MA-g
The Museum of Avant-garde

Tristan Tzara

Romania (1896—1963)
Born in Romania to a Jewish family, Tzara moved to Bucarest to attend a boarding school. Here he became friends with Janco and Vinea and with them he worked on the Simbolul journal. In 1915 his parents decided to send him to Zurich to study philosophy. Here he rejoined with Janco and attended the opening of Cabaret Voltaire. In 1918 Tzara recited the Manifeste Dada 1918 and in the same year he published Dada 3, which gave him international recognition. In 1920 he decided to move to Paris and joined André Breton circle of artists, while being the editor of Dada and publishing Sept Manifests Dada. He often contributed to Breton’s Littérature magazine and put up shows and life performances meant to surprise and shock the audience. Frictions between Tzara and Breton and Picabia ultimately caused the break of the movement during the Gas Heart play. Breton and Tzara only reconciled in 1929, at which point Breton had already written his Surrealism manifest. In 1935 during Spanish Civil War he went to the front but with the Nazis gaining power he had to abandon Paris and hide in South France. He remained involved in politics and openly criticised the Soviet invasion in Hungary and the Franch government policy with colonies.

Dada 1

Recueil littéraire et artistique / Magazine / Letterpress / Zürich, 1917

Der Sängerkrieg

Magazine / Letterpress and woodcuts / 21 x 31.4 cm / Paris, 1921

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Littérature

Magazine / Letterpress / 18.2 x 23.6 cm / Paris, 1919-1922 / © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

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391

Ce numéro est entouré d'une dentelle rose / Magazine / Letterpress / 32.6 x 49.6 cm / Paris, 1920 / © Francis Picabia c/o Sabam, 2020

Projecteur

Magazine / Letterpress / 22.9 x 9.9 cm / Paris, 1920

Bulletin Dada

Journal / Letterpress / 27.9 x 37.8 cm / Paris, 1920

Dadameter

Die Schammade / Magazine / Letterpress with woodcuts / 22.9 x 29.4 cm / Berlin, 1920 / © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris / VG Bild-Kunst, Germany

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Dada Phone 7

Journal / Letterpress / 18.8 x 28.1 cm / Paris, 1920 / © 2020 Christophe Tzara

Manomètre

Mélange des langues, enregistre les idées, indique la pression sur tous les méridiens, est polyglotte et supranational / Magazine / 17.5 x 22.5 cm / Lyon, 1922-1928

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Dada Jazz

Journal / Letterpress / 14.9 x 22.8 cm / Zagreb, 1922

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Dada Almanach

Illustrated book / Letterpress / 13.5 x 20 cm / Berlin, 1920

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Dada Tank

Journal / Letterpress / 23.4 x 31.3 cm / Zagreb, 1922

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Cinéma calendrier du coeur abstrait / Maisons

Illustrated book / Letterpress with woodcuts / 20.6 x 25.2 cm / Paris, 1920 / © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

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Proverbe

Feuille mensuelle pour la justification des mots / Journal / Letterpress / 13.9 x 21.4 cm / Paris, 1920-1921

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391

Dieu nous aide et fait pousser le caca / Magazine / Letterpress / 32.6 x 49.2 cm / Paris, 1924 / © Francis Picabia c/o Sabam, 2020

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Œsophage

Magazine / Letterpress / 22.4 x 28.4 cm / Bruxelles, 1925

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Cannibale 2

Magazine / Letterpress / 15.7 x 23.9 cm / Paris, 1920 / © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

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Terre sur terre

Illustrated book / 15.5 x 22.1 cm / Geneva / Paris, 1946 / © Éditions des Trois Collines

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Dada 2

Recueil littéraire et artistique / Magazine / Letterpress / 19.5 x 22.9 cm / Zürich, 1917

De nos oiseaux

Illustrated book / Letterpress with original woodcuts / 13.1 x 18.5 cm / Paris, 1929

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Cannibale 1

Magazine / Letterpress / 15.7 x 23.9 cm / Paris, 1920 / © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

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Merz 7

Tapsheft / Magazine / Letterpress / 23.6 x 31.3 cm / Hannover, 1924 / © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Merz 4

Banalitäten / Magazine / Letterpress / 14.4 x 22.9 cm / Hannover, 1923 / © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution

Journal / Letterpress / 20 x 28.5 cm / Paris, 1930-1933

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Marie

Journal bimensuel pour la belle jeunesse / Bi-monthly journal / 24.2 x 32.3 cm / Bruxelles, 1926-1927

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Merz 2

Nummer i / Magazine / Letterpress / 14.4 x 22.2 cm / Hannover, 1923 / © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

391

Au pluriel / Magazine / Letterpress / 37.8 x 57.3 cm / Paris, 1920 / © Francis Picabia c/o Sabam, 2020

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Der Dada 1

Magazine / Letterpress / 21 x 29.6 cm / Berlin, 1919 / © 2020 Raoul Hausmann / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Het Overzicht

Half-Maandelijks Tijdschrift: Kunst, Letteren, Menshei / Bi-monthly periodical / 23.9 x 32 cm / Antwerp, 1921-1925 / SABAM Belgium 2020

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391

Calendrier cinéma du coeur abstrait / Magazine / Letterpress / 38.4 x 55.8 cm / Paris, 1920 / © Francis Picabia c/o Sabam, 2020

Anthologie Dada

Dada 4-5 / Journal / Letterpress with original woodcuts and lithographs / 19 x 28.2 cm / Zürich, 1919

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391

Construction moléculaire / Magazine / Letterpress / 27.4 x 44.1 cm / Zürich, 1919 / © Francis Picabia c/o Sabam, 2020

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Merz 6

Imitatoren watch step! / Magazine / Letterpress / 14.3 x 22.3 cm / Hannover, 1923 / © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

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Bleu

Magazine / Letterpress / 25 x 37 cm / Mantova, 1920-1921

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391

La bicyclette archevêque / Magazine / Letterpress / 38 x 55.8 cm / Paris, 1919 / © Francis Picabia c/o Sabam, 2020

Action

Cahiers de philosophie et d’art / Magazine / Letterpress / 19.5 x 24.5 cm / Paris, 1920-1922

Tank

Revue internationale de l'art vivant / Magazine / Letterpress / 16.8 x 24.7 cm / Ljubljana, 1927-1928

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Cabaret Voltaire

Recueil littéraire et artistique / Magazine / Letterpress / 20.9 x 29.6 cm / Zürich, 1916

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Sept manifestes Dada

Illustrated book / Letterpress / 13.7 x 19 cm / Paris, 1924 / © Francis Picabia c/o Sabam, 2020

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Vingt-cinq poèmes

Illustrated book / Letterpress with woodcuts / 14.7 x 20.4 cm / Zürich, 1918

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Le coeur à barbe

Journal / Letterpress and relief on two folded sheets / 14 x 23 cm / Paris, 1922 / © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris / Succession Marcel Duchamp