Écritures
Écritures is a substantial and essential collection of writings by Max Ernst, published by Gallimard / NRF in the series Le Point du Jour. The volume gathers the written voice of an artist who shaped Surrealism not only through images but also through language. Its 120 illustrations after Ernst’s works make the book more than a textual anthology: image and word continually echo, disturb, and reframe one another. This copy is exceptional for the blue-ink Surrealist drawing on the half-title, described by Ernst as “oiseau et microbe”. The autograph dedication to Édouard Caen gives the volume a strong Gallimard/NRF provenance. Caen’s long-standing role in Gallimard’s commercial and promotional services helps explain why important presentation copies are associated with him. His proximity to modernist and photographic avant-garde circles further strengthens the curatorial relevance of this object.
Quantity
Ernst, Max
Écritures
1970 | Paris | Gallimard (NRF)
An exceptional Gallimard/NRF copy in which text, image, dedication, and provenance powerfully reinforce one another. The original drawing turns this reference edition into a unique object in the reception of Max Ernst.
Écritures is a substantial and essential collection of writings by Max Ernst, published by Gallimard / NRF in the series Le Point du Jour. The volume gathers the written voice of an artist who shaped Surrealism not only through images but also through language. Its 120 illustrations after Ernst’s works make the book more than a textual anthology: image and word continually echo, disturb, and reframe one another. This copy is exceptional for the blue-ink Surrealist drawing on the half-title, described by Ernst as “oiseau et microbe”. The autograph dedication to Édouard Caen gives the volume a strong Gallimard/NRF provenance. Caen’s long-standing role in Gallimard’s commercial and promotional services helps explain why important presentation copies are associated with him. His proximity to modernist and photographic avant-garde circles further strengthens the curatorial relevance of this object.
€1,200
Condition Report:
In-Depth Study
References & Bibliography
Format
In-12 (Duodecimo) approx. 17 × 22 cm
Edition Particulars
Copy with a blue-ink Surrealist drawing, “oiseau et microbe”, and signed dedication to Édouard Caen.
Inscription
Envoi
Product DETAIL
Écritures gathers texts by Max Ernst from different periods and shows how closely his literary activity accompanied his visual work. The book includes reflections, poetic fragments, statements, memories, and writings linked to the evolution of his Surrealist imagination. Rather than offering a single linear narrative, it presents a sequence of voices, images, and associative movements. The 120 illustrations provide visual anchors in Ernst’s world of birds, metamorphoses, dream imagery, and hybrid beings. As a whole, the volume shows how Ernst used language as a laboratory for the same collisions and transformations that animate his paintings and collages. Its atmosphere is intellectual, playful, and unsettled, with Surrealism as its enduring horizon.
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