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Hans Bellmer: Photographs & Drawings from the 1930s

March 20, 1999 - May 8, 1999

Ubu Gallery presented an exhibition of unique works by Hans Bellmer (1902–1975), a Surrealist whose overt influence on current art trends far outweighs the recognition of his emotionally and intellectually charged oeuvre received during the artist’s lifetime. Included were the finest examples of Bellmer’s pre-war output—including eight large format photographs first exhibited in 1944, six exquisitely hand-colored contact prints from the maquette for Les Jeux de la poupée (1938) and eight sketchbooks filled with over 200 drawings composed between 1936 and 1939. The artist’s works establish a sexually laden atmosphere intended to realize a personal language of desire, which he felt would, in his own words, “make it possible to recreate physically the dizzying heights of passion and to do so to the extent of creating new desires.”

ARTIST
Hans Bellmer

RESOURCES
Checklist
Press Release
Announcement edition ubu #17
Announcement edition ubu #17 (expanded)

PRESS
The New York Times / Art in Review / April 16, 1999 / Roberta Smith / 1 reproduction
Journal of the Print World / “Hans Bellmer: Photos and Drawings from the 1930s” / Spring 1999
The New York Times / Art Listings / April – May 1999 / Roberta Smith
The Art Newspaper / Art Market / April 1999 / Brook S. Mason
The New York Art World / A Closer Look / April 1999 / Alain Jouffroy / 3 reproductions
The New Yorker / Art / April 26, 1999 & May 3, 1999 (double issue) / 1 reproduction
Art & Auction / Talk of the Trade / June 15, 1999 / Jori Finkel / 1 reproduction
Art in America / Photography / October 1999 / Therese Lichtenstein / 9 reproductions

SELECTED WORKS FROM THE EXHIBITION