About the Artist Marcel Jean

A fabric-covered woman's head with zipper eyes — with the "Spectre du Gardénia" (1936) Marcel Jean (1900–1993) created one of the icons of Surrealist object art. The French artist and writer was a significant figure of Surrealism, his output spanning painting, drawing, collage and, above all, the objects so characteristic of the movement. Jean belonged to the Paris Surrealist circle and took part in landmark exhibitions such as "Fantastic Art, Dada and Surrealism" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. As a theorist, his "Histoire de la peinture surréaliste" remains one of the most important comprehensive accounts of Surrealist painting. His work unites poetic invention with a fine instinct for the enigmatic and the unconscious.