André Breton

André Breton, an original Dada group member, later founded and led the Surrealist movement in 1924. He explored various creative mediums, particularly collage and printmaking, while also writing several books. André Breton pioneered methods of uniting text and image through chance association to form new, poetic word-image combinations. 

Biography of André Breton

André Breton was born in a small village, but his family soon moved to a Parisian suburb. Excelling in school, he developed literary interests early on. Breton immersed himself in the works of French Decadents like Charles Baudelaire, J.K. Huysmans, Stephane Mallarme, and German Romantic writers, shaping his early ideas about avant-gardism.

By 1912, Breton possessed a deep knowledge of Contemporary art and delved into studying Anarchism as a political movement. While admiring French Decadent artists such as Gustave Moreau, Breton began to distance himself from their advocacy of "art for art's sake," instead favoring art with broader appeal.

While cultivating his early aestheticism, Breton pursued studies in medicine, completed basic military training, and in 1915, was stationed at a military hospital in Nantes. During this period, he encountered his mentors, Guillaume Apollinaire and Jacques Vache, both hospitalized for war wounds.

Breton hated war, and this sentiment spurred his deep dive into Sigmund Freud's psychotherapeutic practices. Breton's exploration of psychiatric art, delving into the subconscious, laid the groundwork for his interest in Dada and later, Surrealism. In 1919, he initiated a correspondence with Tristan Tzara, who was developing early Dada theories in Zurich. Their collaboration culminated in Paris in 1920.

Arriving in Paris in his mid-twenties, Breton was already an established author and editor of the avant-garde magazine Litterature. While Tristan Tzara penned his Manifestation Dada, Breton advocated for journalism and live "happenings" as powerful statements against the bourgeoisie. As Dada performances were typically not recorded, much of the movement's impact survives today only in print, through flyers, posters, manifestos, handbills, and magazines. 

Facing French critics' disdain for Dada's initial association with German Expressionism, Breton endeavored to link the movement with French literary circles. Dada's decline in 1924, attributed to personal rifts between Breton and Tzara, paved the path for Surrealism. The Surrealist Manifesto elucidated Breton's exploration of psychic automatism, gaining traction in America when he brought Surrealist artists' exhibitions to New York.

Throughout the 1930s, Surrealist artists diverged, with some prioritizing political activism over commercial success. Figures like Max Ernst, René Magritte, and Salvador Dalí continued to explore the connections between dreams and artistic expression. Breton, staunchly opposed to fascism, advocated for political engagement, prompting many Surrealists to align with his stance. Notably, numerous women associated with Surrealism, including Lee Miller and Meret Oppenheim, were drawn to Breton's exploration of themes surrounding sexual identity during this period.

During the onset of World War II, Breton traveled across Europe, delivering lectures condemning the repression of intellectual freedom. When the war erupted, Breton resumed his role as a medic before eventually fleeing to New York in 1941. Over the subsequent years, he lectured at institutions like Yale, expounding on automatism, politics, and Surrealism. His influence on the New York School became evident as artists like Pollock and Motherwell applied his theories to their artistic endeavors.

After the war, Breton continued writing and embarked on global travels before eventually returning to Paris. During the 1940s and 50s, he focused primarily on essays and poetry, including "Arcane 17" (1945), a mythological prose set in Canada. Breton also authored "Constellations" (1959), a collection of poems inspired by Joan Miró's gouache paintings of the same name.

Additionally, Breton amassed a significant collection of art, particularly from Indigenous peoples, which remained intact until 2003 when the Atelier de Breton was disbanded and its contents auctioned. Some pieces from his collection can still be found at the Centre Pompidou. Breton's "Dossier Dada," an archive containing press clippings and publications related to various art movements, is housed at Kunsthaus Zurich.