Hans Bellmer
Madame Edwarda. Paris: Georges Visat [1965]
1965

Name: Madame Edwarda. Paris: Georges Visat [1965]
Brand: Hans Bellmer
Price: 14800 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

BELLMER, Hans (1902-1975) -- BATAILLE, Georges (1897-1962). Madame Edwarda. Paris: Georges Visat [1965]. 12 copper engravings by Hans Bellmer, including the frontispiece and a vignette in the colophon, all signed in pencil by Bellmer. In sheets in the original white card covers, spine printed in black original lilac moiré silk chemise and slipcase, the spine titled in gilt and a little water stains. FIRST EDITION ILLUSTRATED BY BELLMER, with twelve engravings signed by the artist. Bellmer's remarkable images are drawn 'with the sharpness of a scalpel... they crystalize, exceed and exude Bataille's text, whose realism derives from its lyrical brilliance rather than its precision of detail. It is this very difference in approach, this unique vision, that makes the artist the equal of the author, rather than a mere illustrator' (Eros invaincu). One of 167 copies only, this one number 118. Eros invaincu 102; Pia Enfer, 852.

Creator:

Hans Bellmer (1912 - 1975, German)

Creation Year:

1965

Dimensions:

Height: 15.75 in (40 cm)Width: 10.24 in (26 cm)Depth: 1.19 in (3 cm)

Medium:

Engraving

Period:

1960-1969

Condition:

Gallery Location:

BRUCE, AU

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU1918213173092

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Hans Bellmer

Surrealist German artist Hans Bellmer produced images of contorted, disfigured or bound forms of usually pubescent women in drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures. He is best known for creating life-sized dolls and disassembled mannequins and used his art to explore themes of sexuality, lust and death as well as to express his viewpoints on politics and society, work through his own traumas and comment on Freudian psychoanalytic principles.

Bellmer was born in Katowice, Germany. He and his brother lived in constant fear of their stern father who showed the boys little affection. Childish play was forbidden by his cold father. Even though he passed university entrance exams, his father insisted that he work in factories and coal mines instead of furthering his education. His father did eventually agree to allow Bellmer to enter the engineering program at the Berlin Polytechnic but his true passion was art.

In 1924, Bellmer quit school and became an illustrator and advertising designer for a left-wing publishing house. Upon discovering Dadaism, he associated with artists such as John Heartfield and George Grosz and attended lectures at the Bauhaus art school. As fascist politics took hold around him — Bellmer was living in Berlin when Hitler came to power, and his own father became a Nazi — he was compelled to create art that reflected his anger and inner turmoil.

Capitalizing on the manifesto of Surrealist André Breton that called for words to be cut up and rearranged, he created a series of mannequins, dressed as children’s dolls, that explored his own erotic obsessions and abusive relationships around him. With like-minded German artist Unica Zürn, Bellmer collaborated on related works that examined bondage and eroticism for 15 years.

Many of Bellmer’s works can be found in public collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, the International Center of Photography in New York and the British Museum in London.

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