Surreal Encounters: Collecting the Marvellous - Softcover

Dawn Ades; Richard Calvocoressi; Désirée De Chair; Elizabeth Cowling; Hubertus Gaßne; Annabelle Görgen-Lammers; Keith Hartley; Saskia Van Kampen-Prein; Antony Penrose

Softcover

ISBN 10: 190627097X ISBN 13: 9781906270971

Publisher: National Galleries of Scotland, 2026

Synopsis

• This book brings together some of the world's finest surrealist artworks from four renowned and extraordinary private collections
• Many of the works featured have rarely been seen in public
• By bringing together works from these collections, the oeuvres of the artists are presented in a new light and some of their careers seen from beginning to end

"'The marvellous is always beautiful,' reads a sign on the wall of the Scottish National Museum of Modern Art. This stirring slogan, by Andre Breton, from his Manifesto of Surrealism, sets the tone for this fascinating, mind expanding exhibition." - BBC Arts

"Outstanding... The finest spread of surrealist art - paintings and objects - to be seen in Britain since the momentous Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design show at the V&A in 2007." - Sunday Times

This book brings together over 160 of the finest surrealist artworks by legendary artists including Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Joan Miró and Man Ray. The works hail from the four renowned and extraordinary private collections of Edward James, Roland Penrose, Gabrielle Keiller and Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch, and together offer a superb overview of surrealist art. Ten essays explore the different origins, historical contexts and creative urges behind these collections. Artworks, perhaps more than anything else that one can acquire, are objects of desire and surrealist artworks even more so.

The sheer quality of the works acquired (and, in the case of the Pietzsches, still being acquired) is astonishing and, while passionate about their private visions, all the collectors have been mindful of contributing something to the public good. The collections complement each other to an extraordinary degree and allow us to follow some of the artists' careers from beginning to end. By uniting them, exciting new juxtapositions emerge along with a fuller and richer picture of the surrealist movement as a whole.

About this title

About the Author

Dawn Ades has curated numerous international exhibitions on Surrealism and Dada. She is a Fellow of the British Academy, a former trustee of Tate and was awarded a CBE in 2013 for her services to art history. Elizabeth Cowling is Honorary Fellow in History of Art at the University of Edinburgh. She was the principal author of Surrealism and After: The Gabrielle Keiller Collection (1997). Among her other publications are Picasso: Style and Meaning (2002) and Visiting Picasso: the Notebooks and Letters of Roland Penrose (2006). Prof Dr Hubertus Gaßner is Director of the Hamburger Kunsthalle. Annabelle Görgen-Lammers is Exhibition Curator at the Hamburger Kunsthalle. Keith Hartley is Chief Curator and Deputy Director at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh. Saskia van Kampen-Prein is Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.

From the Back Cover

This book brings together over 160 of the finest surrealist artworks by legendary artists including Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Joan Miró and Man Ray. The works hail from the four renowned and extraordinary private collections of Edward James, Roland Penrose, Gabrielle Keiller and Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch, and together offer a superb overview of surrealist art.

Ten essays explore the different origins, historical contexts and creative urges behind these collections. Artworks, perhaps more than anything else that one can acquire, are objects of desire and surrealist artworks even more so. The sheer quality of the works acquired (and, in the case of the Pietzsches, still being acquired) is astonishing and, while passionate about their private visions, all the collectors have been mindful of contributing something to the public good.

The collections complement each other to an extraordinary degree and allow us to follow some of the artists' careers from beginning to end. By uniting them, exciting new juxtapositions emerge along with a fuller and richer picture of the surrealist movement as a whole.

Edition details

• Publisher: National Galleries of Scotland
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 190627097X
• ISBN 13: 9781906270971
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240