Bibliography of Surrealism

About Surrealism

Manifestoes of Surrealism
André Breton (English Translation by Richard Seaver and Helen Lane)
Ann Arbor Paperbacks, University of Michigan Press, 1972.
ISBN# 0-472-06182-8

The induced eroticism of one man's mind, this is what started it all. The English translation contains the first and second Manifestoes written by Breton in 1924 and 1929, respectively, transcriptions of a series of lectures given in 1935 and the automatically driven piece, 'Soluble Fish.' Best to read... ah, don't do when in a wakeful, fully conscious state of mind.

Surrealist Games
Alastair Brotchie, Redstone Press, London, 1992.
ISBN# 1-870003-21-7
(Available through Shambhala Books)

Comes with babboon-embossed, hardcover manual, playing board for 'The Goose Game,' by André Breton and Yves Tanguey, pocket version of 'The Little Surrealist Dictionary,' and two removable tattos. It tells of exquisite verbal and graphic delights.

History of Surrealism
Maurice Nadeau
(Translation from French: Richard Howard)
The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1989.
ISBN# 0-674-40345-2

A Little About DADA

Pictures, pictures, collage, decoupage and spilled paint, includes 'Heartfeld the Technician of Collage.' Brief introduction (in French) details the beginnings of the movement in Zurich with Tristan Tzara, the movement of the movement to Paris, and some description of Marcel Duchamp's readymades and their psychological effects on the Parisian public.

DADA Almanac
Ed. Richard Huelsenbeck (1920)
English translation by Malcolm Green
Atlas Press, 1993.
ISBN# 0-947757-62-7

Artists

Hans Arp

Giorgio de Chirico

Has 20 pages of chronological and biographical information on de Chirico, and over 100 color plates of his works ranging in date from 1909 to 1974.

The Memoirs of Giorgio de Chirico
(Memoirie della mia vita)
Giorgio de Chirico,
Translation from Italian by Margaret Crosland
Peter Owen, Ltd., London UK, 1971.
ISBN# 0-7206-5207-3

A good text for reading about the nature of de Chirico's character and work.

Salvador Dalí

By far and away the best book of Dali's work that I have seen. It contains nearly 70 color plates of his works plus pictures and a description of the museum in Figueras, an introductory essay by the author, an interview by Baltasar Porcel, and a chronology of his life through 1976.

Salvador Dalí
Conroy Maddox
Benedict Tashen Verlag GmbH, Kö GERMANY, 1990.
ISBN# 3-8228-0564-5

A slim paperback with about 60 color plates of Dali's work, many of them not found in the book by de la Serna.

The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dali
Dial Press, NY 1946. (French)
English edition: DASA Edicions, S.A. 1986.
ISBN# 84-85814-12-6

Dali on Dali.. what more can be said?

Max Ernst

Exhibition catalog for the Ernst show under the same title. Contains a lenghty introduction covering aspects of DADA and Surrealism including contributions made by Ernst and others. Most of the plates are in color, and the endotes associated with the text and images give insightful views into his works.

René Magritte

Exhibition catalog for the 1992 Magritte Exhibition shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art NY, the Menil Collection in Houston TX, the Art Institute of Chicago, IL and the South Bank Centre in London. The book contains a very comprehensive listing of Magritte's works, the majority of which are represented in color plates. The text gives 'reasonable' interpretations of his works and describes his relations (often times strained) with DADA and the Surrealists.

Joan Miró

A BIG.BIG BOOK.BOOK.
Filled with animalitos and blue on blue.

A Toute Épreuve(Français)
Joan Miró
Poems by Paul Eluard.
George Braziller, NY. 1993.
ISBN# 0-8076-1330-4

The poems by Eluard intermingle directly with the imagery created by Miró (all woodcuts), leading to a rather pleasing effect.

Francis Picabia

Yves Tanguy

Remedios Varo

Unexpected journeys : the art and life of Remedios Varo , Kaplan, Janet A.
New York : Abbeville Press, c1988. ISBN# 87-30855

Remedios Varo, Jaguer, Edouard (Español)
ed. Mexico, D.F. Ediciones Era, 1980. ISBN# 81-104834

Surrealist Writers

André Breton

Other works include: Arcane, The Immaculate Conception, La Clé des Champs, Mad Love, The Magnetic Fields, and Nadja.

Conversations: The Autobiography of Surrealism
André Breton
Translation by Mark Polizzotti
Paragon House, New York, NY. 1993.
ISBN# 1-55778-423-X

Transcriptions of radio interviews with André Parinaud and others taking place mostly in the 1930s - 1940s. Breton had a natural paranoia of the media, gained early in his career and, as with all of his interviews, he prepared beforehand both the questions to be asked by the interviewee and the answers he would give. Nonetheless he tells a number of amusing anecdotes relating to the Surrealist movement and covers a broad array of topics related to its 'philosophy.' Probably not worth purchasing, but interesting to read.

Benjamin Péret

Death to the pigs, and other writings..
Benjamin Peret
English translation by Rachael Stella
University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE. 1989.

Surrealist Performance and Theather

Though historic in perspective, this book reads well and contains marvelous anecdotes concerning the performances and twisted antics, ongoing at Cabaret Voltaire and other performance 'haunts' of Dada and Surrealists perpetrators.

Ubu Roi: Drame en Cinq Actes
Alfred Jarry
Club de meilleur livre, Paris, 1958.

Ubu Roi, Drama in 5 Acts
Alfred Jarry
Gaberbocchus, London 1966.

Surrealist Cinema

Films by Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel

'Un Chien Andalou' (1928), 'L'Age d'or' (1930). Both available on videocassette. 'Un Chien Andalou' features other avant-garde shorts including: 'Ballet Mechanique,' 'Regen (Rain),' 'Uberfall,' and 'The Hearts of Age,' by Orson Welles when he was but 19.

Other films by Luis Bunuel

Ascent to Heaven, The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz, Diary of a Chambermaid, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, El Bruto, The Exterminating Angel, Illusion Travels by Streetcar, Land Without Bread, Los Olvidados, The Milky Way, Nazarin, The Phantom of Liberty, Simon of the Desert, Susanna, That Obscure Object of Desire, Tristana, Virdiana, A Woman Without Love.

Definite Recommendations: Un Chien Andalou, Los Olvidados, That Obscure Object of Desire, Nazarin, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Virdiana, Tristana

'Spellbound'

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman.
Sets for the dream sequences designed by Salvador Dali.

Jan Svankmejer

Alchemist of the Surreal. The world renowned master of animation.
New York: IFEX International Video, 1990.

The Prize Winning Films of Jan Svankmejer

Texts concerning Surrealist Cinema

Inspächt!