Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968)


Boite Alerte, Missives Lascives: Exposition inteRnatiOnale du Surrealism (EROS) (See Schwartz 598-599), 1959Collection of letters, objects, original prints and a paperback exhibition catalogue, contained in a cardboard box covered with green paper with removable top, entitled Boite Alerte (Alert Box) with a label in red type that reads Missives Lascives (Lascivious Missives), and Exposition inteRnatiOnale du Surréalism (capital letters form the acronym EROS) designed by Mimi Parent at the request of André Breton, containing works by Marcel Duchamp, André Breton, Octavio Paz, and others, published by Galerie Daniel Cordier, Paris, for the International Exhibition of Surrealism held at Galerie Daniel Cordier, Paris, organized by Marcel Duchamp and Andre Breton, December 15th, 1959 - February 29th, 1960, stamped 140 on the underside of the box top, from the regular edition of 200 (aside from 30 HC copies for exhibition collaborators). Box height 11in (27.9cm); width 7 1/2in (19 cm); depth 2 3/4in (7cm)
|Contained in the box:The catalogue of the exhibition, 144 pp. illustrated, ca. 230 copies.I. Nine "Lascivious Missives":- 1.Robert Benayoum, pink envelope containing "Le Corridor" illustrated in four parts.- 2. Micheline Bounoure, yellow envelope "Soit Ardent en foret" containing original color composition.- 3. Alain Joubert, pale green envelope containing "La Perle", text printed on four sheets.- 4. Red Envelope '' Have you thought of giving a little blood '' containing a printed card.- 5. (R. Benayoum), white envelope "Strictement personnel" containing an authorization to rewrite a text.- 6. Octavio Paz, aerogram '' Huis Clos" '' containing "Edemira B." prints and a 1954 press clipping about sexual violence of a Bogota farmer on his semi-consenting wife.- 7. Transparent envelope "Avis de Souffrance" containing an anonymous leaflet and letters of a sadist.- 8. Andre Pieyre of Mandiargues, orange envelope "usage externe," containing a booklet entitled "La Maree," with erotic text.- 9. Mimi Parent, black silk stocking with the words "Haut" printed on the top, contained in a white envelope with transparent window.II.A telegram on pink paper by Marcel Duchamp writing as RROSE "a Vous chez Andre Breton ..."III. A vinyl two-sided 45 record with recordings by: (A) side: J. Mansour, "The religious intoxication of big cities"; (B) side: Peret, "The gallant sheep."IV. Six color postcards of Bellmer, Dali, Gorky, Miro, Svanberg, Clovis Trouille.V. Four original lithographs signed by: Joan Miro; Marie Toyen; Max Walter Svanberg; Adrien Dax and an original etching by Jacques Le Marechal.Boite Alerte is a collection of works by different surrealist artists who contributed to this landmark show. The erotic content of many of the works is a sly reference to the acronym for the "Exposition inteRnatiOnale du Surrealism" or EROS Provenance Galerie Marie de Beyrie, ParisRenee Fotouhi Fine Art Ltd., New RochelleThence by descent to the current owner