Surrealism's founding texts sold

By Estelle Shirbon

PARIS (Reuters) - The only known manuscript of French poet Andre Breton's "Manifeste du surrealisme," which had a profound influence on 20th century art, was sold on Wednesday with eight other works for 3.6 million euros ($5.67 million).

Breton's 1924 text launched the Surrealist movement, which inspired generations of painters, photographers and filmmakers of the caliber of Rene Magritte, Max Ernst, Salvador Dali, Man Ray and Luis Bunuel.

Auctioneers Sotheby's in Paris said the Manifesto was sold together with seven preparatory notebooks for Breton's "Poisson soluble" ("Soluble fish") collection of poems, and a manuscript of the collection itself.

"These exceptional manuscripts are very moving, not only because of their content but also because of their form. Andre Breton wrote his texts in schoolboy notebooks," Guillaume Cerutti, president of Sotheby's France, told Reuters.

The auctioneers had given an estimated price of 300,000 to 500,000 euros for the Manifesto alone. At auction, bids for the text rose as high as 740,000 euros before it was joined together with Breton's eight other manuscripts.

After a bidding battle, all nine texts were sold in one bloc for 3.6 million euros to a private association of book lovers based in Paris who are expected to display the works to the public.

"It is a profound cultural satisfaction for us to see these exceptional documents remain together because they formed a coherent whole for Breton," Cerutti said.

He said Breton had originally intended his Manifesto to appear as a preface to "Soluble fish."