Earthlight (Clair de terre)

Artist Pablo Picasso (Spanish (active France), 1881-1973)

Publisher [André Breton], Paris, 1923

Printer Les Presses du Montparnasse, Paris

Author André Breton (French, 1896-1966)

Date1923

DimensionsBook: H: 11 3/16 in. (284 mm); W: 7 5/8 in. (194 mm); Depth: 7/16 in. (11 mm).
Page (untrimmed): H: 11 3/16 in. (284 mm); W: 7 1/2 in. (191 mm).
Image: H: 5 7/8 in. (149 mm); W: 3 15/16 in. (100 mm).

MediumOriginal print: drypoint. Text: letterpress. Paper: Van Gelder cream laid paper, watermarked.

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineGift of Molly and Walter Bareiss in honor of Barbara K. Sutherland

Object number

1984.877

Not on View

Label TextPicasso and the poet Breton met in 1923, when Breton was 27 and had already gained certain recognition. Although Breton was one of the leaders of the Dada movement, by 1923, that movement was paralyzed by inherent contradictions. Breton was to be the driving force behind the new Surrealist movement which hoped to explore the realm of the unconscious. The title for this collection of poems, CLAIR DE TERRE (Earth Light) is explained in the epigraph following the title page: "Planet Earth shines like a giant star in the heavens. Earth-light bathes the moon." The Surrealists readily adapted this novel astronomy. The poems, which are in verse or prose, are dedicated to Surrealist friends like Benjamin Péret, Gala and Paul Eluard, Man Ray, Max Ernst, with the last poem dedicated to Picasso. CLAIR DE TERRE includes some typographic witticisms which were a trademark of the Dadists, but which were ultimately abandoned by the Surrealists. the trompe l'loeil title, for example, is printed in such a way that the black spaces between the letters appear like some mysterious script. (From S. Goeppert, H. Goeppert-Frank, P. Cramer, PABLO PICASSO, THE ILLUSTRATED BOOKS: CATALOGUE RAISONNE, 1983, page 40)Published Referencescf. Goeppert, Sebastian, et al., Pablo Picasso: The Illustrated Books, Catalogue raisonné, Geneva, 1983, no. 12

cf. Johnson, Robert Flynn, Artists' Books in the Modern Era 1870--2000: The Reva and David Logan Collection of Illustrated Books, San Francisco, 2001, no. 44.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Picasso as an Illustrator, Jan. 23-May 29, 1988, no. 4.