Interesting. Another gem I had not heard of. Does Polizzotti mention Harpo Marx or the Marx brothers, in general? Dali considered Harpo Marx, Disney, and Cecil B. DeMille the only American surrealists in Hollywood at the time.
According to Groucho Marx, Dalí had something of a crush on Harpo, joking: "He was in love with my brother – in a nice way."
No, there is no mention of the great Marx Brothers here in this book. When Dali became ultra-famous, I think he lost the core of the Surrealist group. However, Duchamp remained friendly with him.
I'm currently reading a collection of surrealist tracts called Surrealism Against the Current edited by Michael Richardson and Krystof Fijalkowski. In their excellent introduction they point that contrary to popular belief Breton did not wield absolute authority and note that surrealism was a COLLECTIVE idea, accurately defined by Andre Masson as "the collective experience of individualism." They also quote the non-surrealist Jacques Lacan who described surrealism as "a tornado on the edge of an atmospheric depression where the norms of humanist individualism founder." Expulsions from the movement were justified by the betrayal of the surrealist ideal, and Breton was not the sole arbiter of such expulsions, for example, he opposed the expulsion of Max Ernst in 1953 but was over ruled and went along with the group decision.
Interesting. Another gem I had not heard of. Does Polizzotti mention Harpo Marx or the Marx brothers, in general? Dali considered Harpo Marx, Disney, and Cecil B. DeMille the only American surrealists in Hollywood at the time.
According to Groucho Marx, Dalí had something of a crush on Harpo, joking: "He was in love with my brother – in a nice way."
No, there is no mention of the great Marx Brothers here in this book. When Dali became ultra-famous, I think he lost the core of the Surrealist group. However, Duchamp remained friendly with him.
I'm currently reading a collection of surrealist tracts called Surrealism Against the Current edited by Michael Richardson and Krystof Fijalkowski. In their excellent introduction they point that contrary to popular belief Breton did not wield absolute authority and note that surrealism was a COLLECTIVE idea, accurately defined by Andre Masson as "the collective experience of individualism." They also quote the non-surrealist Jacques Lacan who described surrealism as "a tornado on the edge of an atmospheric depression where the norms of humanist individualism founder." Expulsions from the movement were justified by the betrayal of the surrealist ideal, and Breton was not the sole arbiter of such expulsions, for example, he opposed the expulsion of Max Ernst in 1953 but was over ruled and went along with the group decision.
Well, that’s a fascinating piece of history — thanks for the information.
It's all here now, only more Dada