Dans un courrier récent, madame Fern Malkine-Falvey, fille du grand peintre surréaliste Malkine, seul peintre à avoir signé le Manifeste du surréalisme de 1924, nous faisait part de son indignation face à la vente Breton. Elle ajoute sa signature et celles de plusieurs membres de sa famille en bas de notre appel, et nous a fait l´honneur de présenter les relations de Malkine avec la surréalisme et André Breton dans un texte que nous avons mis en ligne, en nous communiquant une reproduction d´un tableau réalisé par Malkine un an après la mort de Breton, "Demeure d´André Breton". Elle conclut son texte en citant cette phrase de Malkine : « Dans la nuit de ma jeunesse éclata soudain une haute lumière qui avait nom André Breton. André Breton n’est pas mort. André Breton ne peut pas mourir. » (nous en profitons pour remercier le poète Auxeméry d´avoir traduit ce texte)

Sur Malkine, nous recommandons la page du Monde des arts, réalisée en collaboration avec Fern Malkine-Falvey.

Fern Malkine-Falvey revient d´autre part sur la mise aux enchères dans le texte suivant :

Andre Breton’s Legacy

"In his early years, André Breton studied medicine and the works of Freud in what was to become his life-long concern with the human condition and it’s welfare. Surrealism evolved from this concern, with Breton maintaining that this way of life was available to everyone. Surrealism, with its emphasis on creativity and unconscious processes was an alternative to the mindless rationality seen as the cause of World War I. Horrified at what he had witnessed on battlefields, in hospitals and by what politicians were expounding, Breton, through force of intellect and a powerful charisma, united in common cause, writers, poets and painters to create an alternative way of life that even today attracts millions. (Recent exhibitions on Surrealism in the United States attracted more than a half a million viewers.)

Perhaps Surrealism could have existed without Magritte or Eluard, or even Dali, but not without Breton. That the history of the evolution of Surrealism by the hand of its guiding genius still exists today in the form of his collection, and is available, intact, for future generations to appreciate, creates an imperative to preserve it.

As a French citizen, and as the daughter of a painter who was among the founding members of the Surrealist movement, I am embarrassed and ashamed at the French Government’s lack of concern and at the impending dissolution of Breton’s estate. What more could any individual have possibly done than he did, to be considered a national treasure ? And to those who would say that Breton wouldn’t care about the imminent dispersion of his estate, I would remind them that it is well known that he only collected those things he loved, and that on more than one occasion, he went without heat or electricity rather than sell the art he had so lovingly collected.

I find it incomprehensible that no one in the Ministry of Culture seems to recognize Breton’s place in the world of art, literature and poetry. His influence was, and is, enormous. His philosophy of life affected people of all cultures and walks of life. Many of the people that I have spoken to about the impending auction of Breton’s personal collection are incredulous that the French Government has done little or nothing to preserve the estate of this genius in their midst ; that they don’t seem to understand just how many lives Breton touched. How can it be that the country that claims to be the center of art in the world does not recognize how much more it could gain by preserving Breton’s estate as a museum, then by letting it’s treasures be sold piecemeal to private collectors and museums all over the world ?

I see this situation as a real tragedy. If the sale takes place, to me it will be like witnessing vultures picking at Breton’s bones while he is still alive. Because for me, and for many others, I’m sure, Breton and his ideas never died."