Lot 421: Jacques-Andre Boiffard

Jacques-Andre Boiffard
alberto giacometti, circa 1925-30
Silver Print, inscribed 'Alberto Giacometti/par' in ink and with photographer's wetstamp 'J.-A. Boiffard' on the reverse,
223 by 165mm
Jacques-Andre Boiffard became an assistant to Man Ray in the mid-1920s and worked closely with him for a period of five years. He had collaborated with Paul Eluard and Roger Vitrac in writing the preface to the first edition of La revolution surrealiste in 1924.
Boiffard also worked independently as a photographer in this period. His surrealist images are often simple, whilst disconcertingly perverse or erotic, or both. This directness of approach is evident in this early, noble head of Alberto Giacometti, who became 'sculptor-in-residence' for the Surrealist group.
Boiffard's work is extremely rare.
Literature:
For discussion of Boiffard's work with Man Ray see: Neil Baldwin, Man Ray, London, 1989, pp. 117, 150-151.
For discussion of Boiffard's involvement with the Surrealist movement and for further examples of his work see: Rosalind Krauss and Jane Livingston, L'Amour fou Photography and Surrealism, London, 1986.