Guillaume Bijl's video work André Breton et ses amis à Saint-Cirq-Lapopie was acquired by M HKA, Antwerp (BE) to be part of their permanent collection.
André Breton et ses amis à Saint-Cirq-Lapopie [Assembled from found archival footage, ca. 1951 — 1963] follows the Surrealist poet André Breton and several of his friends during leisurely summer moments in the French village of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
In 1950, Breton bought a house in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, a medieval village in the Lot Valley in southwestern France. The house was dilapidated at the time but was recently restored; it now bears the name Maison André Breton and houses the Centre International du Surréalisme et de la Citoyenneté Mondiale (CISCM).
In short, staged tableaux vivants, the film depicts a series of shared moments with fellow artists whom Breton invited to the village between 1951 and 1963. Artists such as Max Ernst, Man Ray, Dorothea Tanning, Meret Oppenheim, Benjamin Péret, and Toyen enjoy an evening stroll, dine in the garden, and pose for a group portrait. The seemingly lyrical carefreeness of the scenes stands in stark contrast to the two World Wars the artists had recently experienced.
Image: Filmstill “André breton et ses amis à Saint-Cirq-Lapopie” © Guillaume Bijl 2025
Guillaume Bijl video acquired by M HKA, Antwerp (BE)
Oct 23, 2026
