Sorry about this , but I figured this might be of interest to some on this list...
As reported recently in the New York Times, Andre Breton's studio at 42 Rue Fontaine, Paris, which has been kept intact since his death, is about to be dismantled and its contents sold at auction. Following is a petition of protest, urging instead the establishment of a museum.
If you want to participate, please add your name to the bottom and email a copy to J Karl Bogartte <bogartte@execpc.com>, who is administering the petition.
-------------Forwarded Message-----------------
Date: 20/12/02 10:44 PM
RE: Sale (uitverkoop) of the atelier of André Breton
http://www.geocities.com/surrealisme_in_nederland/
No Sale
We, the undersigned, support any and all opposition to the 2003 CalmelsCohen, Drouot-Richelieu sale of the collections of Andre Breton. We find the very idea of this event to be repugnant, and contrary to the best accounting of the History of the Twentieth Century.
Together, the manuscripts, books, objects, and art within Andre Breton's studio at 42 Rue Fontaine are very different from other "great collections." Together, they represent a multicultural Idea the likes of which has never before been seen in Europe or elsewhere. Together, and only together they create a Marvelous Site with more historic significance than many in Paris. Anyone who has ever had the experience of seeing this Place from the inside knows its worth to be far beyond the sum total of its contents. It must be preserved.
We in the US cannot imagine how, in all of France, there is not the wherewithal to establish a permanent place to house this vastly important international collection. Furthermore, we intend to support in any way possible the establishment of such a place.
The Gustave Moreau, Freud's Berggasse 19, Adolph Wolfli's Room, The Watts Towers of Los Angeles . . . were all places once on the verge of oblivion.
We say in the spirit of those great places, please, no sale.
Thom Burns Email
J Karl Bogartte
Laurance Weisberg Los Angeles CA
Raman Rao
Paul Weisz-Carrington
Andrew Lass, Prof. of Anthropology, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA
Jeanne Brooks Matthews (Widow of J.H. Matthews- Syracuse University)
Jack J. Spector, Prof. of Art History, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
Willie Gregory
M.E. Warlick, University of Denver
Allan Graubard
Robert Sharrard (USA)
Nanos Valaoritis (USA)
Marie Wilson (USA)
Nancy J. Peters (USA)
Philip Lamantia C/O City Lights Books (USA)
Lawrence Ferlinghetti C/O City Lights Books (USA)
Rik Lina (NL)
Bastiaan van der Velden
Alastair Brotchie (UK)
Damon Krukowski & Naomi Yang, Exact Change (USA)
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