Among the most distinguished private collections of Surrealist art, Exquisite Corpus represents the culmination of a lifetime’s engagement with one of the twentieth century’s most revolutionary artistic movements. Assembled over four decades with a connoisseurial eye and unwavering dedication, the collection traces the movement’s imaginative arc—from its seminal figures to lesser-known, yet equally compelling contributors.
At the center of the collection is Frida Kahlo’s psychologically charged El sueño (La cama)—an intimate meditation on identity and mortality—joined by the pioneering visions of Dorothea Tanning, Kay Sage, Remedios Varo and Valentine Hugo, artists whose work expanded Surrealism’s expressive range and gave form to its most personal and visionary dimensions. In Exquisite Corpus, these voices exist in dialogue with the defining architects of the movement—Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy—evincing the transatlantic exchanges that shaped Surrealism’s evolution from Paris to New York and beyond.
Recalling the collaborative Surrealist game Exquisite Corpse, in which artists’ successive sketches coalesced into unexpected and fantastical forms, Exquisite Corpus achieves a cohesion that transcends the sum of its interwoven parts. Rarely seen and long preserved in private hands, the collection stands as a testament to Surrealism’s enduring capacity to challenge perception and provoke critical reflection, and affirms its profound relevance in the modern era.
IMAGES
Frida Kahlo
El sueño (La cama) (detail)
Frida Kahlo
El sueño (La cama)
Type: lot
Salvador Dalí
Symbiose de la tête aux coquillages
Type: lot
Max Ernst
J’ai bu du tabourin, j’ai mangé du cimbal
Type: lot
René Magritte
La Représentation
Type: lot
Dorothea Tanning
Interior with Sudden Joy
Type: lot
Yves Tanguy
Ce Matin
Type: lot
Kay Sage
The Point of Intersection
Exhibition Information
34-35 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA, UK
Abu Dhabi | 1–2 October | Wed: 2PM–7PM, Thur: 10AM–7PM
Bassam Freiha Art Foundation, Al Saadiyat Island - Cultural District - Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates
Hong Kong | 14–15 October | 11AM–7PM
Sotheby's Maison, Hong Kong - LANDMARK CHATER, 8 Connaught Road, Central
Paris | 20-24 October | 10AM–6PM
Galerie Oriental, 85 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris, France
New York | Opening 8 November | M–Sat: 10AM–5PM, Sun: 1PM–5PM
945 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10021
