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    Letter of 16 May 1932

    Correspondence

    Author

    Author Alberto Giacometti
    Letter to André Breton

    Description

    Letter from Alberto Giacometti to André Breton, dated 16 May 1932. Early in 1932, tensions between Breton and Aragon, which were already high, finally led to a definitive break – the ‘Aragon affair’ – with the latter joining the Communist Party, from which Breton had increasingly distanced himself. As we know, it was during a defence of Aragon, who was being prosecuted for his poem ‘Front rouge’ [Red Front], that the crisis broke out. Breton wrote Misère de la poésie [The Poverty of Poetry], as a distant echo of Marx's The Poverty of Philosophy. However, the central idea of Breton’s pamphlet, the rejection of any self-censorship of poetic activity on the grounds of political activity, is disavowed by Aragon. The file includes several letters in response. The first letter, dated 16 January 1931 (in fact, this must without doubt be written in 1932) is from Pierre Unik, who would later take Aragon's side. This is followed by a break-off letter, elegantly but firmly formulated by Sadoul; a letter from Buñuel, who finds the Bretonian idea of a ‘closed’ poetry, purporting to be above class struggle, reactionary; and two letters from Giacometti, the first expressing his disagreement with Breton, the second rallying to his position. [Atelier André Breton website, 2005] Typescript, 16 May 1932. - 1 page in-4° of this typescript letter signed Giacometti, relating to the disagreement over Breton's booklet, Misère de la poésie. [Auction Catalogue, 2003] 1 page in-4°.

    Bibliography

     Serena Bucalo-Mussely (dir.), Alberto Giacometti - André Breton, Amitiés surréalistes, institut Giacometti, Paris et éditions Fage, Paris, 2022, rep.

     

    Creation date16-mai-1932
    Bibliographical material1 page in-4°.
    Date of publication 1932
    LanguagesFrench
    Physical descriptionTs
    Place of origin
    Library

    Bibliothèque littéraire Jacques Doucet, Paris : BRT 178

    Copyright© Fondation Alberto Giacometti
    Reference1745000
    Breton Auction, 2003Lot 2162
    Keywords, , , , , ,
    CategoriesLetters to André Breton
    Set[Archives] dossier A.A.E.R./A.E.A.R, [Correspondance] Correspondance avec Alberto Giacometti
    ExhibitionAlberto Giacometti - André Breton, Amitiés surréalistes
    Permanent linkhttps://www.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100127240
    Place of origin