Skip to product information
1 of 1

In Montparnasse: The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris, from Duchamp to Dalí

In Montparnasse: The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris, from Duchamp to Dalí

Penguin Random House

Regular price $18.00
Regular price Sale price $18.00
Sale Not In Stock
Shipping calculated at checkout.

Ready to Ship

In Montparnasse begins on the eve of the First World War and ends with the 1936 unveiling of Dalí’s Lobster Telephone. As those extraordinary years unfolded, the Surrealists found ever more innovative ways of exploring the interior life, and asking new questions about how to define art. In Montparnasse recounts how this artistic revolution came to be amidst the salons and cafés of that vibrant neighborhood.

Sue Roe is both an incisive art critic of these pieces and a beguiling biographer with a fingertip feel for this compelling world. Beginning with Duchamp, Roe then takes us through the rise of the Dada movement, the birth of Surrealist photography with Man Ray, the creation of key works by Ernst, Cocteau, and others, through the arrival of Dalí. On canvas and in their readymades and other works these artists juxtaposed objects never before seen together to make the viewer marvel at the ordinary—and at the workings of the subconscious. We see both how this art came to be and how the artists of Montparnasse lived. Roe puts us with Gertrude Stein in her box seat at the opening of The Rite of Spring; with Duchamp as he installs his famous urinal; at a Cocteau theatrical with Picasso and Coco Chanel; with Breton at a session with Freud; and with Man Ray as he romances Kiki de Montparnasse.

Stein said it best when she noted that the Surrealists still saw in the common ways of the 19th century, but they complicated things with the bold new vision of the 20th. Their words mark an enormously important watershed in the history of art—and they forever changed the way we all see the world.

Written by Sue Roe, author of In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and the Birth of Modernist Art.

Product Details

  • Product Type: Book, Trade Paperback
  • 320 pages, with 16 illustrations
  • Publication Date:
  • Shipping Dimensions: 8.4 × 5.5 × 0.8 inches
    (21.3 × 14.0 × 2.0 cm)
  • Shipping Weight: 0.7 lb (11.2 oz; 318 g)
  • SKU010003529 | ISBN: 9781101981191

In these collections:

All Products | Books & Media | Gifts Under $25 |

Members Save 10%

Chrysler Museum members save 10% off when signed in. Use the discount code MEMBER10 at checkout.

Not a member? Join today and receive member benefits.

If you've recently joined or renewed, and you don't see your discount reflected iat checkout after entering the code, contact us and we'll take care of it right away for you.

Thank You for your Support

Your purchase supports the mission and programs of the Chrysler Museum of Art (including the Perry Glass Studio, and the Moses Myers House). We couldn't do what we do without you. Thank you.

View full details