In Montparnasse: The Emergence of the Surrealism in Paris, from Duchamp to Dali

Roe (In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and the Birth of Modernist Art) traces the birth and evolution of Surrealism in this colorful but overly detailed account, revealing how a group of disgruntled Paris artisans created a new movement and turned the art world on its head. Infuriated by the massive destruction of WWI, artists including Marcel Duchamp, Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, and Man Ray exploded the boundaries of society and art when they moved to the low-rent, gritty district of Montparnasse, “lifting things out of their habitual contexts... to endow them with new, startling implications.” Throughout, Roe describes pivotal artistic moments: Gertrude Stein attending the revolutionary premiere of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Duchamp adapting a urinal into ready-made art, Cocteau transforming a bar into an avant-garde hangout, Man Ray developing images with three-dimensional qualities called rayographs, René Magritte turning a painting of a pipe into a work of art, and, finally, the showing of Salvador Dali’s Lobster Telephone in 1936. Roe is an elegant writer, but the narrative can become confusing as she jumps back and forth between artists within chapters. Nevertheless, this entertaining, fast-paced history will thrill Francophones and art historians alike. (Aug.)