Max Ernst: 30 Years of His Work. A Survey — At Eye Level & Paramyths
Issued for Ernst’s survey at The Copley Galleries, Beverly Hills. It couples a poetic tribute by friends in “At Eye Level” with Ernst’s own cycle “Paramyths,” where new poems and collages mirror each other. Designed by the artist, the book extends his montage logic. Generous typography and a restrained cloth-backed binding stress the autonomy of word and image. At once catalogue and artist’s book, it is a Californian echo of European Surrealism. The numbered edition adds bibliophilic stature.
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Ernst, Max
Max Ernst: 30 Years of His Work. A Survey — At Eye Level & Paramyths
1949 | Beverly Hills | The Copley Galleries
A lucid, artist-orchestrated book where poetry and collage resonate—an essential California Surrealist document.
Issued for Ernst’s survey at The Copley Galleries, Beverly Hills. It couples a poetic tribute by friends in “At Eye Level” with Ernst’s own cycle “Paramyths,” where new poems and collages mirror each other. Designed by the artist, the book extends his montage logic. Generous typography and a restrained cloth-backed binding stress the autonomy of word and image. At once catalogue and artist’s book, it is a Californian echo of European Surrealism. The numbered edition adds bibliophilic stature.
€750
Condition Report:
In-Depth Study
References & Bibliography
Format
In-4 (Quarto) approx. 25 × 32 cm
Edition Particulars
This copy numbered “501”.
Print Run
513
Copy Number
No. 501
Product DETAIL
The two sections complement each other: testimonies and poems bring Ernst “at eye level,” while the collages embody objective chance. Recurring motifs include metamorphosis, human–animal hybrids and mythic reversals. The sequence reads like a pocket mythology for modern times. As an exhibition book it documents thirty years of practice and locates Ernst’s transatlantic position after 1945. It is both intimate and panoramic.
Michaux, Henri · Bettencourt, Pierre
Arriver à se réveiller
A rare first edition of Arriver à se réveiller, written by Henri Michaux in the tremulous post-war years. The text unfolds as an inward journey toward lucidity, where sleep and waking mirror each other. Printed and published by Pierre Bettencourt in his own workshop, the edition’s small run preserves the work’s intimacy. The title-page vignette, a linocut by Bettencourt, sets a spare, rhythmic visual key that amplifies Michaux’s vigilant, vulnerable tone. This copy is handsomely bound in brown morocco with balsa boards by Miguet, a tactile nod to lightness under tension. For bibliophiles, it is an exemplary union of poetry, craft, and experiment. The volume embodies the independence of the post-war small press and Michaux’s radical sensitivity.
Illustrated Book
€680
Éluard, Paul
Au rendez-vous allemand
Au rendez-vous allemand is one of the emblematic collections of Éluard’s wartime poetry. The book appeared in 1944 from Les Éditions de Minuit, the publishing house that, under the Occupation, became a moral landmark of the French literary Resistance. The volume gathers poems in which love, mourning, revolt and hope appear not as abstractions but as immediate necessities under German rule. The frontispiece, a portrait of the poet after Picasso, gives the book a powerful artistic signature: two voices of modern France, poet and artist, stand here in the same struggle. This is an ordinary, unnumbered copy, but signed by Éluard on the first page. That signature makes the book more than a Resistance document: it becomes a tangible witness to literary presence in a historically charged year. For the collector, it unites the clandestine aura of Minuit, Picasso’s name and Éluard’s own hand.
Illustrated Book
€350
Derain, André
Amis & Amille. Mystère du XIVe siècle.
This sumptuously bound book brings a medieval mystery to life through a rare collaboration between ancient literature and modern illustration. The geometric box design on garnet morocco provides striking contrast. André Derain’s 22 color lithographs – including one double and three full-page – enhance the narrative with expressive visual force. Printed on Rives vellum in an edition of 180 numbered copies, this copy (No. 72) was made for Baroness Vaxelaire and includes a suite on fine Japanese paper. The binding by Lucie Weill exemplifies artisanal excellence. A harmonious blend of narrative tradition and graphic daring.
Illustrated Book
€1,460
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