Description

Paul Eluard's astrological chart drawn up by André Breton on printed paper, dating from around 1930.

We do not have the expertise to comment on this astrological chart of Paul Éluard, which can be dated to around 1930, and we leave the reader the pleasure of wandering through the interpretative fragments that follow it, and which form a kind of portrait – though whether it is a good resemblance or not is of little consequence.

Rather, it should be noted that, along with the other astrological charts, it is one of the major pieces in the Breton archives, for a very simple reason: when they were discovered in 2003 it make it clear that Breton's interest in astrology had been much more committed than previously known. To know human destiny - this horizon appeared as early as the ‘sleeping fits’ of 1922, when Desnos, encouraged by his friends’ repeated questions, made predictions that mostly had little basis in methodology.

The ‘Letter to the Seers’ of 1925 saw Breton increasingly commit himself to the discovery of a more methodical approach, even though this method might hardly seem credible to a modern mind. But, as early as the Manifesto of 1924, was it not a question of breaking with the scientific spirit, whose aporias and inadequacies were all too obvious? Henceforth, astrology and, more broadly, the alchemical tradition, emerged as an alternative form of knowledge, in the same way as myth, though not necessarily a belief to which one was obliged to adhere, but rather as another way of seeing, a heterodox way of approaching the enigmas of the world potentially rich in discoveries.

Breton gradually became interested in the reviled practices of palmists, fortune-tellers and astrologers. It was for him never more than a question of formally examining the beliefs of others. However, these astral charts demonstrate that he may have been tempted to take the step from intellectual interest to belief. If they remained discreetly filed away in his personal archives, it is undoubtedly because he never made any lasting commitment to this belief, experienced more as a temptation than as a faith.

The context should also be taken into account: a book like Arcane 17, in 1944, indisputably moves towards a culture that in 1930 could be seen as retrograde and, moreover, contradictory to the positions taken by the surrealists on religion. At the time when Breton drew up these astrological charts, he was a long way from being able to make his interest public: this would contribute to blurring the ideological position of a group that remained under the spotlight, subjected to the suspicions of the ‘official’ Marxists, i.e., the Communist Party.

Adherence to Marx's philosophy meant rejecting in advance all the ‘opium of the people’, both official religions and popular superstitions. The creation of the Marseilles tarot deck, at the beginning of the 1940s,  constituted a first step, prior to the exhibition Le surréalisme en 1947 created some controversy with the Revolutionary Surrealists due to the religious dimension of the culture on display (the altars, the reference to myth). In the 1950s Breton finally became more openly involved with magic and occultism, but would continue taking a cultural approach. In this respect, L’Art magique, published in 1957, was a paradoxical step, in which Breton considerably extended the affirmation of interest in the paranormal to a point at which it dissolved into an inner experience that found its most elaborate expression in modern art. [Atelier André Breton website, 2005]

Astrological chart, undated [circa 1930].

- Paul Eluard's astrological chart (circa 1930) drawn up by André Breton on printed paper, 1 page in-4°, with a note on pale yellow paper of the 12 planets.

 

Creation date	circa 1930
Bibliographical material	1 page in-4° - MS - red and blue ink on white and orange paper.
Languages	French
Reference	1598000
Breton Auction, 2003	Lot 2155
Keywords	Astrology
Set	[AB's Manuscripts] Thèmes astrologiques
Permanent link	https://www.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100489830