“Art Brut et Surréalisme :
Rapprochements et divergences”
Roundtable discussion moderated by Christian Berst and Philippe Dagen,
Friday, October 18, 2024 at 7 pm
“I don’t know what to think of my relationship with André Breton […] there are points where it seems we understand each other well; others where I fear, major and serious differences are deeply buried; […] Nevertheless, there is one point where it seems we agree anyway, it is Outsider art.”
Jean Dubuffet to his friend Jean Paulhan
Augustin Lesage (1876-1954)
Untitled, 1944
Oil on canvas
Signed, dated ‘Mai 1944’ and located ‘Burbure’ lower right
Annotated ‘Toile peinte pendant l’occupation sous les bruits des moteurs’ above
and ‘Énigmes des siècles/ En souvenir d’un grand passé, Thèbes, Memphis/ La Haute et la Basse Egypte/ Lion rugissant gardien des temples’ below
185 x 135 cm
Sold on June 18, 2024
This October, Paris is the center of the International Modern and Contemporary Art market. Paris is hosting major exhibitions including Surrealism at the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Caillebotte retrospective at Musée d’Orsay, as well as the famous Art Basel Paris returning to the mythical Grand Palais. Tajan is pleased to contribute to this cultural effervescence by highlighting the relationships between Surrealism and Outsider Art.
André Breton, the famous author of the Surrealism Manifesto celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, was critical to the early research on Outsider Art together with Jean Dubuffet. As a fervent supporter of the 1948 exhibition “L’Art Brut préféré aux arts culturels” organized by Dubuffet at the Galerie René Drouin, Breton helped legitimize and promote this concept. For Breton, Outsider Art was pure, untained by social and aesthetic codes and as such, he associated it with his own exploration of the hidden forces of the unconscious.
He shared with Dubuffet a rejection of academicism and the norms of “cultural” art. However, Breton did not wish to reduce Outsider Art to a creation entirely devoid of aesthetic intention. Unlike Dubuffet, who viewed Outsider Art as a total rejection of institutionalized art, Breton believed that this art could engage in a dialogue with Surrealism as a legitimate and aesthetic form of expression.
Join us on October 18th at 19:00 to explore this exciting connection between Surrealism and Outsider Art.
INFORMATION
Friday, October 18 2024 at 7 pm
Tajan, 37 rue des mathurins, 75008 Paris
Speakers
Christian Berst, gallery owner, curator and author specializing in Art Brut, has been defending this specialty internationally for over 20 years.
Philippe Dagen, professor of Art History at Panthéon-Sorbonne University, author and journalist for Le Monde.
Reservations required at [email protected] or by telephone on +33 1 53 30 30 68
CONTACTS
Eva Palazuelos – Modern Art département manager
+33 1 53 30 30 48 – [email protected]
Loren Richard – Modern Art specialist
+33 1 53 30 31 06 – [email protected]