Concepts of the World: The French Avant-Garde and the Idea of the International, 1910–1940

409 Pages·2022·22.12 MB·English

by  Effie Rentzou

Concepts of the World
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A complete list of titles begins on page 393.
Concepts of the World
The French Avant- Garde and the Idea of the
International, 1910– 1940
Effi e Rentzou
northwestern university press | evanston, illinois
Northwestern University Press
www.nupress.northwestern.edu
Copyright © 2022 by Northwestern University. Published 2022 by Northwestern
University Press. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Rentzou, Effi , author.
Title: Concepts of the world : the French avant garde and the idea of the international,
1910– 1940 / Effi e Rentzou.
Other titles: FlashPoints (Evanston, Ill.)
Description: Evanston, Illinois : Northwestern University Press, 2022. | Series:
Flashpoints | Includes index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2022011381 | ISBN 9780810145061 (paperback) | ISBN
9780810145078 (cloth) | ISBN 9780810145085 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: French literature— 20th century— History and
criticism. | Cosmopolitanism in literature. | Avant– garde (Aesthetics)
Classifi cation: LCC PQ307.C67 R46 2022 | DDC 840.93352— dc23/eng/20220308
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022011381
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction. The Double World 3
Chapter 1. A Nationalist World: Futurism, Apollinaire,
and the Nation 41
Chapter 2. Messy Internationalism: Dada, Anarchism,
and Picabia’s Group Portraits 97
Chapter 3. Cosmopolitan Peasants: The Foreignness
of the Avant- Garde 153
Chapter 4. Monstrum Universale: Surrealism and
a New Vision of Humanism 219
Chapter 5. World Simulated: The Surrealist Exhibition
as Critique of the Global 277
Notes 329
Index 381

Illustrations
Figure 1. Marcel Duchamp, L.H.O.O.Q. Mona Lisa, 1919
(1930 replica) 6
Figure 2. Francis Picabia, “Tableau Dada par Marcel Duchamp,”
in 391 no. 12, 1920 7
Figure 3. Francis Picabia, Le Double Monde, 1919 8
Figure 4. Sabine Weiss, André Breton dans son atelier, 1956 9
Figure 5. Tristan Tzara, Mouvement Dada letterhead, 1921 113
Figure 6. Francis Picabia, Réveil matin, in Dada no. 4–5, 1919 125
Figure 7. Francis Picabia, Mouvement Dada, in Dada no. 4– 5,
1919 129
Figure 8. Francis Picabia, Construction moléculaire, in 391
no. 8, 1919 134
Figure 9. Back cover of Dada no. 6, 1920 138
Figure 10. Tristan Tzara, “Une nuit d’échecs gras,” in 391
no. 14, 1920 139
Figure 11. Jean Arp, “Anthologie Dada,” in Dada no. 4–5, 1919 140
vii
viii ❘ Illustrations
Figure 12. Photograph of Francis Picabia holding Danse
de Saint- Guy, in The Little Review, vol. 8, no. 2, spring 1922 142
Figure 13. Francis Picabia, “Plus de cubisme,” 1922 146
Figure 14. Francis Picabia, L’Oeil cacodylate, 1921 148
Figure 15. Anonymous, “Le Monde au temps des surréalistes,”
in “Le Surréalisme en 1929,” special issue of Variétés,
1929 220
Figure 16. Pablo Picasso, cover of Minotaure, no. 1, 1933 227
Figure 17. Hans Bellmer, “La Poupée: Variations sur le montage
d’une mineure articulée,” in Minotaure no. 6, 1933 240
Figure 18. Brassai, Le Maréchal Ney dans le brouillard, and
Salvador Dalí, “Apparitions aérodynamiques des
‘Êtres- Objets,’ ” in Minotaure no. 6, 1934 244
Figure 19. Man Ray, “Danses- Horizons,” in Minotaure no. 5,
1934 246
Figure 20. Lotte Wolff, “Les Révélations psychiques de la
main,” in Minotaure no. 6, 1934 248
Figure 21. Albert Béguin, “L’Androgyne,” in Minotaure
no. 11, 1938 250
Figure 22. “L’Homme anatomique,” in Minotaure no. 6, 1934 251
Figure 23. Salvador Dalí, cover of Minotaure no. 8, 1936 254
Figure 24. Marcel Duchamp, cover of Minotaure no. 6, 1934 255
Figure 25. Man Ray, Minotaure, in Minotaure no. 7, 1934 259
Figure 26. André Masson, cover of Acéphale, 1934 263
Figure 27. André Masson, “La Grèce tragique,” in Acéphale
no. 3, 1937 265
Figure 28. Pierre Mabille, “Préface à l’éloge des préjugés
populaires,” in Minotaure no. 6, 1934 269
Figure 29. Josef Breitenbach, Untitled, view of mannequins,
Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme, 1938 282
Illustrations ❘ ix
Figure 30. Josef Breitenbach, Untitled, installation view,
Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme, 1938 283
Figure 31. Anonymous, photograph of the dance performance
by Hélène Vanel at the Exposition Internationale du
Surréalisme, 1938 284
Figure 32. Josef Breitenbach, Untitled, view of Georges
Hugnet’s installation, Exposition Internationale du
Surréalisme, 1938 285
Figure 33. Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp’s Mannequin from
the Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme, 1938 309
Figure 34. Raoul Ubac, Man Ray’s Mannequin from the
Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme, 1938 311