Hans Bellmer’s spectacle of the simultaneous structures: text and drawing in the "Anatomy of the image" (1957)

Abstract

We analyze the intermingling of different expressions (poetic and intellectual) and languages (verbal and visual) in the work of the German artist linked to French Surrealism Hans Bellmer. Such a take on language is related to what the artist calls “the spectacle of the simultaneous structures”. We relate the constant alternation between word and image in his mature artistic text Petit Anatomie de l’image (1957) with Bellmer’s early productions, such as the open-ended work Die Puppe (The Doll, 1934). In this work, Bellmer already demonstrated the suppression of the image by the word. However, in the illustrations of Petit Anatomie, we observe the constant fusion of the three-dimensionality of drawing with the written text. To this end, we selected two drawings present in the author’s illustration for the 1957 text, from which we analyze the effects on the fruition of the work. As used material, our text includes translations of Bellmer into English (2004) and Portuguese (2019) and sources from the visual catalog of the artist of French origin. We also propose a relation of Bellmer’s work with the philosophy of language of the German poet and philosopher Novalis in his Monolog (1997).