Presented in collaboration with the LSU School of Art and the LSU Museum of Art, the Bonjour | Au Revoir Surréalisme exhibition will be on display at the LSU Museum of Art September 28, 2017 – March 25, 2018. A reception featuring a gallery talk by School of Art Professor Darius Spieth will be held 6–8 p.m. at the LSU Museum of Art on Thursday, January 18, 2018.

On loan from the family of master printer, painter, and poet Georges Visat, this exhibition is composed of over 60 prints by iconic Surrealist artists who collaborated with Visat’s publishing house. Visat, who began frequenting artists of the historical avant-garde during the immediate post-war years and founded Éditions Georges Visat in 1962, established his presses in the traditional Parisian art district of Saint-Germaine-des-Prés. Included in the exhibition are graphic works by Max Ernst, Dorthea Tanning, René Magritte, Man Ray, Hans Bellmer, Roberto Matta, and Francis Bacon, among others. While Surrealism developed and reached its height between the world wars, Visat’s activities as Surrealist printmaker peaked in the 1950s and 1960s. Aware that Surrealism seemed to lose momentum in the 1950s, artists such as Visat’s close friend and collaborator, Max Ernst, sought to revive the movement. The exhibition includes works by early Surrealists as well as those who sought to reinvigorate the movement in the 1960s. Also included are illustrated artists’ books with Surrealist poetry, a specialty of Georges Visat, who had a profound understanding of Surrealism’s literary foundations.

Professor Spieth and his History of Prints students were co-contributors to the curatorial component of the exhibition. Students were required to conduct research, write didactic texts for the exhibition, deliver public talks, and lead guided tours for museum visitors.