Nadja, a surrealist itinerary
André Breton Robert Desnos Louis Aragon Max Ernst Georges Braque
Publikart, Stanislas Claude, 25 avril 2022
After an exhibition devoted in 2021 to Flaubert's heroine Salammbo, it is now Andre Breton's Nadja that is being honored (...). The theme of Heroines is perfect for this Nadja, tutelary figure of Andre Breton's famous book. She is spotlighted to understand a pivotal era of surrealism and better grasp who she was.
A Nadja not so mysterious
It was after the writer's decisive encounter with Leona Delcourt that Nadja was born in his mind. She, who called herself Nadja, marked him deeply enough to lead Andre Breton to make her the subject of an autobiographical narrative recounting the nine days spent with her. Between passion and encounters, the adventure was born and left a lasting mark on 20th-century literature. The exhibition offered by the Rmn Rouen Normandie presents an itinerary composed of images that answer Andre Breton's anti-literary objective. Reproductions of works by Max Ernst and Georges Braque, photographs by Man Ray and Jacques Andre Boiffard, symbolic objects such as the bronze pair of gloves offered by Lise Deharme, stand alongside portraits of Desnos, Aragon, Peret, and Breton to offer visitors a surrealist promenade. The exhibition route highlights major surrealist themes: dream, the unconscious, the found object, objective chance, encounter, Paris, and the apparent strangeness of ancient arts or non-Western arts. The exhibition Nadja, a surrealist itinerary is only the first stage in a long procession of commemorative surrealism exhibitions to run through its centenary year in 2024.
The Reunion des Musees Metropolitains Rouen Normandie (and more specifically the Rouen Museum of Fine Arts) offers a rich route to better grasp an era in which Normandy played a genuine role in inspiring surrealist artists, between the manor of Varengeville-sur-Mer and the homes of Breton's companions.