- 141
Raoul Ubac
Description
- Raoul Ubac
- la triomphe de la stérilité ou penthesilée
- Gelatin silver print
Provenance
Calmels Cohen, Paris, André Breton, 42, rue Fontaine, 15 April 2003, Lot 5062
Literature
Raoul Ubac 1910-1985 (Eupen, Belgium, 1996), p. 59
Gérard Durozoi, Histoire du movement surréaliste (Paris, 1997), p. 247
Christian Bouqueret, Raoul Ubac: Photographie (Paris, 2000), cover and pp. 67 and 252
Condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
This photograph was given by Raoul Ubac to Breton in 1937. Breton was a significant influence upon Ubac, who cited his reading of Breton’s first Surrealist Manifesto as ‘a revelation and a calling’ (Coke, Photography: A Facet of Modernism, p. 186). Ubac inscribed the print as follows: ‘Á André Breton, cette photo -- issue indirectement de “vases communicants” -- comme témoignage de mon admiration.’ Ubac’s inscription refers to Breton’s 1932 book, Les Vases Communicant. The underlying thematic motif of Breton’s book is that of the scientific apparatus, communicating vessels: two containers, connected by a small passageway, in which fluids will settle to the same level. Breton believed that the surreal, nighttime world of dreams could be balanced in a similar way with the daytime world of fact, and that this equalization would unlock the creative act.
Ubac’s career as a photographer was relatively short. He gave up photography completely in 1945. Consequently, surviving prints, especially large exhibition prints such as the one offered here, are scarce.