DEATH, DESIRE & THE DOLL: The Life and Art of Hans Bellmer (Solar Art Directives) Book

Hans Bellmer (1902-1975) was perhaps the most controversial and misunderstood of all the Surrealists. Best known for his sexually disturbing and macabre creation, The Doll, Bellmer was also a photographer, sculptor, painter, engraver and writer obsessed with the erotic and perverse. His illustrations for such texts as Georges Bataille's "Story Of The Eye" and de Sade's "Justine" are amongst the most remarkable images of polymorphous sexuality ever devised. DEATH DESIRE & THE DOLL is the only complete illustrated biography of Hans Bellmer, and includes detailed analysis of his entire artistic oeuvre. Featuring many of Bellmer's surreal/erotic drawings, paintings and sculptures as well as his classic series of Doll photographs, DEATH DESIRE & THE DOLL also tells the complete story of Bellmer's remarkable life, from Nazi Germany to the inner circle of the Paris Surrealists and beyond. It is a fascinating story which encompasses the history of both surreal and erotic art and literature, and which firmly positions Hans Bellmer at the forefront of the 20th Century avant-garde. De Sade, Bataille, Jean de Berg and André Pieyre de Mandiargues are just some of the authors whose work Bellmer enhanced with his incredibly perverse and complex illustrations. With his legendary Doll, Bellmer established one of the most disturbing creations in modern art, while his text The Anatomy of the Image remains crucial to understanding the reciprocity between body and imagination. Including 36 colour plates, DEATH DESIRE & THE DOLL is a completely updated and revised edition of the standard work on Bellmer. Death, Desire And The Doll was originally published in 1985 by Quartet Books, under the title Hans Bellmer. This new edition is updated, revised and redesigned.Read More