Surrealism and Anti-fascism

A thick paperback book titled Surrealism and Anti-fascism Anthology is shown at an angle on a white background. The light blue cover features a black-and-white collage of a surrealist drawing of a bird-like figure, handwritten text, and other printed materials.

The back cover of a light blue book titled But Live Here? No Thanks. The cover features a black-and-white surrealist illustration of a large, dark hand holding a pen over a landscape. The landscape contains abstract, curvaceous figures, a distant building, and a swan's neck with a human hand attached. A block of text about Surrealism is printed above the drawing.

A two-page book spread. The left page, numbered 012, is mostly blank. The right page, 013, features an introduction titled BUT LIVE HERE? NO THANKS. SURREALISM AND ANTI-FASCISM. The text discusses the political nature of the Surrealist movement, its members' involvement in the French Resistance, and their fight against fascism.

A scanned image of two open pages from a book, pages 472 and 473, under the header Excerpts. The main text is an essay in a black serif font, with the title POETRY KEEPS ITS SECRET on page 472. The essay discusses the relationship between poetry, ideology, and revolution. A portion of the preceding page, 471, is visible on the far left.

A two-page spread from an art exhibition catalog titled Exhibited Works. The pages, numbered 650 and 651, display a collection of various artworks, including surrealist paintings, drawings, and photographs, each accompanied by a text block with details about the artist, title, and date.

A two-page spread from the April 2022 issue of Art in America, pages 40-41, featuring an article on Surrealism. The layout includes columns of text, a large headline, a black-and-white group photo, two small images of masks, and a large, colorful surrealist painting by Leonora Carrington depicting fantastical figures in a dreamlike landscape.

A minimalist table of contents on page 005 of a book. The sections listed include Preface, Lenders, Acknowledgements, Introduction, Documents, Excerpts, Exhibited Works, Appendix, Exhibition Views, Credits and Copyrights, and Colophon, each with its starting page number.

A composite image showing two books on a white background. On the left, an open book with a red cover displays English text from a chapter titled THE FIRING LINE. On the right, a pamphlet with an orange illustration of a hand holding a pen has the title ŠPANĚLSKU at the bottom and Spanish text reading Poesia y critica al servicio de la causa popular at the top.

A two-page spread from a book. The left page is mostly blank. The right page shows a reproduction of a French document titled POUR UN ART RÉVOLUTIONNAIRE INDÉPENDANT in a large, bold, all-caps font. Below the title are several paragraphs of text on a pale, textured background. Attribution to André Breton and Leon Trotsky from 1938 is printed above the document.

A black-and-white photograph of an open book. The left page features a large photo of a person in a turban and bow tie holding a fluffy white dog. The right page contains text and two smaller photos.

An open book showing a two-page spread, pages 490 and 491, with the heading Excerpts. The left page is titled CONTRE-ATTAQUE CALL TO ACTION and contains an essay and dialogue about a 1936 political pamphlet. The right page is titled REALISM and features an essay on the art movement, mentioning artists like Courbet and discussions on its meaning.

A two-page appendix spread showing a collage of photographs from an art exhibition. The images depict various gallery spaces with white walls and wood floors, displaying a mix of paintings, historical black and white photographs, and artifacts in display cases. Benches are placed throughout the rooms for visitors.

An overhead view of an open book displaying two aged, yellowed pages from a French publication. The left page, from Feuille Rouge, features a bold red graphic of a gallows and a hand with a sickle smashing a swastika. The right page is primarily text with a small black and white photograph.

An open book on a white surface, showing two pages. The left page features a full-page reproduction of the green and yellow cover of Arsenal Surrealist Subversion, with a surrealist collage. The right page has a block of text under a small black-and-white photo of an icy landscape.

An overhead view of the book Djamila Boupacha by Simone de Beauvoir and Gisèle Halimi against a white background. On the left is the book's cover, and on the right is an open spread showing a page of text in French opposite a page with two black-and-white photographs of people.

A two-page magazine spread from an art publication about surrealism and politics. The left page features text and a large surrealist painting of a woman on a shore next to an aircraft carrier and a blimp. The right page continues the article, showing a black-and-white photograph of four men and covers of the journal La Révolution surréaliste.

An angled photograph of an open book with a light blue cover, set against a white background. The book displays a two-page spread featuring a black-and-white reproduction of Pablo Picasso's cubist painting, Guernica. Text in both a Latin script and Arabic script accompanies the image.

Surrealism and Anti-fascism

Anthology

€ 54.00

VAT included. Shipping costs will be calculated at checkout

Edited by: Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München, Karin Althaus , Adrian Djukić , Ara H. Merjian , Matthias Mühling , Stephanie Weber

March 2025, 680 Pages, 600 Photos

Lay-Flat Binding with Flaps

222mm x 282mm

ISBN: 978-3-7757-5877-2

HATJE CANTZ VERLAG
Mommsenstr. 27
10629 Berlin
Germany
E-Mail: contact@hatjecantz.de

According to Article 9(7) of the GPSR Regulation, no additional security information is required for books without supplements or special functions.

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The topicality of Surrealism today

Surrealism was not only an international artistic movement, but also a political one. Its members denounced European colonial policy, opposed fascist regimes, fought for the Spanish Republic, were persecuted, went into exile, and died in war. They wrote poetry, deconstructed the language of a supposedly rational world, worked on paintings, collective drawings, took photographs, and made collages. Surrealism was associated with later emancipatory concerns not as a style, but as a method, and was taken up by the student protests of the 1960s and the Black Liberation Movement. This catalogue is published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Lenbachhaus Munich. In the form of an anthology, it presents pivotal texts and manifestoes of political Surrealism from its beginnings to current references in art and politics. It thus offers a valuable contribution to revising the still narrowly defined Surrealist canon.

EXHIBITION

Lenbachhaus Munich

October 15, 2024-March 30, 2025