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Lot Essay
Né à Toulouse en 1913, Adrien Dax découvre le surréalisme à travers le revue Minotaure qu’il se procure à l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Engagé au sein des jeunesses communistes, il est emprisonné dans un stalag de Pologne deux ans durant. Il rencontre le cercle surréaliste en 1947 à Paris. André Breton publie alors un de ses essais Perspective automatique en 1950 dans son Almanach surréaliste du demi-siècle consacrant ainsi le statut de théoricien de Dax. Il participe aux Exposition surréalistes internationales de Milan en 1959 et 1961, New York l’année suivante et Paris de 1959 à 1965. S’intéressant à l’expérimentation artistique, il met en place une nouvelle technique plastique baptisée impression de relief(s), proche de la lithographie ou encore “les affiches interprétées”. Son oeuvre aux lignes sinueuses renvoie aux formes naturelles et minérales, dans des dessins à la plume épurés de tout effet chromatique. Libertaire, il signe le Manifeste des 121 revendiquant le droit à l’insoumission dans le contexte de la guerre d’Algérie. En 1969, suite à la mort d’André Breton et craignant pour l’avenir du mouvement surréaliste en son absence, il proclame son auto-dissolution. Également associé au mouvement Phases mené par Edouard Jaguer, Adrien Dax s’éteint en 1979 à Toulouse.
Adrien Dax was born in Toulouse in 1913.While studying at the École des Beaux-Arts, he obtained a copy of Minotaure, thus marking his initiation into Surrealism. He was active in young communist circles and was held for two years in a Polish Stalag camp. He met the Surrealists in Paris in 1947. In 1950, André Breton published one of Dax’s essays, Automatic Perspective, in his Mid-century Surrealist Almanac, cementing Dax’s reputation as a theoretician. Dax participated in the International Surrealist Exhibitions in Milan (1959 and 1961), New York (1962) and Paris (1959 –1965). His interest in artistic expression led him to establish a new plastic technique known as “relief impression”, a close cousin of lithography and ‘les affiches interprétées’. Sinuous lines evoke the natural and the mineral in his pen and ink drawings, which are devoid of colour. Dax was a libertarian; he signed the Manifeste des 121 that claimed the right to self-determination in the context of the Algerian War. In 1969, Dax, fearing for the future of the Surrealist movement in the wake of André Breton’s death, proclaimed the group’s self-dissolution. Adrien Dax also had ties to the Phases movement led by Edouard Jaguer. He died in 1979 in Toulouse.
Adrien Dax was born in Toulouse in 1913.While studying at the École des Beaux-Arts, he obtained a copy of Minotaure, thus marking his initiation into Surrealism. He was active in young communist circles and was held for two years in a Polish Stalag camp. He met the Surrealists in Paris in 1947. In 1950, André Breton published one of Dax’s essays, Automatic Perspective, in his Mid-century Surrealist Almanac, cementing Dax’s reputation as a theoretician. Dax participated in the International Surrealist Exhibitions in Milan (1959 and 1961), New York (1962) and Paris (1959 –1965). His interest in artistic expression led him to establish a new plastic technique known as “relief impression”, a close cousin of lithography and ‘les affiches interprétées’. Sinuous lines evoke the natural and the mineral in his pen and ink drawings, which are devoid of colour. Dax was a libertarian; he signed the Manifeste des 121 that claimed the right to self-determination in the context of the Algerian War. In 1969, Dax, fearing for the future of the Surrealist movement in the wake of André Breton’s death, proclaimed the group’s self-dissolution. Adrien Dax also had ties to the Phases movement led by Edouard Jaguer. He died in 1979 in Toulouse.