Africa of Surrealists. The problem of (non-)existence of African objects in André Breton’s collection

Andre Breton’s collection, considered to be a kind of archive of Surrealism, contains only a few African objects. The article attempts to identify the reasons for which Surrealists, following the trend of interest in “primitive art”, typical of the period, strongly preferred objects from Oceania and North America. The main part of the work is an analysis of Breton’s text “Oceanie” (1948), which refers to a discussion between supporters of the African art and supporters of the art of Oceania, interpreted as an attempt to impose the dominant perception of the reality. The African art is equated with a realistic vision of the world, while the art of Oceania corresponds to a poetic (Surrealist) vision. Surrealists’ reserve towards African art seen from this perspective is not only a symptom of tiredness of the fashion for “art negre”, but also an element of fundamental dispute over competing concepts of modernism. The concept of “L’Esprit” of Nouveau was associated with formalistically and rationalistically interpreted African sculpture, while the art of Oceania (described as “formally vague” and poetic) was close to the concept of Surrealists.Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00. Publikacja dofinansowana przez Fundację Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego oraz Katedrę Historii Sztuki Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego