Une Semaine de Bonté ou Les Sept Eléments Capitaux
Artist: Max Ernst (French, 1891-1976)
Publisher: Éditions Jeanne Bucher, Paris
Date: 1934
Dimensions:
sheet: 10 3/4 x 8 1/8 in. (27.3 x 20.6 cm)
Medium: 5 volumes with 182 reproductions of collages
Classification: Books
Credit Line: Mrs. George W. Stevens Fund
Object number: 1986.81A-E
Label Text:Ernst assembled Uen Semaine de bonté, his most famous collage novel and a landmark of Surrealist invention, in a three-week burst of creative activity while on a holiday visit to Italy in 1933. From a suitcase filled with illustrated pulp novels, scientific journals, and natural history magazines, he grafted together the novel's 182 illustrations to form his longest collage effort. The work was published in five paperbound booklets, appearing individually from April through December 1934, much like a novel in parts by Charles Dickens or a serialized popular story.
As the title would suggest, Une Semaine de bonté is divided into seven sections corresponding to the days of the week. Ernst introduced each day with a title page listing the artist, the full title, and the word roman (the French word for novel), leaving no doubt that this series of collages was to be considered a novel without words.
(Label information for Un Semaine de bonté is derived from "Images of Dreams and Desire: The Prints and Collage Novels of Max Ernst" by Evan M. Maurer in Max Ernst, Beyond Surrealism, 1986, pages 78-91)
The first booklet or chapter of UNE SEMAINE DE BONTE is Sunday; its element is given as mud (the alchemical reference to earth), and its protagonist is the main character of the book, the Lion of Belfort. In each of the volume's 35 collages, the Lion of Belfort is represented by feline-headed men who dominate and link the dramatic action.
As the title would suggest, Une Semaine de bonté is divided into seven sections corresponding to the days of the week. Ernst introduced each day with a title page listing the artist, the full title, and the word roman (the French word for novel), leaving no doubt that this series of collages was to be considered a novel without words.
(Label information for Un Semaine de bonté is derived from "Images of Dreams and Desire: The Prints and Collage Novels of Max Ernst" by Evan M. Maurer in Max Ernst, Beyond Surrealism, 1986, pages 78-91)
The first booklet or chapter of UNE SEMAINE DE BONTE is Sunday; its element is given as mud (the alchemical reference to earth), and its protagonist is the main character of the book, the Lion of Belfort. In each of the volume's 35 collages, the Lion of Belfort is represented by feline-headed men who dominate and link the dramatic action.
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