SpiritismeSpiritism
Victorien Sardou

Loevenbruck gallery inaugurates its new space with a first exhibition dedicated to the work of Victorien Sardou (1831-1908), precursor of spiritualist art,  whose pioneering approach to spiritism was acclaimed by André Breton in a seminal text published in the journal Minotaure¹ in 1933.

This new place, with its rediscovered architecture, pays homage to the Surrealist gallery from 1926. Its window display is immortalized by a photograph taken by Man Ray in around 1927, and held at the Centre Pompidou.

Victorien Sardou was born in Paris. Forced to give up his medical studies for lack of funds, he earned his living by teaching and at the same time began writing his first plays. Although he went on to enjoy some noteworthy successes, the early days were difficult, and it was probably when one of his manuscripts was rejected, in 1857, that he began to take an interest in spiritism – to which he seems to have been introduced by his father. He made several drawings and prints involving the principle of automatism and said he was guided by the spirit of the Renaissance ceramist Bernard Palissy, the eponymous hero of one of his plays.²

This exhibition presents an ensemble of six original drawings, along with two remarkable prints, from a private collection. These works are put in context by handwritten documents about spiritism which have never been seen before.

Press release

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1 In “Le message automatique,” Minotaure, nos. 4–3, 1933.
2 https://www.artbrut.ch/fr_CH/auteur/sardou-victorien}

This exhibition is part of the “Paris surréaliste” event.
In parallel to the “Surréalisme” exhibition at the Centre Pompidou (4 September 2024–13 January 2025), and in a unique collaboration between the Centre Pompidou, the Association André Breton and the Comité Professionnel des Galeries d’Art (CPGA), a large number of Parisian galleries are organising thematic and monographic shows, homages or special events in relation to Surrealism both historical and contemporary.