ARTISTVIEW ALL
Jacques-André Boiffard
French
1902–1961
About the Artist
Explore life events-
Jacques-André Boiffard. Self-Portrait. c. 1929. Gelatin silver print, 1 11/16 x 1 1/2" (4.3 x 3.8 cm). Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. © Mme Denise Boiffard. Digital image © CNAC/MNAM/Dist. RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NYAs if destined to become a Surrealist, Boiffard attended the prestigious private École Alsacienne high school in Paris, where he met Pierre Naville, the future editor of the journal La Révolution surréaliste. Naville introduced Boiffard to André Breton, the leader of the Surrealists, in 1924, the year Boiffard joined the group. With Paul Éluard and Roger Vitrac, Boiffard wrote the preface for the first issue of La Révolution surréaliste. He also began work as an assistant in the Man Ray Studio in 1924, where Man Ray taught him photography. In 1928 his photographs were used to illustrate Breton’s novel Nadja, but after a disagreement the two artists parted ways. Boiffard left Breton’s Surrealist group and, in 1929, became a member of the splinter group Contre-attaque, led by Georges Bataille. He was a frequent contributor to the journal Documents, a mouthpiece for this circle. In 1929 Boiffard established the photography studio Studios unis with Eli Lotar; it went bankrupt in 1932, after which the two photographers travelled widely, staying for a while in Tangiers. In his early days of engagement with the Surrealists, Boiffard was a student of medicine at the Faculté des Sciences de Paris. In 1935 he returned to his studies, this time integrating his expertise in photography and film. He graduated and worked as a radiologist at the Hôpital Saint-Luis, Paris, from 1940 to 1959.
—Mitra Abbaspour
Meeting Points
- Cultural Hubs Paris
- Schools Levy Gallery, 1931–49 Man Ray Studio, 1920–35
- Exhibitions Exposition de l'AEAR, 1935
- Publications Photography, 1839–1937, 1937
Artist Chronology
| July 29, 1902 |
Born
At location: Jacques-André Boiffard
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Épernon |
| 1920–25 |
Studies medicine at the Sorbonne
At location: Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| 1922–24 |
With Pierre Naville, leads the journal L'Oeuf dur; Boiffard meets André Breton through Naville
At location: Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| 1924–29 |
Jacques-André Boiffard works as an assistant to Man Ray, who teaches him photography
At location: Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| 1924–29 |
Contributes to the journal La Revolution Surrealiste
Contributor: Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| 1924 |
Becomes a member of the first Surrealist group
At location: Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| 1927 |
Becomes a member of the French Communist Party
At location: Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| 1928 |
Provides most of the illustrations for André Breton's book Nadja
Contributor: Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| November 26, 1928 |
André Breton writes to Boiffard to reject him from the Surrealist group
At location: Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| 1929–30 |
Boiffard contributes illustrations to Georges Bataille's journal Documents
Contributor: Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| 1929–32 |
Jacques-André Boiffard and Eli Lotar establish Studios Unis: Atelier de photographie
At location: Jacques-André Boiffard, Eli Lotar
|
Paris |
| Late 1929 |
Forms the group Contre-Attaque around Georges Bataille, as a counterpart to André Breton's Surrealists
At location: Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| November 28–December 29, 1931 |
La Publicité par la photographie at Galerie d'Art Contemporain
|
Paris |
| 1932–37 |
Member of the Association des Ecrivains et Artistes Revolutionaires (AEAR)
At location: Claude Cahun (Lucy Schwob), Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| January 9–29, 1932 |
Surrealism at the Julien Levy Gallery
|
New York |
| February 20–March 11, 1932 |
Modern European Photography at the Julien Levy Gallery
|
New York |
| 1933 |
Jacques-André Boiffard and Eli Lotar travel to the USSR with the theater group Le Groupe Octobre; once there, they are hired as photographers on Fernando de Cardenas's yacht
At location: Jacques-André Boiffard, Eli Lotar
|
Russia |
| November 1934 |
Groupe annuel des photographes at La Galerie de la Pléiade
Participant: Florence Henri, André Kertész, Germaine Krull, Maurice Tabard, Jacques-André Boiffard, Jean Moral
|
Paris |
| June 1935 |
Exposition de l'AEAR–Documents de la vie sociale at Galerie de la Pléiade
Organizer: Jean Painlevé
|
Paris |
| 1935–40 |
Returns to his studies in medicine
At location: Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| March 17–April 18, 1937 |
Photography: 1839–1937, organized by Beaumont Newhall, at The Museum of Modern Art
Participant: Berenice Abbott, Margaret Bourke-White, Anton Bruehl, Francis Bruguière, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Walker Evans, Florence Henri, André Kertész, George Platt Lynes, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), László Moholy-Nagy, Martin Munkácsi, Roger Parry, George H. Seeley, Peter Sekaer, Charles Sheeler, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Maurice Tabard, Edward Weston, Jacques-André Boiffard, Robert Demachy
|
New York |
| 1940–59 |
Works as a radiologist at Hospital Saint-Louis
At location: Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| 1947 |
Scene photographer for Marcel Carne's film Les Enfants perdus
At location: Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
| 1961 |
Dies
At location: Jacques-André Boiffard
|
Paris |
