 September 1959. 1 ½ p. in-12 oblong and 2 pp. in-4, envelopes retained. Adrien Dax forwards to André Breton the two letters received from Guy Doumayrou, proposing an architectural project for the Cordier gallery exhibition, the motives of which he explains. Dax supported the project, in particular because "architecture seems to be determined less by plastic or utilitarian views than by the desire to satisfy, through it, certain needs of a playful nature." The project is reproduced in the 1959 exhibition catalogue with two pages of explanations by Doumayrou (pp. 92-94). - Marcel DUCHAMP. 2 autograph letters signed. New York, November 9-20, 1959. 4 pp. in-8 in all, envelopes retained. First mention of the famous aprons for the luxury copies of the Boîte alerte. Duchamp had had the idea of a "double metal shell", but "too heavy to think of sending 250 of them, and above all too expensive; without mentioning the time it would take to make them. So I am sending you by airmail 2 small aprons (intended to protect the hands from excessive heat of the pots and pans on the fire). One is male and the other female and would also be too expensive but could be made in Paris in a few days at a lower cost. If you like the idea." On November 20, Duchamp thanks Breton for his long letter, which was obviously favorable to the idea of aprons. "For the signature of the 20 aprons (40 aprons + 20 more for immediate collaborators) the simplest thing would be for me to sign on a small silk ribbon (satin) that would be sewn on by machine or by hand. Unless you tell me otherwise, I will take care of finding a small ribbon that is not too wide and that can be cut after being signed 60 times - and I will send it to you by airmail. 3º - Naturally, use the stamp you sent me as long as necessary. - Alberto GIACOMETTI. Autograph letter signed. Paris, August 23, 1959. 3 pp. in-8, envelope kept. Thanks Breton for his letter and announces: "I agree in advance with your choice to represent me at the exhibition you are planning, but I think that the "suspended ball" and the "invisible object", as it is called, are
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