Andre Masson. Exquisite Corpse.

Andre Masson. Exquisite Corpse, March 18, 1927, Graphite and colored crayons on ivory wove paper, 200 x 155 mm. Lindy and Edwin Bergman Collection, 104. 1991.

Surrealist artists, whose interests centered on dreams and subconscious thoughts, sometimes used games to generate works of art. One such game, the Exquisite Corpse, was played in order to create unexpected combinations of images. Each member of the group would draw a particular body part of an imaginary figure, but no one knew what the others had drawn. After each part was completed, the artist would fold over his portion of the paper so that the others could not see what had been drawn. The paper was then passed to the next group member. In order for the drawings to match up, each artist would extend the lines of his figure beyond the fold of the paper before passing it to the next person. The completed figures often contained animal as well as human parts.

In this drawing by the Surrealists Morise, Max Ernst, and Masson, Ernst converted the voids under the figure's arms into birds.

Activity

Find the three sections of the image: Can you tell where one artist stopped and another began drawing?

What might this creature say? Where would you find him?

Make your own Exquisite Corpse.

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Kate Ewell Lewis, Teacher Resource Center coordinator, Department of Museum Education, The Art Institute of Chicago.