Table Of ContentHistorical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts
Jon Woronoff, Series Editor
1. Science Fiction Literature, by Brian Stableford, 2004.
2. Hong Kong Cinema, by Lisa Odham Stokes, 2007.
3. American Radio Soap Operas, by Jim Cox, 2005.
4. Japanese Traditional Theatre, by Samuel L. Leiter, 2006.
5. Fantasy Literature, by Brian Stableford, 2005.
6. Australian and New Zealand Cinema, by Albert Moran and Errol
Vieth, 2006.
7. African-American Television, by Kathleen Fearn-Banks, 2006.
8. Lesbian Literature, by Meredith Miller, 2006.
9. Scandinavian Literature and Theater, by Jan Sjåvik, 2006.
10. British Radio, by Seán Street, 2006.
11. German Theater, by William Grange, 2006.
12. A frican American Cinema, by S. Torriano Berry and Venise Berry,
2006.
13. Sacred Music, by Joseph P. Swain, 2006.
14. Russian Theater, by Laurence Senelick, 2007.
15. F rench Cinema, by Dayna Oscherwitz and MaryEllen Higgins,
2007.
16. Postmodernist Literature and Theater, by Fran Mason, 2007.
17. Irish Cinema, by Roderick Flynn and Pat Brereton, 2007.
18. A ustralian Radio and Television, by Albert Moran and Chris Keat-
ing, 2007.
19. Polish Cinema, by Marek Haltof, 2007.
20. Old Time Radio, by Robert C. Reinehr and Jon D. Swartz, 2008.
21. Renaissance Art, by Lilian H. Zirpolo, 2008.
22. Broadway Musical, by William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird, 2008.
23. A merican Theater: Modernism, by James Fisher and Felicia Hardi-
son Londré, 2008.
24. German Cinema, by Robert C. Reimer and Carol J. Reimer, 2008.
25. Horror Cinema, by Peter Hutchings, 2008.
26. Westerns in Cinema, by Paul Varner, 2008.
27. Chinese Theater, by Tan Ye, 2008.
28. It alian Cinema, by Gino Moliterno, 2008.
29. Architecture, by Allison Lee Palmer, 2008.
30. Russian and Soviet Cinema, by Peter Rollberg, 2008.
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31. African American Theater, by Anthony D. Hill, 2009.
32. Postwar German Literature, by William Grange, 2009.
33. Modern Japanese Literature and Theater, by J. Scott Miller, 2009.
34. Animation and Cartoons, by Nichola Dobson, 2009.
35. Modern Chinese Literature, by Li-hua Ying, 2010.
36. M iddle Eastern Cinema, by Terri Ginsberg and Chris Lippard,
2010.
37. Spanish Cinema, by Alberto Mira, 2010.
38. Film Noir, by Andrew Spicer, 2010.
39. French Theater, by Edward Forman, 2010.
40. Choral Music, by Melvin P. Unger, 2010.
41. Westerns in Literature, by Paul Varner, 2010.
42. Baroque Art and Architecture, by Lilian H. Zirpolo, 2010.
43. Surrealism, by Keith Aspley, 2010.
44. Science Fiction Cinema, by M. Keith Booker, 2010.
45. L atin American Literature and Theater, by Richard A. Young and
Odile Cisneros, 2010.
46. Children’s Literature, by Emer O’Sullivan, 2010.
1100__440066__0011__FFrroonntt..iinndddd iiii 88//2233//1100 66::1188 AAMM
Historical Dictionary
of Surrealism
Keith Aspley
Historical Dictionaries of
Literature and the Arts, No. 43
The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Lanham • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
2010
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Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.scarecrowpress.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2010 by Keith Aspley
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who
may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aspley, Keith.
Historical dictionary of surrealism / Keith Aspley.
p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of literature and the arts ; 43)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8108-5847-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Surrealism—Dictionaries. 2. Surrealist artists—Biography—Dictionaries. 3.
Arts, Modern—20th century—Dictionaries. I. Title.
NX456.5.S8A87 2010
700'.4116303—dc22 2010017397
(cid:2) ™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
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Contents
Editor’s Foreword Jon Woronoff vii
Preface ix
Reader’s Notes xi
Acronyms and Abbreviations xiii
Chronology xv
Introduction 1
THE DICTIONARY 23
Bibliography 507
About the Author 545
v
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Editor’s Foreword
Although it’s nice to be able to sum up a movement in just a few words
or sentences, it takes much more than that to trace the origins, manifes-
tations, and works of Surrealism. One key is perhaps revolt—rejection
of what went before and both appeared hopelessly outdated and prob-
ably was outdated in the World War I era of radical political change and
devastation. Thus, writers and artists could—and did—innovate and
seek new ways of expression. Although Surrealism was a broad move-
ment that attracted many participants, it was organized and quite strictly
disciplined, at least until the death of its leader, André Breton, in 1966.
The fact that it encompassed so many countries and so many art forms
(painting and sculpture, music, photography, cinema, theater, literature
and poetry), however, meant that not everyone followed its leader. Just
who was a Surrealist could be an open question even for Surrealists,
let alone the public. Nonetheless, during the interwar period it was one
of the dominant trends and it continues to have many adherents today.
That being said, it is no mean feat to write a Historical Dictionary
of Surrealism. The introduction presents some of the major figures and
manifestations of the movement, and the chronology traces its major
steps forward as it gathered strength but then apparently faded away
gradually before rising like the phoenix with the new exhibitions,
groups, and journals. Some of Surrealism’s participants might not even
concede that it’s a movement, let alone that they belong to it, while
others proclaim their participation (which might not be generally ac-
cepted). Therefore, the encyclopedic format of the dictionary includes
those who are directly or indirectly related, gives them their own en-
try, and lets readers decide. Along with people, which are in this case
clearly the most important, there are also entries on associations and
groups, some of the journals and reviews they produced, and a sampling
vii
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viii (cid:129) EDITOR’S FOREWORD
of major works of art, cinema, and literature. The bibliography provides
additional resources.
This book was written by Keith Aspley, whose career as, succes-
sively, an assistant lecturer, lecturer, then senior lecturer and honorary
fellow of the University of Edinburgh spanned more than four decades.
During that time he published monographs on André Breton, the leader
of the movement, and Philippe Soupault, another of its major figures.
He has also written numerous articles, encyclopedia entries, and book
chapters and coedited From Rodin to Giacometti: Sculpture and Litera-
ture in France 1880–1950. All his book chapters relate in some way to
Surrealism. This is not only an advantage but a prerequisite since Sur-
realism was and is one of the broadest movements to date, covering all
of the arts in one way or another. Dr. Aspley is thus an ideal author for
such a historical dictionary.
Jon Woronoff
Series Editor
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Preface
With reference to the contents of the dictionary section, ultimately per-
sonal choices have to be made and some may appear to be arbitrary or
idiosyncratic; our basic position is to include men and women who were
associated at some point in time with the Surrealist movement and to
avoid, for the most part, the inclusion of material that may merely pos-
sess “surreal” elements. In terms of genre or the different media, there
would be minimal dissent to the coverage of art and literature, but the
concept of Surrealist architecture, dance, and design may be less obvi-
ous and the idea of Surrealism in fashion and music may be even more
problematic. We have dared to venture, with a degree of trepidation,
into such territories.
ix
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