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Today Open today 11–8

Untitled

A work made of gelatin silver print.

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  • A work made of gelatin silver print.

Date:

c. 1929

Artist:

Jacques-André Boiffard
French, 1902–1961

About this artwork

Jacques-André Boiffard was studying medicine in Paris in 1924 when his classmate and childhood friend Pierre Naville introduced him to the founder of surrealism, André Breton. Boiffard was at the heart of the early movement: mentioned by Breton in the first Surrealist Manifesto (1924), he also contributed to the inaugural issue of La Révolution surréaliste the same year, assisted Man Ray in his studio, and took pictures of Paris to illustrate Breton’s book Nadja in 1928. He caught the attention of collector and dealer Julien Levy, who purchased three of Boiffard’s photographs in 1931 and included him—with Eugène Atget, Man Ray, László Moholy-Nagy, Salvador Dalí, and Pablo Picasso, among others—in his gallery exhibition Surréalisme in January 1932. This photograph of two giraffes with anthropomorphic yet alien features must have appealed to Levy and other aficionados of Surrealism, who had a fascination with animal forms.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Jacques-André Boiffard

Title

Untitled

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.

Made 1925–1935

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

28.2 × 22.3 cm (11 1/8 × 8 13/16 in.)

Credit Line

Julien Levy Collection, Gift of Jean Levy and the Estate of Julien Levy

Reference Number

1988.157.5

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.

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