Skip to Content
Closed now, next open Thursday. Closed now, next open Thursday.

Exquisite Corpse

A work made of graphite and colored crayons on ivory wove paper.
© 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Image actions

  • A work made of graphite and colored crayons on ivory wove paper.

Date:

March 18, 1927

Artist:

André Masson (French, 1896-1987)
Max Ernst (American and French, born Germany, 1891-1976)
Max Morise (French, 1900-1973)

About this artwork

The so-called cadavre exquis or exquisite corpse, a Surrealist visual game, was created in winter 1925–26, when members of the group gathered in the evenings. If conversation lagged, they invented games to spark the unconscious. The exquisite corpse grew out of one such invention, which reimagined the children’s game of “head, body, legs,” in which each participant adds to a drawing without seeing the preceding contributions, which are hidden by folding the paper. The results are strange, sometimes violent, combinations of images. The Surrealists produced many such drawings (the Art Institute has several; for example, 2018.333, 2018.334, and 2018.335), and these collaborative experiments were profoundly influential. The Chicago-based Hairy Who artists also played the game in the late 1960s, but with more playful results (for example, 2018.684, 2018.685, 2018.686, 2018.687, 2018.688, and 2018.689).

Status

On View, Gallery 397

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

André Masson

Title

Exquisite Corpse

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1927

Medium

Graphite and colored crayons on ivory wove paper

Inscriptions

Inscribed, verso, upper right, in red graphite: "Appt. André Breton"; inscribed and dated, verso, upper right, in graphite, in Breton's hand: "Max Morise / Max Ernst / André Masson / (18 mars 1927)"; verso, center right in black ink, in Breton's hand: ""CADAVRE EXQUIS" (18 mars 1927) / De Haut en bas: Max Morise, Max Ernst, André Masson"; signed verso, center right in black ink: “André Breton”; inscribed verso, lower left, in graphite: “600”

Dimensions

20 × 15.5 cm (7 7/8 × 6 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Lindy and Edwin Bergman Collection

Reference Number

2018.335

Copyright

© 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share