Surrealist Treasures from a Private Collection

Exquisite Corpus

Exquisite Corpus: Surrealist Treasures from a Private Collection

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo, El sueño (La cama)

Transatlantic Discourse &amp; The Geography of Desire

Unbound

Unbound: Transatlantic Discourse & The Geography of Desire

The literary tradition lay at the very heart of the Surrealist movement—a permeating force that awakened the unconscious and challenged rationality. The Surrealists drew from the transgressive fire of the Marquis de Sade, the shadowed beauty of Baudelaire, the visionary audacity of Rimbaud, the startling juxtapositions of Lautréamont and the ecstatic, forbidden extremes of Georges Bataille. Literature from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries suffused Surrealist creation, transforming these artists’ ideas into dreamlike interpretations of the world where desire, delirium and the uncanny coalesced.

The literary tradition lay at the very heart of the Surrealist movement.

Literary Liaisons

New York

Head of Modern Evening Auction

Allegra Bettini

Vice Chairman, Head of Impressionist & Modern Art, Americas

Julian Dawes

Vice Chairman, Head of Middle Market for Modern & Contemporary Art

Scott Niichel

Global Head of Research, Impressionist & Modern Art

Edith Eustis

Specialist, Modern Evening Auction

Sara Land

Cataloguer, Modern Evening Auction

Genevieve Richardson

Head of Latin American Art

Anna Di Stasi

Specialist

Emily Nice

Associate Specialist

Carola Reyes Benítez

Impressionist & Modern Art

Bridget Quinn

Client Accounts Receivable Manager
Impressionist & Modern Art

Samit Sinha

Senior Account Manager

Deborah Engel

Meet our Specialists

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Among the most distinguished private collections of Surrealist art, Exquisite Corpus represents the culmination of a lifetime’s engagement with one of the twentieth century’s most revolutionary artistic movements. Assembled over four decades with a connoisseurial eye and unwavering dedication, the collection traces the movement’s imaginative arc and recalls the collaborative Surrealist game ‘Exquisite Corpse,’ in which artists’ successive sketches coalesced into unexpected and fantastical forms. Rarely seen and long preserved in private hands, the collection stands as a testament to Surrealism’s enduring capacity to challenge perception and provoke critical reflection, and affirms its profound relevance in the modern era.

Exquisite Corpus Evening Auction