Surrealism - 5 exhibition catalogues and reference books - 1971-1982

1. Surrealism (Galleria Levi)
• Author/Curator: Galleria Levi Arte Moderna
• Publisher: Galleria Levi, Milan
• Year of publication: 1971
• Number of pages: 84 pages in total
• Description: A precious and rare catalog of a square-format softcover exhibition published by the famous Milan gallery on Via Montenapoleone. The volume documents one of the most important historical group exhibitions held in Italy on the Surrealist movement, presenting reproductions of landmark works by Max Ernst, René Magritte, and Salvador Dalí. The cover features a magnificent full-color reproduction of a dreamlike painting by Max Ernst.

2. Magritte and Surrealism in Belgium
• Author/Curator: Royal National Gallery of Modern Art
• Publisher: De Luca Editore, Rome
• Year of publication: 1982
• Number of pages: 304 pages
• Description: Impressive official catalog of the major exhibition held in Rome between spring and summer 1982. It is a monumental scholarly study that analyzes in particular the Belgian Surrealist core led by René Magritte, Paul Delvaux, and E.L.T. Mesens. On the cover is the famous Magritte work The Philosophy in the Boudoir, depicting a woman's dress with anatomical shapes hanging inside a wardrobe.

3. Surrealism and Painting
• Author/Curator: Galerie Beyeler Basel
• Publisher: Galerie Beyeler, Basel
• Year of publication: 1974
• Number of pages: 92 pages
• Description: A highly refined international art catalog printed on loose sheets with a white-metal ring binding, typical of the historic luxury editions of the Beyeler gallery. The volume offers an excellent critical overview and includes extraordinary hand-applied full-page color plates. The dust jacket reproduces a cubist-surrealist work by Pablo Picasso.

4. The Spirit of Surrealism
• Author: Edward B. Henning
• Publisher: The Cleveland Museum of Art / Indiana University Press, Cleveland
• Year of publication: 1979
• Number of pages: 186 pages
• Description: A prestigious institutional academic monograph in English published on the occasion of the historic show organized in Cleveland. The text examines the psychological, literary, and philosophical origins of Surrealist painting from the 1920s to postwar developments. The iconic cover reproduces René Magritte's The Treachery of Images with the famous pipe.

5. Graphic Anthology of Surrealism
• Author: Maurice Henry
• Publisher: Gabriele Mazzotta Editore, Milan
• Year of publication: 1972
• Number of pages: 432 pages
• Description: A substantial volume and historically fundamental for the study of twentieth-century avant-garde graphics. Edited by the renowned designer and artist Maurice Henry, the book maps the entire production of engravings, drawings, lithographs, collages, and illustrations by over one hundred artists connected with international Surrealism, serving as a true illustrated dictionary. The cover features Henry’s striking black-and-white ink drawing known as The Rape (Lo stupro), freely inspired by a visual idea of Magritte.