Minotaure. Does the name evoke images of mythical beasts or artistic revolution? Le Minotaure was a Surrealist magazine. It was published in Paris from 1933 to 1939.
Albert Skira founded Le Minotaure. André Breton and Pierre Mabille were its editors. Breton showed his support early. He published an advertisement for Le Minotaure. It appeared in the final issue of Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution.
Le Minotaure was not exclusively Surrealist. But it stayed true to the Surrealist spirit. It appealed to the mainstream art world. This gave the movement wider recognition. It featured articles on architecture which was not common in other Surrealist publications. Le Minotaure wanted to introduce Surrealism to new artists and theorists. Publication stopped in 1939 because of World War II.
Each issue of Le Minotaure contained contributions from artists. Writers, philosophers, critics and psychoanalysts were also contributors. The magazine was meant to be read as a collective work. Paul Éluard and Salvador Dalí contributed. So did Jacques Lacan, Georges Bataille and Kurt Veil.
Pablo Picasso created one of the covers for Le Minotaure. Marcel Duchamp and Gaston-Louis Roux also designed covers. André Derain and Francisco Borès contributed cover art. Joan Miró and Dalí created covers as well. Henri Matisse, René Magritte, Max Ernst and André Masson also designed covers. Diego Rivera was another cover artist for Le Minotaure.
Albert Skira published luxurious books in the 1930s. These included Ovid’s Metamorphoses illustrated by Picasso. He also published Mallarmé’s poems illustrated by Matisse. Another publication was Lautréamont’s Les Chants de Maldoror by Dalí. The initial idea was to launch a magazine. This would ensure good distribution for the books. The project grew. It aligned with Surrealist magazines already published. These included La Révolution surréaliste and Documents. Georges Bataille directed Documents between 1929 and 1930. Le Minotaure was a synthesis.
The magazine’s program appeared at the beginning of the first issue. It aimed to publish artistic works of universal interest. It wanted to combine pictorial and poetic creation. It also sought to include music architecture and performing arts. The magazine presented studies on modern artistic trends. These studies came from writers. Specialists, scholars and poets contributed. The approach was ethnographic archaeological and psychoanalytic. Le Minotaure wanted to find unite and summarize elements. These elements shaped the spirit of the modern movement. It sought to expand its influence. It aimed to clear the artistic ground. This would restore art’s universal momentum.
Documents influenced Le Minotaure. This was evident through the irrational distribution of illustrations. It also showed in the ethnographic approach to subjects. The second issue focused on the Dakar-Djibouti mission. Michel Leiris participated in this mission. Jean Jamin noted that this issue achieved a goal of Documents. Art and objects questioned reality and reason.
The editorial line balanced scientific and poetic approaches. It studied primitive and contemporary arts. It also embraced imagination. Breton valued imagination. It included elements of monstrosity. This challenged aesthetic social and moral norms. Le Minotaure aimed to shake up order. It interpreted humanity’s inherent animality.
From issue number 10 Albert Skira took sole direction. The editorial committee included Breton and Marcel Duchamp. Paul Éluard, Maurice Heine and Pierre Mabille were also members. Marcel Duchamp and Paul Éluard were no longer on the committee for the last issue.
The mythological title aligned with Surrealist logic. They saw it as a return to archaic instinctual knowledge. The aim was to break free from reason. The Minotaur is a hybrid being. It embodies the conflict between consciousness and animality. It represents the tension between measure and monstrosity. Bataille explored this in his Documents article. The article linked bullfighting the Minotaur and the Mithraic cult. Masson Picasso and Max Ernst depicted the theme in the 1920s. This reflected the artistic debates of the time. The Minotaur’s hybrid quality reflected the magazine’s duality. It balanced the visions of Bataille and Breton.