Mathieu : Galerie Veranneman,
14.1.71 - 6.2.71

This rare Fluxus portfolio, designed by Ben Vautier, embodies late-1960s dematerialised art: the work *is* a bundle of ideas, instructions, and attitudes. *Participations…* operates as a catalogue for a “non-material” exhibition and, at the same time, as a logistical trace of a festival announced as worldwide, from 1 to 15 June 1969. Instead of objects, the folder offers contributions reproduced through plain printing, stencil, or photocopy—an aesthetic of speed, circulation, and intention. It gathers voices that redrew the boundaries of art: from George Maciunas and Robert Filliou to Daniel Buren, Dieter Roth, Wolf Vostell, Joseph Beuys, with Marcel Duchamp as a conceptual horizon. The deliberately ironic tables of contents and playful notes on the submissions affirm a Fluxus principle: seriousness needs play. As a numbered first edition limited to 502 copies, it stands as an emblematic document of the moment when art became protocol, performance, and network.

This rare exhibition catalogue accompanied the joint presentation of Émilie Delbrouck and Marcel Defize at Galerie Van Leer in Paris from 1 to 15 April 1929. The small publication comprises eight pages and reproduces two works. Its particular significance lies in André Breton’s preface, which places the exhibition directly within the Surrealist context of the period. The conjunction of two Belgian artists, a Parisian avant-garde gallery and Breton as advocate makes the pamphlet more than a passing exhibition document. Breton’s text later acquired a second life when it was reused under the title *Exposition X…, Y…*. The catalogue therefore preserves a tangible trace of the international exchanges surrounding Surrealism at the end of the 1920s. For the bibliophile, this meeting of art, programmatic writing and ephemeral print is especially compelling. The fragile condition of the present copy also emphasizes the inherently vulnerable nature of such exhibition catalogues.

A rare Brussels wartime edition (1943). This monograph on Magritte is not an “ordinary” monograph or catalogue.
There are several reasons for this.

1) First recognized monograph
This is the first widely recognized monograph devoted to René Magritte. By 1943 Magritte was established in Belgium and had some international visibility through exhibitions, but this is the first fully illustrated publication devoted exclusively to him, with particular attention to works from the early 1940s.

2) War years and occupation
Published in 1943, in the midst of the war and under German occupation. For (Belgian) Surrealists this meant censorship, surveillance, and very limited public visibility; Surrealism was classified by the Nazis as “degenerate art.” As a result, exhibitions and publications were few, often semi-clandestine, sometimes under pseudonyms and with cautious, coded language. There were even instances of direct interference (for example, the premature closure of Raoul Ubac’s photographic exhibition in Brussels in 1941). That Marcel Mariën and Magritte brought this book out during the occupation shows both courage and an intellectual act of resistance. It is plausible that the edition of 1,025 copies reached readers in stages, slowly and mainly locally.

3) Association copy: Henri Parisot
This copy bears an extensive inscribed presentation by Magritte to Henri Parisot, a key figure on the French Surrealist scene—poet, translator, and publisher of Antonin Artaud, Paul Éluard, Benjamin Péret, and André Breton. Parisot served as an essential cultural mediator, introducing visionary precursors such as Novalis and William Blake to a French readership. Through his bibliophile editions and journals he provided an independent space outside Breton’s strict authority and helped preserve Surrealism’s legacy while linking it to broader traditions of mysticism and poetic experiment.

4) The date “72-X-79231”
The presentation is cryptically dated: “72-X-79231.” This is not a slip, but a deliberate Surrealist play with time and sequence—fully consistent with Magritte’s concerns (think of La durée poignardée / Time Transfixed and his word/image inversions). Such a poetic, non-linear date makes the inscription itself conceptual: the envoi enacts what the work proclaims—unhinging time. The “X” acts as a hinge within the number string; the formula mirrors Magritte’s method of estranging the everyday through a subtle shift in conventions. As paratext, the date turns the inscription into a performative gesture: it does Surrealism rather than merely naming it.

*Arrière-histoire du poème pulvérisé* is a later illustrated edition of a key text in which René Char looks back on the genesis and inner background of *Le Poème pulvérisé*. Published in 1972 by Imprimerie Union, it opens with a colour frontispiece by Nicolas de Staël. The pairing of Char and de Staël is especially charged: two post-war voices, each seeking concentration, clarity, and rupture in his own medium. This copy is one of only six hors commerce copies on Arches and is signed. The autograph presentation inscription to Doctor Marcel Zara, with poetic quotation and October 1972 dating, makes it a deeply personal copy.