La Brebis Galante (La collection GBMZ, 1)

Artist Max Ernst (French, 1891-1976)

Publisher Les éditions premières, Paris, 1949

Printer etchings: Georges Visat, [Paris] (under the direction of the artist) text: Viglino, Bourg-la-Reine

Author Benjamin Péret (French, 1899-1959)

Date1949

Dimensionsbox: 11 x 8 3/4 x 1 3/8 in. (280 x 222 x 35mm)
book: 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (242 x 190mm)
page: 9 3/8 x 7 1/2 in. (238 x 190mm)

MediumOriginal prints: 3 etchings in colors (incl. title page); 15 line block reproductions of collages with added pochoir by the artist Reproductions: line block reproductions of drawings in colors (initial letters); photolithograph of the title page etching (wrapper) Text: letterpress (typeface: Bodoni) Paper: cream Arches wove paper, watermarked

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

1979.21

Not on View

Label TextWritten in 1924, Peret's Surrealist story of LA BREBIS GALANTE is a fairy tale of irrational images based upon free association that launched the author into a flight of digressions and unexpected juxtapositions. Ernst's three etchings include a title page adorned with a mask,a second etching of an ewe, and finally a fusion of ewe and mask. The etchings, like Peret's title, have nothing to do with the contents of the story, a fact which is reinforced by their isolated placement at the beginning of the book before the text. (Derived from Anne Hyde Greet's essay "Max Ernst and the Artist's Book: From Fait Modes to Maximilliana" in Max Ernst, BEYOND SURREALISM, 1986, page 113.)Published Referencescf. Garvey, Eleanor M., The Artist & the Book, 1860--1960, Boston, 1961, no. 100