Robert BENAYOUN. Film project devoted to surrealism. [1952-1 - Lot 48

Lot 48
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Robert BENAYOUN. Film project devoted to surrealism. [1952-1 - Lot 48
Robert BENAYOUN. Film project devoted to surrealism. [1952-1970]. Voluminous file of documentation from the archives of Robert Benayoun. An impressive collection of original and autographed documents relating to an unfinished documentary on Surrealism. In the last years of André Breton's life, Robert Benayoun and Jacques-Bernard Brunius planned a film on the history of Surrealism for television. The documentary, produced by Pierre Braunberger, was to combine archival footage with sequences filmed with members of the group. Some scenes were filmed at Saint-Cirq la Popie in the summer of 1964. The outcome of the project was undoubtedly compromised by André Breton's death on September 28, 1966, and Elisa Breton's opposition to the use of the film footage. Robert Benayoun was to use some of the footage shot in his Passage Breton, broadcast on television in 1970. The present set includes ten autograph letters and postcards from André Breton to Robert Benayoun, four autograph letters from Brunius to Robert Benayoun, the reworked screenplay, original sketches and photographs, documents used in the conception of the film, administrative correspondence relating to the production, etc. Detail: - Screenplay. September 8, 1964. Reproduction of a 20-page stapled typescript, reworked by the scriptwriter. With two original drawings, crayfish portraits, one in ballpoint pen, the other in India ink and watercolor, and a 1/3 page introduction (double carbon). 2 draft notes. - 10 autograph letters and postcards from André Breton to Robert Benayoun. September 19, 1952-September 6, 1965. 3 autograph letters, 5 pages in-4, 7 autograph postcards, 1 telegram, 5 envelopes. Some of these letters, dating from the '50s and early '60s, are not yet concerned with the documentary, but with the life of the group. For example, on September 19, 1952, Breton wrote about the life of the group on its return from vacation: La Conversation de 6 heures (The 6 o'clock Conversation) dealt mainly with the Sartre-Camus split, then the sanctions taken within the "P.C.F." against Marty and Tillon, which, I believe, will lead to their exclusion shortly. We all agree that Sartre and Jeanson put Camus in an almost untenable position. It is more difficult to determine the scope of the next disgrace, but it could have considerable repercussions. There is also talk of various publishing projects; he mentions Jérôme Lindon, who has just taken over the editions of Minuit and Sagittaire (located at 7 rue Bernard Palissy); A postcard dated July 25, 1960 approves the idea of consulting Brunius "regarding The Soothsayer's Tournament". A letter dated August 25, 1961 refers to the publication of his text on the Douanier Rousseau. A card dated August 30, 1961 gives the caption for his portrait by Mimi Parent: Duc... la Montagne Noire. A letter written shortly before the shoot at Saint-Cirq (August 3, 1964) gives him advice on writing a bulletin: These days, references to Ubu are worn out. Elementary prudence, as soon as one approaches Belgium (cf. a certain "Daily-Bul" which has just reached me) advises against any allusion to... anal, which finds there the invasive echo that we know! With a table of 16 illustrations by André Breton, 1 page in-12 and André Breton's death announcement. 1966. - Printed questionnaire "Enquête sur les représentations érotiques", part-issue of La Brèche, no. 6. 2 copies with autograph note signed by André Breton and Vincent Bounoure, one addressed to Louis Buñuel, the other to Christiane Rochefort. - Autograph letter signed by Robert Benayoun to André Breton, dated December 19, 1965: full of bitterness, Benayoun deplores the lack of collective spirit in the group, several Surrealists having shot a film at the gallery to general approval. He regrets not having been informed, even though he had just "worked for a year and a half according to a unanimously approved project, designed to represent the collectivity of the group, and with its help, playing fair at every stage...". Clearly, the letter was not mailed, as evidenced by the unmarked envelope addressed to Breton. - Double carbon of a typed letter from R. Benayoun to Édouard and Simone Jaguer, July 29, 1964. - Typed text "Doublons la garde mais vérifions les identités" from the Belgian section of the Phases movement, February 10, 1964, 1 ½ page in-4. - Four autograph letters signed by Jacques-Bernard Brunius to Benayoun. June 24, 1953-November 17, 1965. 22 pages in-4. The first letter dates from 1953, after "six months of
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