Surrealism in its late phase often abandoned neutral exhibition spaces in favor of environments that embodied subjective ideologies. These exhibitions offered startled viewers an early version of installation art before the form existed as such. In Displaying the Marvelous, Lewis Kachur explores this development by analyzing three elaborate Surrealist installations created between 1938 and 1942. The first two, the andquot;Exposition Internationale du Surrealismeandquot; (1938) and the andquot;Dream of Venusandquot; at the New York World's Fair (1939), dealt with the fetishization of the female body. The third, andquot;First Papers of Surrealismandquot; (1942), focused not on the figure but on the entire expanse of the exhibition space, thus contributing to the development of nonfigurative art in New York. Kachur presents a full visual and verbal reconstruction of each of the exhibitions, evoking the sequence that the contemporary viewer would have encountered.

The book considers Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dali, two artists who are not usually compared, within a common framework. Duchamp specialized in frustrating the spectator, using his ironic wit to call into question the definition of the work of art. Dali was a master at disorienting the senses by establishing and then undermining everyday spatial and object properties. The Surrealist challenge, as voiced by Andre Breton, was to evoke the marvelous. Duchamp and Dali extended that challenge to the physical and commercial realm of the exhibition installation.

andquot;Anyone specializing in the history of Surrealism or the history of installation art will find this book essential reading.andquot;
andmdash; John A. Walker, The Art Book

andquot;A compulsive and beautifully presented read..
-- David Gove Surman, Leonardo

andquot;A splendid analysis of the late Surrealist exhibitions. Anyone interested in Surrealist art would want this book; anyone interested in the consideration of display in twentieth-century art must have this book.andquot;
andmdash;Richard Martin, former curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art

andquot;Perceptive, fascinating, and written with pleasure and delight. The reciprocal exchange between art work and its context is presented with a steady, at times inspired, sense of inquiry.andquot;
andmdash;Brian O'Doherty, writer

The book considers Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dali, two artists who are not usually compared, within a common framework. Duchamp specialized in frustrating the spectator, using his ironic wit to call into question the definition of the work of art. Dali was a master at disorienting the senses by establishing and then undermining everyday spatial and object properties. The Surrealist challenge, as voiced by Andre Breton, was to evoke the marvelous. Duchamp and Dali extended that challenge to the physical and commercial realm of the exhibition installation.

How the exhibition spaces of Surrealism anticipated installation art.

Lewis Kachur is Associate Professor of Art History at Kean University, New Jersey.